Best starting hands in NL Texas Holdem

The biggest mistake beginning poker players make is with their starting hands. In fact, most poker “fish” are surprised to find out that there is actually a system for picking starting hands. They will play almost any face card, no matter what the second card is.

In some ways, poker is a bit like dating. The better the “car” you show up in, the better chance you have of getting lucky. The same is true with starting hands.

Rolls-Royces

1. A-A

2. K-K

3. Q-Q

These are the best of the best hands in NL Hold’em. All three of these hands are ones you can feel fairly confident going “all-in” before the flop. The odds will be on your side.

Mercedes

1. J-J

2. A-K suited

3. 10-10

You should feel good if you pick up any of these three hands. The chances of someone having something better before the flop are slim. Go ahead and put a good pre-flop raise out there. If you chase everyone off, so be it. But beware, the value of these hands can diminish depending on what the board yields. If over cards, pairs, flush or straight draws materialize, you need to protect your cards with a big raise, or fold and fight another day.

Cadillacs

1. A-K

2. A-Q suited

3. K-Q suited

These are good hands, but all three can be tricky to play. A pre-flop protection raise is a good way to play them. Keep your eyes open after the flop for draws and overcards. With A-Q suited, you have a lot of ways to make your hand, but be careful if just an ace comes out, someone may have A-K or two pair with the ace. The same applied to K-Q suited.

Chryslers

1. A-Q

2. 9-9

3. K-Q

4. A-J suited

5. 8-8

6. Q-J suited

7. J-10 suited

Some good hands need a little help. All of these hands are worth raising with, but they need a little bit of help to be really strong. For example, a pair of eights is in trouble if an overcard comes out on the flop. But get a third eight and bingo-bongo-bango, to borrow a phrase from Mike Sexton.

Mustangs

1. K-Q

2. A-J

3. K-J

4. Q-J

5. 7-7

6. 6-6

7. 5-5

8. 4-4

9. 3-3

10. 2-2

Any of these hands can get better with just a little bit of luck. With the pairs, you are looking for three of a kind, or “trips”, to come out on the flop or you should be ready to ditch them if someone bets into you. The general rule with face cards is you want them to match up with other face cards in order to play them before the flop. In other words, Q-J is playable, while Q-6 is a hand that most players should fold.

Saturns

1. A-10

2. K-10

3. Q-10

4. J-10

5. A-9 suited

6. A-8 suited

7. A-7 suited

8. A-6 suited

9. 10-9 suited

10. 9-8 suited

11. J-9 suited

12. 8-7suited

13. 7-6 suited

Play these hands at your own risk. All can get really good in a hurry. But all of them can be worthless in a hurry as well. If you can get a cheap flop, all are worth hanging around to see if you hit a jackpot like a nut flush or a straight with the list of connectors.

The bottom line is to have a plan. If you’re just starting out or playing in your first tournament, you might want to limit yourself to the top three categories on this list. As you feel more comfortable or as the field gets smaller, you could loosen up to include all of these hands. Only if you’ve found a pigeon at your table or if you’re down to heads up should you play many hands that you don’t see here.

Good luck and be careful out there.