In my 1st Back to Basics article, I talked about one of the biggest mistakes that beginning poker players make, which is playing far too many hands. My aim in this article is to talk a little about the types of hands we should be playing when we are learning the game.
You may have watched your favourite players on TV make some outrageous plays with some very weak hands but you need to remember that these shows are edited and secondly that these guys are professionals with millions of more hands of experience at the poker tables than you.
Other starting hand articles will try to offer you exhaustive lists of what hands you should and should not play. They will teach you to play “these thirteen hands” or similar. I won’t do this as Iu think you need some freedom to adapt to what is your natural style.
The Top Notch
At the very best of hands we should be playing are big pocket pairs and AK suited. These hands are the cream of the crop and really at a premium. We should be raising and re-raising with these hands in any position as we are more than likely ahead.
AA, KK, QQ, AKs
The Very Good
Next come our medium pocket pairs and other big aces. These are strong hands and we will raise most of the time with them but they can indeed be beaten. They are good but some caution should be exercised if you face big re-raises.
JJ, TT, 99, AK, AQ, AJs
The Good
Some tighter, more conservative sorts won’t play these hands at all but they are still profitable hands to play and see flops and hope to make big hands. Of course, you might want to be careful after the flop if you think someone may have better cards.
88, 77, AJ, AT
Others
There are some other hands that newer players can play but I’ll leave them up to you as to whether you want to. They tend to be fairly good and can make you very big hands but on the flip side can be dominated so be careful.
These hands can be dangerous so exercise caution
KQ, KJ, QJs, 22-66
Hands to Avoid
The hands we want to avoid are all the obviously bad hands like T5, 84, 72 and so on. They just aren’t profitable and should be open folded whenever you get them. Hands that look like they might be good like A4 or K6 should also be mucked because if you did hit your Ace or King, you are often out-kicked and will end up losing. For beginners, these should just be avoided. Raggy Aces are just awful!
There we have a brief overview of the types of hands you should be playing. These guides will vary based on position and if you are in late position (Know nothing about position? Check back tomorrow as that is what I’ll be discussing) you can loosen up a bit. All in all, this has hopefully offered some nice advice that can be put to good use the next time you play.
This article was written by meshuganater.
Tags: Back to Basics, hold'em, poker strategy, starting hands, tactics
great article meshugs … (note to self - read the rest) … its much appreciated.