Selecting winning poker hands

Poker is a game of skill. Yes, it is also gambling because there is a degree of uncertainty as to what cards will be dealt, but unlike casino games such as craps, blackjack, and roulette that are staked by the house and designed to collect a certain percentage of players’ money, poker is about trying to win money from other players with your savvy play.

As you know, in Texas hold’em you are dealt two cards face down at the opening of each hand. At this point, unless you have to pay a blind, you do not have to bet any money to view these cards. If they are lousy cards, you get to fold them and save your money for something better. But of course deciding what are lousy cards is the tricky part. You also need to monitor your emotional desire to play. You want to play poker, and this urge can tempt you toward betting a hand just because you want to do something or because you are down and the craving to win a pot is eating away at your discipline. Or, perhaps you are enjoying a bit of a winning streak and starting to feel like you can do no wrong. These forces and others will be acting upon you every time you pick up your two pocket cards. You must constantly work to avoid viewing your cards through rose-colored glasses or becoming too gun shy.

Fortunately, types of hands have been identified through mathematical reasoning to help you assess the quality of your hand.

Super premium hands

Ace-Ace

King-King

Queen-Queen

Ace-King (Called Big Slick if suited)

As you can see, the super premium hands are the top three pocket pairs and an Ace and King, best when suited but still powerful when unsuited. The highest pocket pairs are preferable because no one will have a higher pair if you start with Aces, or at least the odds are low that other people will have a higher pair when you start with Kings or Queens . Of course the possibility of someone having the same pair as you exists, but the probability of that remains low. Even the combination of Ace-King is considered a super premium hand. They are high cards that could pair up on the board or even fill up into a full house or straight. Also, if you get the suited Big Slick Ace-King, then you are set up for a possible flush.

Super premium hands solely consist of high cards. These are the hands you are waiting to get. You should bet at least to see the flop.

Premium hands

All pocket pairs Jack and below.

Of course the value of the hand drops as you descend the deck, but all pocket pairs have potential. Starting with a pair is better than not having a pair. Even little pairs like deuces or threes could be worth betting, depending on your table position and how other players are betting their hands. Table position will be discussed in the next section.

Sub-premium hands

Suited connectors, i.e. Jack-10 of clubs and 8, 7 of hearts and so forth.

With suited connectors, you are looking to flop a straight, make a flush, or even pair up. Depending on what you get at the flop, you may or may not proceed with betting. Basically, you will need to see something very promising on the flop to keep betting.

The sub-premium category might look like a good way to go into debt for your dreams, but if you get a good flop, these suited connectors often turn out to be big pair killers, which they are often called, usually with great lament.

Some gray area exists between the premium and sub-premium categories. Many factors within the game can influence how you will judge these categories. Poker games are dynamic situations created by living people. Therefore each game has an attitude at any given time. Hands might switch from premium to sub-premium or vice versa depending on how many people are playing, your table position, and how “live” the game is, meaning the frequency of bets, the amount of bets, and how many people are betting. For example, although a pocket pair of deuces is a premium hand, its value plummets if one or more players at the table are doing a lot of betting and raising. The action is simply getting a little hot for deuces.

I play what is called situational poker. Yes, I consider odds, but the mathematics can only take you so far in the mental combat of poker. I have to always take into account the advantage or disadvantage of my table position, how many players are betting, and how aggressively they are betting. A good rule to take from the situational approach is that the looser or livelier the game, the fewer hands you can play.

Poor hands (or to be blunt, crap)

Any unmatched cards, nothing sequential and nothing suited, i.e. 6 of hearts and Queen of diamonds or Jack of clubs and 7 of spades.

This is the category where you fold. You really do not need to think it through. I will grant that you might get lucky playing this junk, but most of the luck will be bad. In general, you will fold more hands than you play, so don’t sweat it.

Avoid the mistake of playing your hand just because an Ace is in it. An Ace with any low card is called Ace Rag. Inexperienced players get excited about the Ace, but the low card makes it a lousy hand in no-limit Texas hold’em.

Now that I’ve laid out the categories of hands so you know when you should bet, when you should consider betting, and when you should fold, now it’s time to deeply contemplate the concept of table position.

Continue: Table position