How to Play Before the Flop, Poker Starting Hands - PokerStrategy.com

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Choosing the right starting hand is half the battle in poker. If you enter the game with the right cards, you will not only avoid difficult situations in the later betting rounds, you can also be reasonably sure that you are indeed holding the best hand.

And that's exactly what this article is all about. You will learn when certain poker starting hands are playable and why, as well as how to extract maximum profit from them.

You will be provided with an overview of this in the Starting Hands Chart, which gives you a simple strategy for the first betting round in an easy to understand table format. Just as with all other strategies on PokerStrategy.com, you can download this chart to print out and use while you play.

The next section gives a quick overview of the table positions, after which we will look at the actual strategy.

Free poker money tip: Before you start playing with your free poker money at the best online poker sites—including options for Canadian players—click here to download the chart!

What is your position at the table?

The order in which players act, depends on how they are seated in relation to the dealer (D). The more players between the dealer and you during the betting round (counter clockwise), the sooner you have to act and the earlier your position.

Your position tells you when it will be your turn to act.

If you are one of the first to act, you are in early position. When you are in late position, your turn to act will come later in the round. This is important - the earlier you have to act, the stronger your hand must be, since the more players there are after you, the greater the chance that one of them has stronger cards than you.

The earlier your position, the stronger your hand must be.

There are 10 positions at a 10-handed table. These positions are divided into four groups: the early, middle, and late positions, and the blinds.

Dealer 2 Late positions 3 Middle Positions 3 Early positions 2 Blind positions Move the cursor over each group to see the corresponding seats.

The two late positions BU and CO
The dealer and the player to his right are in the late positions. The dealer is also referred to as the BU (Button) and the player to his right as the CO (Cutoff).

The three middle positions MP1, MP2 and MP3
The three players to the right of the late positions are in the middle positions. They are referred to as MP1, MP2 and MP3.

The three early positions UTG1, UTG2 and UTG3
The three players to the right of the middle positions are in the early positions. They are referred to as UTG1, UTG2 and UTG3.

The two blind positions SB and BB
The two players who have to post the blinds are in the blind positions. The player to the left of the dealer must post the Small Blind (SB); the player to his left must post the Big Blind (BB).

So far we assumed there were 10 players at the table, but this isn't always the case.

If there are only 9 players at the table, you drop one early position. If there are only 8 players at the table, there is only one early position. With 7 players or less at the table, there are no early positions at all.

For every empty seat you eliminate one position, starting with the early positions, then the middle, and so on. 

Starting Hands Chart: Which Hands Should You Play?

The PokerStrategy.com Starting Hands Chart for No Limit Texas Hold'em shows you which hands you should play and how you should play them. Simply print it out and you will always know what to do throughout the entire game.

Free poker money tip: Before you start playing with your free poker money, click here to download the chart!

Further reading: Check out the poker hands overview for a general explanation on hand ranking for all game types.

The chart contains four categories of information:

• Your starting hand
• The actions of your opponents before you
• Your position
• How you should play your starting hand considering your current position and the actions of your opponents before you.

In the left column you see the possible starting hands. Each starting hand is abbreviated. AA, for example, stands for two aces, 99 for two nines. If your hand is not included in the chart, you should fold.

A Ace Q Queen T Ten

K King J Jack 9 Nine

Suited cards s: An s behind the hand, as in A9s, stands for suited and means that both of the cards you are holding are of the same suit (hearts, diamonds, spades or clubs). Which suit it is doesn't play any role in Texas hold'em.

• • A9s stands for ace nine of the same suit
  • A4s stands for ace four of the same suit
  • QJs stands for queen jack of the same suit
  • QTs stands for queen ten of the same suit

Offsuit cards o: An o behind the hand, as in KQo, stands for offsuit and means that the two cards are of two different suits, for example if you are holding a club and a heart.

• KQo stands for king queen of different suits
• QTo stands for queen ten of different suits
• JTo stands for jack ten of different suits

The second column shows you the possible answers to this question. You obviously play differently when someone raised before you, since this is a sign that your opponent has a strong hand.

Your position tells you in what column to look next. If you are in early position, look at the third column, if you are in the Small Blind or Big Blind, look at the last column.

When you play a small pair like 55 you are speculating on hitting three-of-a-kind on the flop. This only happens approx. 12% of the time, but when it does, you will have a very strong hand that can bring in a fair amount of money. This is why it's profitable to call a raise when holding a small pair, as long as your opponent has enough money to pay you off when you do hit.

With a small pair, you should only call a raise, when your opponent has at least 20x the raise amount in his stack. By the way, this applies to you as well. You must also have 20x the raise amount. You can only win as much money as you have in your stack, so if your opponent has 20x the raise amount but you don't, it really doesn't help you. That is what the term 'Call 20' means. 

How much should you raise?

If no one raised before you, you simply raise 4 big blinds + 1 big blind for every player that entered the hand before you.

Assume you just got your starting capital and are playing NL2 (0.01/0.02). The big blind is $0.02.

When you raise, you raise at least 4 * $0.02 = $0.08.

If someone joined the pot before you, you add an additional $0.02 to this amount for a total of $0.10. If two players entered the hand before you, you add two additional big blinds to this amount and raise to a total of $0.12.

If an opponent raised before you, you re-raise to 3x the size of the original raise. For every player that calls this raise before you, you increase the size of your re-raise by the size of the original raise.

Assume you are playing NL2 (0.01/0.02). A player before you raises to $0.08. You have two aces and want to re-raise to get money in the pot. Your raise should be 3 * $0.08 = $0.24.

If another player called this raise before you, you add an additional $0.08 to this amount, for a total of $0.32.

If two players before you called the raise, you re-raise to $0.40.

If there was more than one raise before you, one thing is clear: You're not getting involved if you don't have a monster hand. You only play AA and KK, two aces and two kings. When you do have a monster, your line of play is simple in this scenario: you go all-in.

Two queens (QQ) or ace king (AK) should be folded, just like every other hand that isn't AA or KK. 

What if someone raises after you?

If you have a pair of aces or kings, you should just keep on raising. The best thing you can do is try and go all-in before the flop and put all your money in the middle. Some beginners have trouble doing this, but keep in mind that you are well ahead against every other pair by approx. 80%. You can hardly find a more profitable opportunity to go all-in.

Fold all other hands, including AK and AQ, hard as it may be for you to do so. You can, however, make an exception to this rule when you have a pocket pair.

There is, as we just said, one exception. When you have a pocket pair smaller than AA or KK, you can make an exception and call a raise, as long as both you and your opponent have stacks at least 20x the amount you're about to call.

Just like when you follow the Call 20 rule from the Starting Hands Chart, you are speculating on hitting three-of-a-kind on the flop. If you do hit, chances are good that you'll be able to win your opponent's entire stack.

You will find players who only min-raise fairly often in the lower limits. Whatever they may think they are doing, it certainly doesn't make much sense.

If you have already entered the hand and one opponent raises after you by the smallest amount allowed, a so-called min-raise, you should always call, unless, of course, you have AA or KK, in which case you re-raise. 

Examples

Limit	NL 2 $0.01/$0.02 (big blind = $0.02)
Your hand
Position	UTG3 (early position)
Situation	You have two players in front of you. Both call and pay the $0.02 big blind. Now it's your turn to make a decision.

You definitely want to raise with this hand. AK is, quite simply, a good hand. But how much should you raise to?

The rule says: Raise 4 big blinds + 1 big blind for each player that has entered the hand.

In this example 2 players have already called. You raise to a total of 6 big blinds. And since the big blind in this limit is $0.02, you raise to a total of 6 * $0.02 = $0.12.

Limit	NL 2 $0.01/$0.02 (big blind = $0.02)
Your hand
Position	MP3 (middle position)
Situation	Everyone folds except for the player directly before you, who raises to $0.08. He then has $1.90 left in his stack.

Since you have a pocket pair and an opponent raised before you, you play according to the Call 20 rule. This rule says you can call a raise when you have a pocket pair and you and your opponent both have at least 20* the size of the raise left in your stacks.

Your opponent's raise was $0.08. 20 * $0.08 = $1.60. This is the amount both, you, and your opponent must have in your stacks for you to be able to call his raise with your pocket pair. Your opponent has $1.90 remaining, and you always have a full buy-in ($2), since you are a good player. In this example you can call the raise and see if you hit three-of-a-kind on the flop.

Limit	NL 2 $0.01/$0.02 (big blind = $0.02)
Your hand
Position	MP2 (middle position)
Situation	Everyone before you folds. You obviously raise with AK; $0.08 is the right amount in this example. But then you encounter resistance, as an opponent after you raises, to $0.24. What should you do?

If your first thought is 'fold,' you have already learned quite a bit. Your hand may look nice, but you have to fold AK if there's a large raise after you.

Limit	NL 2 $0.01/$0.02 (big blind = $0.02)
Your hand
Position	BU (Button, late position)
Situation	You are on the Button, meaning you are the dealer. Everyone before you folds. The Starting Hands Chart says to raise. You raise to $0.08, but the player in the Big Blind doesn't want to play along and raises to $0.16.

In this example you are confronted with a min-raise. Normally you would just fold A8s when someone raises after you, but the rules say you should always call when an opponent min-raises after you.

Take a look at the flop. You have position on your opponent, and your hand isn't all that bad. Just don't play for a big pot if all you hit is a pair of aces or eights.

Limit	NL 2 $0.01/$0.02 (big blind = $0.02)
Your hand
Position	BU (Button, late position)
Situation	A player in early position raises to $0.08. Then a player in middle position re-raises to $0.24. Now it's your turn to act.

This is a very nice situation to be in. Of course, a pair of aces would be even better, but even with a pair of kings you don't have to think twice before going all-in. Instead of trying to figure out how high your raise should be, you simply go all-in and bet all your money.

If you had an ace and a king (AK) or two queens (QQ) you would have to fold. These hands are rarely good when two opponents raise before you.

Conclusion

Once you've understood how to use the Starting Hands Chart, you will be on the safe side in the first betting round. Choosing the right starting hands is half the work in poker and a lot of players burn their money at exactly this point. They play too many weak hands or don't know when they should stay out of the line of fire with cards that they think are pretty good, but are obviously too weak in the given situation.

You can avoid uncomfortable situations on the flop when you carefully select your starting hands as recommended by the Starting Hands Chart. You will find opponents who are all too happy to call, especially in the lower limits. There is no reason for you to try to create marginal situations. Your motto is "winning by folding."

In the next article of this series you will learn what kind of hands you can hit on the flop or on later streets. You will also learn the best way to play your hand.

Tip: In addition to reading our articles, you can also use our other educational materials to help you learn how to play poker, faster.

Go to the next article: How to Play After the Flop

LINKS
Printable Versions: The Starting Hands Chart .pdf Related Articles: Introduction to the Big Stacks Strategy How to Play After the Flop