No Limit Hold’em Starting Hands
Any professional poker player will tell you that getting your starting hand selection right will make things much easier for you on later streets. This means picking the right kind of cards to call the blinds with from different table positions. The last thing we want to do is be heading into flops that we have no chance of hitting, calling re-raises against hands that have us dominated (AJ vs AK) or calling to see the river with a rubbish hand at show down. By limiting our starting hand selection in no limit holdem we can plan ahead for different flops. By sticking to a tight selection of starting hands we can also protect our table image and avoid losing chips in the long term by playing weak hands.
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Premium Hands: High Pocket Pairs (JJ-AA) and AQ+
Being dealt one of these pre-flop hands is awesome because they are in the top 5% of pocket card holdings and you’re chances of winning a pot are huge. When you have a high pocket pair like KK you should be willing to play them hard and make as big a pot as possible whilst you have the most equity in the hand. You’ll almost always have the best hand in this situation so you should be looking to build the pot quickly or even force an opponent to move all-in.
You need to open-raise high pocket pairs and AQ to 3-4BBs +1 BB for each limper. For example, if I’m in mid-position with AQ and 2 players have called the big blind worth $1, then I will raise abut 5BBs. You have to raise your top hands at this stage to stop limpers calling to see the flop too cheaply with marginal hands that they are trying to outdraw you with. Remember that in multi-way pots the value of AK or AA goes down considerably. Also remember that AK is a drawing hand anyway and on a missed flop with multiple opponents you’re very unlikely to be ahead. It’s horrible when you lose your AK to a hand like 6h-7h who gets a lucky straight on the flop. If you had raised pre-flop then it reduces the chances of this happening. Hence, by limiting the pot to 1 or 2 opponents, you give yourself a much better chance of winning it with the best hand post-flop.
Also, if you face a raise from behind you, you should be willing to re-raise or 3bet the pot by raising 3x their opening raise. E.g. MP raises to $2, you should 3bet to $6.
Low-Mid Pocket Pairs (77-1010)
Low-Mid pocket pairs are still very good hands pre-flop, but you have to be a lot more careful in case you run into opponents with a better pocket pairs or hitting a flop with lots of over cards on the table.
In low-stakes poker I generally think there are two routes you can go down to playing these pocket pairs. The first is that you can raise pockets with the objective of either winning the pot then or building the pot as big as possible in case you hit your set. The advantages of raising your pockets here is that it gives you a greater perceived hand-range which makes bluffing more effective down the road. The second thing you can do is just limp from early position. This allows you to draw in lots of opponents and see the flop cheaply so that when you make your set there is a higher chance of someone else hitting the flop and calling all of your value bets.
I tend not to 3bet these hands in low stakes games unless I am trying to steal the pot. The reason I avoid this is because I am only getting called by hands that beat me - and if I get re-raised than I simply have to fold.
Marginal Hands: Suited/Non-Suited Connectors and Broadway Cards
Suited and non-suited connectors (such as 6h-7h and 10d-Jc) are great for limping in to pots cheaply because you can make a straight or flush on the flop. I only recommend limping with these hands from position (LP or CO). From here, you have less of a chance of getting re-raised and hit back into, plus you will have relative position on your opponent in later streets, which allows you to bluff or double-barrel pots more profitable.
Junkie Hands
You need to throw away 50% of your worst starting hands sine these will be unprofitable to enter pots with. Although this might sound a bit boring, you have to remember that poker is a game of profits and playing weak hands these will be –EV in the long term, regardless of what stakes you’re at. If you want to play more hands and not have to sit out as long, than I recommend multi-tabling or playing 6-max games instead.