Starting hand guide

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This starting hand guide helps beginners choose what hands they should play in what position.

Position is where you are sitting relative to where the dealer button is. Having the button is the best position you can have since you act last and get to see everyone else’s actions. If someone raises before it is your turn you can better judge whether you should call, fold, or raise. It should be noted that the following guides are meant for an un-raised pot. If a pot is raised you will need a much stronger hand then one you would originally call or even raise with from that position.

If a hand is listed like 98s that means you may call with any 9 and 8 that is of the same suit. If it is listed like 98o you should call with any 9 and 8 of a different suit.

A Xs means you can call with an ace with any other card of the same suit.

In early position you want to play much stronger hand then you would in late position.

Middle position you can start to open up the kinds of hands you can call with. You can start to play hands like suited connectors when there is 3 to 4 callers in front of you, and smaller pocket pairs all the way down to 22. You will want to play these hands because they can become very profitable if you hit a straight/flush draw or 3 of a kind (a set) on the flop. However you want to the 3 to 4 callers in front of you to make these hands profitable to play if you get your draw or hit your set.

Late position you can open up the hands you play even more. Remember to watch out for raised pots, and the fact that you need a much better hand to call a raise then you would to raise with. If someone raises before you it is not correct to play many of these hands, you should probably use the early position starting hands as your guide in that case.

You can start playing many of the suited Kings along with the Aces in late position if there are many callers (5-6+) hoping to hit a flush draw. If the game is very loose with many callers and the pot is un-raised you also may start playing one gap suited connectors (97s and 86s).

Starting Hand Guide

Notation Legend

Early Position

Middle Position

Late Position

A – Ace
K – King
Q – Queen
J – Jack
T – Ten