Texas Holdem Best Hands Pre Flop
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- Texas Holdem Best Hands Preflop And Play
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- Welcome » On this site you can find all possible combinations of preflop hands that can occur in Texas Hold'em Poker. As a bonus you will also learn the nicknames of the different hands. The hands are ranked from #1 to #169, where #1 is the best. This ranking is applicable when the poker table is full ring (9-10 people).
- The Best Texas Holdem Poker Hands Rankings In Order. The first things that you need to learn when playing Texas Holdem are rules and poker hands rankings. Without knowing what beats what you will be struggling to move forward. Thus, spending a few minutes going over the list of poker hands in order will pay for itself in no time.
So make sure you think very carefully before every flop and build the foundations for a profitable hand by making the correct preflop strategy decision. Preflop starting hand selection. Choosing which hands to play and which hands to fold is fundamental to playing a winning poker game. The best hands to play in Texas Holdem are: Big pocket.
Whether you’re playing a cash game or a tournament, prefer to play tight or loose, are gambling with some extra money or are on a tight budget, your pre-flop strategy in Texas Hold ‘em can vary dramatically. What makes this seemingly simple aspect of the game even more complex is that, just as you’ll have to evaluate several factors before you sit down to help develop a pre-flop strategy, you’ll consistently have to change up your strategy as the game goes along.
Cash Game Pre-Flop Play vs. Tournament Pre-Flop Play
In a cash game, you’ll want to be much more conservative with your pre-flop strategy than you would be in tournaments, where your goal is to knock other players out of the game. Sometimes that requires a willingness to gamble when you only have a small advantage, or even if you know it’s a coin flip situation. However, cash games are more of a grind, and with real money on the line with each decision, you’re often better served by taking a more conservative route before the flop, then playing the hand as it develops. Learn more about cash versus tournament strategy here.
Pre-Flop Play in Tournaments
In tournaments, people tend to play tighter before the flop than they do in cash games. One reason for that is because the pre-flop raises as a proportion of chip stack are usually much higher in tournaments – meaning players have to be more selective when deciding to come into a pot. There’s also a heightened awareness that one false move can mean the end of your tournament life, which tends to dampen people’s pre-flop enthusiasm.
To take advantage of that tendency among tournament players, especially in the later stages of play, you can get very aggressive pre-flop. Even when your opponents don’t believe you have the hand you’re representing, they will often fold knowing that if they’re wrong it could be the last play they make in that tournament.
Texas Hold ‘em is always a game that requires a player to abandon fear, and rarely is that more true than in pre-flop tournament situations. In tournaments, the onus is on you to put your opponents to a decision, and pre-flop they are less likely to take you up on that challenge than in any other scenario .
Pre-Flop Play in Cash Games
Cash games require quite a bit more finesse than tournaments in almost all areas, but especially before the flop. While you will certainly need to be aggressive in cash games, using that aggression pre-flop is more likely to get you in trouble than to help you build your stack.
Doyle Brunson, considered by many to be the greatest all-around poker player of all-time, wrote in the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em section of his classic 1979 book, Super System, that in a cash game you should almost never move all-in before the flop unless you have pocket aces or pocket kings. And while the game has changed considerably in the more than 30 years since the book was published, that is one rule that still holds true. For more information on Super System and other poker strategy books, see our Poker Books guide.
Playing Tight Before the Flop
Conservative pre-flop play is a good strategy for avoiding trouble. You rarely raise, only doing so with premium hands, which means you can make your decisions once more cards have been dealt and bets have been made, giving you more information from which to work.
Texas Holdem Best Hands Preflop And Play
However, playing tight before the flop also limits your options as the hand progresses. Rarely raising before the flop means you won’t establish strength that can be used after the flop or turn. That will keep you from being able to make small bluffs to pick up extra pots, or use other power poker techniques.
Tight pre-flop play also keeps you from being able to take control of specific hands, or the table in general. Consistent raising, in and of itself, serves as an intimidating factor, no matter when you use it. If you aren’t raising before the flop, opponents will be able to easily read your hand – knowing that you only raise with premium cards – making their decision-making process much simpler.
Aggressive Pre-Flop Play
On the other hand, playing more aggressively before the flop, while it exposes you to more risk, puts more chips in play and opens up the game for the whole table. Pre-flop raising builds pots, so that when you do have the best hand or decide to bluff there is already a decent, if not substantial, amount of money to be won.
Regular pre-flop raising also allows you to sneak up on your opponents. Deciding to raise in late position with a 9-7 suited, for instance, is one way to throw the table off balance. Many of the other players are likely to assume you’re raising with at least a couple of face cards, which means when a middle flop comes up – say, 9-6-5 – they will be less inclined to think you’ve hit your hand. Then, when you do bet out, you’ll have an even greater advantage because you’ve masked your hand.
Deciding to raise in late position with a 9-7 suited, for instance, is one way to throw the table off balance.
Raising aggressively before the flop is something many inexperienced players are afraid to do. It means you’ll be involved in more hands, are putting yourself at risk of being re-raised and could find yourself in situations where you feel compelled to make a follow-through bet on the flop no matter the situation.
Those are all valid concerns. But, as the saying goes, you have to give action to get action. Unless you are actively adding to the money in play, your opponents are only going to want to get involved with you if they feel they have an advantage, or the ability to sneak up on you with a good drawing hand. So, by playing too conservatively before the flop you may unwittingly be exposing yourself to a different kind of risk altogether.
In the end, you have to figure out which pre-flop style works best for your temperament and skill level. Many people begin their poker careers with a conservative strategy, then implement more aggressive tactics as they gain experience, which is something that is worth keeping in mind as you become more comfortable at the table.
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- Learn to Play Poker: Getting Started
- Poker Game Variations
- Texas Hold ‘em Guide
- Learn to Play Texas Hold ‘em
- Hold ‘em Gameplay
- Texas Hold ‘em Strategy
- Beginner Hold ‘em Strategy
- Intermediate Hold ‘em Strategy
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- Learn to Play Blackjack
- Blackjack Dealing
- Blackjack Strategy
- Blackjack Resources
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The difference between pre-flop and post-flop play in Texas Hold ‘em is akin to the distinction between lower primates and human beings. While pre-flop strategy shouldn’t be discounted, especially in tournaments, the real money is made after the flop. Playing the odds, disguising your hand, picking up on your opponents’ tells and varying your style of play are just a few basic strategies that become much more nuanced after the flop. In short, post-flop play is an evolved version of what goes on before the first three community cards are dealt.
If you want to tighten up your pre-flop play, you can read our article on the subject. If you’re looking for post-flop strategies, however, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Gauging the Table
Whether you’ve called, raised or checked your way to the flop, the first thing you need to do after the cards are dealt is get a read on your table. Much of that will depend on how many players are still in the pot and what kind of action took place before the flop. Based on the information you gained from that initial round of betting, and how your opponents react to the flop, you should be able to come up with at least a superficial idea of their strength or weakness.
Before you make any sort of decision, look around the table, try to spot if someone in later position appears eager to make a raise, or someone in early position might be trying to trap. The way they look at their chips, or fidget with their hands can give them away. Conversely, if it looks like everybody at the table is about to fall asleep, it might be time to try to steal the pot.
Proceeding After a Pre-Flop Raise
One of the most common and most debated techniques in post-flop Texas Hold ‘em strategy is the follow-through bet. It comes into play when you raise before the flop and are either in first position or the action has been checked to you afterward. Many argue that almost every time you are in that position you should follow through with an attempt to take the hand down.
The problem with the follow-through bet is that it has become so common that people rarely fold to it anymore. Instead, they often use it as an opportunity to bluff on a check-raise. There is always a place for a properly timed follow-through, but you should be highly aware of your table image and opponents’ tendencies before using it when you’ve missed the flop.
If you were the pre-flop raiser and then hit your hand on the flop, the first thing you’ll want to do is consider the drawing possibilities on the board. If there is an obvious flush draw, you might want to put in a slightly oversized bet to dissuade an opponent from chasing you down.
Blackjack double down for less. If you double for anything between $55 and $195, you’ve created a difficult choice for your opponent. He can no longer lock you out with a split.
You’ll also need to be aware of the chance that though you’ve hit your hand, one of your opponents may have made something even better. For instance, if you’re playing ace-king, raise pre-flop, get a couple of callers, then see an ace-jack-three flop, initially you’ll probably feel pretty good about your hand. However, someone could have easily called your raise with ace-jack or pocket three’s, in which case you’ll be in a position to lose a lot of money.
Finally, you’ll want to change up the way you play on a regular basis. Just as you shouldn’t use the follow-through bet every time you’re in position to do so, don’t play your big pocket pairs the same way every time. And when you’ve hit a flop, vary your strategy between trying to take control of the hand and sneaking up on your opponents.
Proceeding After a Pre-Flop Call or Check
If you’ve managed to sneak into the pot by simply calling the big blind, or checking your option when you’re in that position and there hasn’t been a raise, post-flop strategy is slightly less complicated. The onus isn’t necessarily on you to lead the action, and you can often make decisions based entirely on how hard the flop hit you.
If you’ve made your hand, it’s just a matter of deciding whether to slow play or come out firing. In no-limit Hold ‘em, slow playing is often a recipe for disaster. If you have a good hand you want to establish it quickly to avoid getting run down. In limit Hold ‘em, slow playing is a more useful tactic since it’s hard to chase people off draws, and you’ll want to build the pot up as much as possible to realize the greatest return if your hand holds up.
Playing after the flop off of a smooth call also gives you an opportunity to sit back a little, observe your opponents, and use that information. Without the pressure of leading the action, you can react to the flow of play. Maybe there is nothing but checking going on, so you can try to steal the pot with a small bet. Or maybe there is a lot of action, and your top pair no longer seems so promising.
The players hand with five-six suited now becomes three of a kind.
However, the best part of playing after the flop when you’ve called to get there is that it allows you to sneak up on everyone when you do hit your hand. If you called a pre-flop raise with a drawing hand like five-six suited, only to hit triples, it’s going to be hard for your opponents to make that read. You are now in position to raise or check-raise, and maybe even draw in someone who refuses to believe their pocket aces are no longer the best hand.
Playing the Turn and River
If you’re still around after the first round of post-flop betting, you’re probably one of only two or three players still in the hand. While that limits some of the factors you have to account for, the escalating amounts of money involved in the betting add enough extra pressure to render those advantages moot.
While bet size and calculating odds are important at every stage of betting, the turn and the river are where they are the most crucial. It might be easy to call a small bet on the flop with your flush draw but, if the turn is a blank, you’ll have to consider the pot odds on your next call option much more carefully. On the other hand, if you think you’re winning, it’s imperative that you make a large enough bet to chase your opponents away.
Texas Holdem Best Hands Preflop Live
If you would like some help calculating pot odds, check out our Poker Odds article.
The turn and river are also where you get the chance to put every type of “higher” poker strategy to work. If you think you’re great at reading your opponents, this is where that skill will come into play more than ever. You might be facing someone who doesn’t often play deep into hands, and appears uncomfortable in those later stages. It could serve you well to make a bet or raise where you would normally call or check, as putting extra pressure on them could force a mistake.
Playing a risky hand can depend upon your table position.
Position and pressure are two other factors that become increasingly important the longer the hand goes on. When there are only two or three players left in a hand, where you sit in relation to them makes all the difference.
If you’ve been betting into somebody with top pair or two pairs, and they seem determined to call you down, it’s easy to lose your nerve. If you’re out of position late in a hand, unless you’ve got the nuts, it might be best to check and try to make your money by calling an opponent’s bet.
Having a positional advantage also allows you to do what every good poker player is always looking to do – exert pressure. Especially as the hand wears on, the more pressure you can put on your opponents, the higher the chances are they’ll make a mistake, and the less likely they are to make a move that puts you to a tough decision.
Texas Holdem Best Hands Preflop Free
Like geology, poker is about time and pressure. If you have the patience, the guts and the wherewithal to avoid danger and make your opponents work through as many decisions as possible, with a little luck you can wear them down to dust.