Holdem Starting Hands
Just as a good foundation is important to the construction of a solid building, your Hole Card selections will determine your strength after the flop as well as your long term profitability. The Starting Hand Chart below is for a full table (9-10 players), Cash Limit Holdem, where the players are neither too tight nor too loose and aggressive. It will have you folding your Hole Cards 85% of the time. Please, don't get bored, make money instead.
I have grouped the starting hands into three categories: pairs, unsuited, and suited. Then I ranked each category from the strongest hands to the weakest. By following this chart you will become a tight aggressive player. Your table position will dictate how tight or how aggressive you may play your hole cards.
Let me repeat that this chart is for a full table of Limit Holdem. It does not include hands that may be played heads up or No Limit such as: low connectors, gappers, low suited connectors, and suited gappers. At the final stages of Sit and Gos and Multi-Table Tournaments, you will want to add some of these weaker card combinations to your playbook. This chart should serve you well as you build upon your experience.
How the Chart Works
At the top left corner of the chart you will notice the section called Check/Fold followed by the value 0. What this means is when you see a 0 within any of the columns, you will check if no one bets and fold if they do.
The next section called Call/Fold is represented by the value 1. This means you may call the Big Blind otherwise you need to fold any raises.
In order for you to either raise or call a raise, your hand ranking and table position will need to show a value of 2. If the value is 3, then you may either re-raise or call a re-raise.
The Blinds column needs further explanation. I decided to combine the Small Blind column with the Big Blind column in order to streamline the chart. When you see a value of 1 in the Blinds column, the Small Blind can call the Big Blind, but must fold to a raise. The Big Blind may call one raise, since he is already in the pot for a unit. I repeat: the Small Blind may call the Big Blind or fold. The Big Blind may call one raise, or fold.
The first column within the chart is the ranking of the two Hole Cards within their group, followed by the actual hole cards. The Blinds column includes decisions for both the big and small blinds as explained above. The "E" column is for early position (players 3 & 4). "M" is for middle position, (players 5,6, & 7)). "L" is for late position (players 8,9, & 10). Enjoy.
