Poker Starting Hands Odds

Basic Odds and Outs If you ever wanted to know some of the odds and probabilities of Texas hold'em poker, from the chances of flopping a flush (0.8%) or set (12%) to the odds of an overcard coming. The Best Poker Hands Calculator You can use this calculator while playing or reviewing past hands to work out the odds of you winning or losing. Have fun letting your friends know that they made a less than optimal move against you in a home game.

Poker is a very technical casino game and you can easily be overwhelmed if you are just starting out. There are different variations of online poker games each with slightly different rules.

However, the ten different types of hands you can make are constant.

Finding an easy way for a beginner to learn these hands will help you get started quickly. With this poker hand cheat sheet, you’ll get an overview of all the poker hands you can make.

While there will be slight variations as you play different poker games, this should not deter you from getting started with the basics.

Highest value hands in Poker – the Flushes

Each hand in poker is made up of five cards. Depending on the game variant, players can make that hand from different numbers of their own and community cards.

Poker hands are ranked in value and the rules that govern the content of each hand are the same:

• The highest value hand is the Royal Flush – a straight run of five cards with values from 10 to Ace all in the same suit.
• Straight Flush is the next highest – all cards are from the same suit and run sequentially, e.g. 6 to 10 of spades or 9 to K of diamonds.

Middle value hands in poker

After the Flushes, there are several other hands that you can form to hit a win in poker. In order of value, they are:

• Four of a Kind – which involves four cards of the same rank but different suits.
• A Full House – which is a combination of three of a kind and a pair.
• A Flush – five cards from the same suit, not in any sequence.
• A Straight – five cards in a sequence, but not from the same suit.
• Three of a Kind – three cards with the same rank, but from different suits.

Lowest value hands in poker

The last three poker hands are the lowest-ranked and are:

• Two pair – Two different pairs with all cards being from any suit.
• Pair – two cards of the same rank but different suits.
• High card – This is only used when you have not made any of the hands previously described.

In this case, the highest card in your hand is played. One other point to remember is that if you play the same hand as the dealer, the value of the cards within that hand determines the winner.

For example, if both have four-of-a-kind, then four kings would win over four sixes.

Poker hand odds

To successfully apply what you have learnt, you need to understand the odds of different hands in various poker games.

Generally, poker hands are played with 5 cards, however, there are some variants that use 7 cards. These games have higher odds for making specific hands compared to 5-card poker, although not in all cases.

For a Royal flush, a 5-card poker game has odds of this occurring of 0.00015% compared to 0.0032% in a 7-card poker game.

However, the odds of getting a high card are 50.1% in a 5-card poker game compared to 17.4% in 7-card poker.

Using Poker tools

There are different forms of poker tools you can use to improve your skill. The most popular type is the poker simulator.

This tool mimics a real poker round, however, you will be playing against a computerized dealer.

The good thing is that it is free. Another poker tool is the Propoker tool. This is an equity calculator for various versions of poker games.

If you want a tool made for beginners, you can check out the Hold’em Poker trainer. This simple tool provides you with free online exercises to practice ranking hands, making the best hand, and more.

Poker Hand Cheat Sheet Conclusion

This poker hand cheat sheet is going to be helpful when playing in the real world of poker but there is one other important thing to bear in mind. That is positional play, which relates to your position at the table in relation to the dealer.

The three positions are termed early, middle, and late.

The early position is usually considered to be the first three seats to the left of the dealer and is considered weak. The middle position is considered better since it offers the opportunity to play based on what the early position players have. The late position is the strongest as you’ll have seen all other players’ actions.

However, when playing poker online, you play against the dealer only, regardless of whether you are playing virtual or live poker games.

For beginners, having a good grasp of the different poker hands and their respective rankings will stand you in good stead. This is where our poker hand cheat sheet will come in handy and help you get ahead.

Of course, the more you play the more familiar you’ll become with the different hands. Then you can test out your skill for free using some of the online poker tools available, before playing for real money at your favorite casino site.

FAQs

The top 10 hands:
1. Royal flush – A, K, Q, J, 10, all the same suit.
2. Straight flush – Five sequenced cards in the same suit.
3. Four of a kind – Four cards with the same rank.
4. Full house – Any three of a kind with a pair.
5. Flush – Five cards with the same suit that’s not in a sequence.
6. Straight – Five sequenced cards that’s not of the same suit.
7. Three of a kind – Any three cards with the same rank.
8. Two pair – Two pairs of different ranks and suits.
9. Pair – Two cards with the same rank.
10. High Card – None of the above but you have the highest card.

It’s an Ace-High Royal Flush or Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten with the same suit.

Any big pocket pair, high cards like Ace, King, Queen, and Jack. Always play big-suited connectors and big-connectors off suit.

NL Hold’em Starting Hand Charts

One aspect of the game of No-Limit Hold’em that causes beginning players much grief is deciding which hands to play and which hands to dump. NL Hold’em is much more difficult than Limit Hold’em because the value of a hand depends on so many factors other than just the cards in your hand. Despite this difficulty, our coaches believe that following some general guidelines and adjusting from these is a better solution than having no guidelines at all. Given that well over half of your profitability in NL Hold’em is based on hand selection alone, we have developed these charts to help you better determine whether to play or fold.

There are no perfect No-Limit starting hand charts. That is because there are many factors that affect your decision, and charts cannot account for all of them. Some of these include:

1. The size of your opponent's stacks.
2. How loose or tight, passive or aggressive, your opponents are.
3. Where these opponents are located at the table – for example, does an aggressive player still have to act after you?
4. Your image at the table – for example, how tight or tricky you are perceived.

That being said, these charts will serve you well in most typical low-stakes No-Limit cash games, such as games with blinds of $1/$2, and home games. These games typically have several loose players at the table, and good opportunities for winning big pots with suited connectors and pocket pairs. With practice, you will be able to be a consistently winning player with these charts as a starting point. As you improve, you'll find yourself making adjustments to these charts based on the factors listed above, and more.

AGAIN: These charts are a good starting point for beginners. Specifically, Chart #1 recommends a significant amount of limping. This is great in loose, passive games but less often seen in tougher games. You’ll find other training material on Advanced Poker Training that may recommend a more aggressive approach for more experienced players.

Note: It would be a serious mistake to apply these hand charts before reading the Frequent Asked Questions first.

CHART #1 ‐ LOOSE, PASSIVE GAME (OFTEN 4-5 LIMPERS PER HAND)
NO ONE HAS RAISED YET

• Raise Always
• Call from Early Position, otherwise raise
• Call always
• Call from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)

CHART #2 ‐ TIGHTER GAME (FEWER LIMPERS) OR MORE AGGRESSIVE GAME
NO ONE HAS RAISED YET

• Raise Always
• Call from Early Position, otherwise raise
• Call (or Raise) from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)

CHART #3 ‐ THERE HAS BEEN A SINGLE RAISE
(3‐5 TIMES THE BIG BLIND) BEFORE YOU

• Re‐Raise Always
• Call from Early Position, otherwise re‐raise
• Call always
• Call from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

For the hands in yellow, what do you mean when you say to play these hands if the conditions are right? The hands in yellow are speculative hands. They should always be folded from Early Position. From other positions, they can be profitable given the right conditions. Some of the questions to ask yourself:

1. Are there other players who have called so far (the more, the better)?
2. Are the players who have called playing poorly after the flop? Will they pay me off if I hit something?
3. Is there an aggressive player still to act behind me (you might get raised and have to fold)?
4. If there has been a raise and no other callers, what chance do I have of using my position after the flop to win the hand even if I don't improve (Chart #3 only)?

Why does Chart #2 say to sometimes raise with the hands in yellow, but Chart #1 does not? We have different goals in mind. Using Chart #1, we want to call to encourage additional players to enter the pot. These hands will be immensely profitable when our loose, passive opponents enter the hand, and get trapped when we flop a set, or make a well-disguised straight. When using Chart #2, however, we want to size up the opponents still to act. If they are tight, we can raise. Sometimes, we'll pick up the blinds. Other times, our pre-flop aggression will allow us to take down the pot on the flop.

Poker Starting Hands Odds

What's the difference between AKs and AKo? AKs means an Ace and King of the same suit. AKo means an Ace and King of different suits.

What are early, middle, and late position? Early Position is generally the first 2 (in a nine player game) or 3 (in a ten player game) positions after the blinds. Late Position is the “cutoff” position (to the right of the dealer), and dealer button positions. Middle Position is everything in between.

How much should I raise? As a general rule, raise 3 to 4 times the big blind, plus 1 extra big blind for every player who has called before you. So if there are 2 callers already, raise between 5 and 6 times the big blind.

What if someone raises after I call? Whether you call the raise depends on how much money the raiser has for you to win, how many other players are involved, and what type of hand you have. As a general rule, if you have a pocket pair, lean towards calling. If there are a lot of other players (and therefore a big pot), lean towards calling. In general, fold suited connectors from early position. Fold hands like KQ that don't play well against a raiser.

How do I play from the blinds? From the small blind, play the same hands you would play from late position, plus a few more. But don't call with junk hands like T5o, just because it is “cheap”. From the big blind, if there is a raise to you, play like you would if you had already called from early position.

The chart says to fold KQo to a raise. Really? Yes, this hand performs very poorly against typical raising hands. Against AK, AQ, AA, KK, QQ, you are a big underdog. Other typical raising hands like JJ, TT, 99, AJs, are slightly ahead of you as well. The only time you might call or re-raise is from late position, if the opener was in middle or late position, indicating they might have a wider range of hands.

I was told to fold AJo from Early Position, why do you say to call with it? Folding AJo is not a bad idea in many games. We included it because, at low stakes tables (even tight or aggressive ones), the players are often playing badly enough after the flop that it can be profitable. We used data from millions of hands of low-limit poker to analyze this. The same could be said for KQo, ATs, and KJs – you can make a small profit in the long run at most low-stakes games, but folding would be perfectly acceptable from early position.

Poker Starting Hands Odds Calculator

Can I use these charts in a NL Hold'em tournament? The charts would be best applicable to the early stages of a NL tournament, when everyone has a deep stack. In the middle and later stages, they should not be used.

Texas Hold'em Starting Hands Chart

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