Texas Holdem Tips: How To Deal With Your Starting Hand

If you are new to playing poker you will find there are a lot of things to learn and remember. A list of what to look out for when you are dealt your hand in Texas Holdem will be useful.

These are the best possible things that you can see when you look at your cards:

Pair of Aces, “American Airlines” or “pocket rockets”. This is what everyone hopes to see when they pick up their cards. It’s as good as it gets.

Pair of Kings. Second best means there’s only one opening hand that can beat yours.

Pair of Queens. You should be feeling pretty optimistic if this is what you pick up.

Ace and King. This is the best unmatched pair, especially if they are suited, which gives you a chance of getting a nut flush.

Pair of Jacks. This often does well, although if there’s a higher card in the flop you may be unlucky.

Ace and Queen. Offers the same possibilities for a flush as the Ace and King, and with two high cards you’re starting in a really solid position.

King and Queen. If they’re the same suit you’re especially lucky. Any Aces turning up in the community cards could be a threat, though.

Ace and Jack. It might not seem that great, but it’s worth playing on with this hand, because there are a lot of worse combinations that could be sitting around the table.

King and Jack.. Unless your cards are suited you are taking a bit of a risk with this hand. You’ve got two fairly high cards, but be aware that you’re not as lucky as you could be.

Ace and Ten. The Ace makes this a pretty good start, but all of the hands that have been described so far are better, so take care.

Once you have learned to recognize how good your hand is, then you will be in a much better position to know how to proceed in the game. The key to poker is being able to decide when you should hold and when you need to fold. Discretion is often the better part of valor, and one of the most important things you will learn is to be able to give up when your cards are really not worth the risk.

If you’re playing Texas Holdem and you receive one of the following hands, then folding is probably your best option. There may be ways of working with these cards in other versions of poker, however. Here they are from least dreadful to the absolute worst.

5 and 9, or “Dolly Parton”. There’s not much point going on if you’re dealt this hand.

2 and 10. You might have heard of Doyle Brunson’s amazing WSOP wins after beginning with these cards, but unless you are playing at the same level as him, you’re not likely to do well with this start.

2 or 3 or 4 and 9. The 9 is a fairly high card, but if it’s all you’ve got going for you your prospects don’t look good. Should you happen to get a pair for your 9 you can still be beaten by plenty of other hands, and there’s no way you can make a straight.

2 and 6. If by incredible chance you manage to add a 3, 4 and 5 to this hand you’ll have a straight. I wouldn’t bet on it though- especially if you’re playing with more than three people.

3 and 7 or 8. You can beat someone with a 2 in the place of your 3, but it’s not worth risking anything on this hand. You can’t get much worse than this.

2 and 7 or 8. This is one of the most depressing sights you can see. You won’t be able to get a straight. If they’re not even suited then you haven’t even got a chance of making a low flush.