In Texas Hold’em, starting hands can greatly influence your chances of winning. Understanding which hands to play and which to fold is crucial for improving your game. Here’s a look at some of the worst and best starting hands in Texas Hold’em.
Best Starting Hands
Pocket Aces (AA)
It’s like you’ve been dealt pocket aces. It has the highest win probability pre-flop — about 85% over any random hand. Translated …… It is as if you are playing a game and with just the fact of starting it, 85% for winning. That is what it feels like to hold those “bullets”. But don’t get complacent. Strong as they might be, you still have to play them smart. Those aces are not unbeatable, they will face serious problems when the board brings up straights and flushes. But, statistically speaking, this hand is gold.
Pocket Kings (KK)
When I get dealt pocket kings, the emotions are similar to being dealt aces now too (we all love them cowboys as well right? Pre flop your win rate is about 82% plus. There, that’s stout — but read on for the tricky thing: THE ACE. Undeniably, it is a nightmare for any KK holder – an ace hits the board and suddenly your kings (a pocket pair!) could be looking second best. You need to be aggressive on these, but don’t oversleep and let that ace spoil the party. However, if an ace doesn’t hit the board you have a great opportunity to play for stacks.
Pocket Queens (QQ)
Pocket queens, “ladies”, do better by themselves but are far more sneaky. You have a 79% pre-flop win rate just by sitting on your ass — not bad. On the other hand, a lot of caution should be deployed if an ace or color king appears on the flop. Ever heard of bad beats? If you are not more careful on the board, Queens can get you into those sometimes. Meaning while strong, watch your opponents and the players who may hunt for higher pairs.
Ace-King Suited (AKs)
After all, this hand is named as the “Big Slick” for a reason. One of the muckboys – It is a nice, workable card and has both straight/flush possibilities. And my favourite stat of all: a tailored AK will win against any random hand around 50% just by not making pair! You want to hit that ideal flop — the one that connects well with your cards, such as top pair or a monster draw. Keep in mind that aggression works when you play Big Slick, particularly from later positions. This is a hand which you should not be afraid to move with.
Pocket Jacks (JJ)
Hooks or pocket jacks are a powerful holding that can easily turn into trouble. A little low pre-flop but it’s not terrible in the win rate department, around 77% or so. But man, are these guys hard to read when overcards stop on the flop — especially queens, kings and aces. Is there anyone here who has ever had Jacks and wondered what to do with a queen on the flop? Crazy, huh? You need to proceed with care when it comes to jacks — they are strong, but also one of those hands that can put you in a tough spot on different streets.
Worst Starting Hands
7-2 Off-Suit
So, without further ado — 7-2 off-suit is the worst Texas Hold’em starting hand! Sounds like beginning a long marathon with no sneakers on your feet. This hand statistically being the losingest of starting hands at roughly 5.4% to all random hands The 7-2 gap completely eliminates any chance of hitting a straight, and being off-suit renders flush dreams impossible. I guess you could play it, but why waste your time? Only if you are extremely aggressive and want to mix in a bluff should you play this hand.
8-3 Off-Suit
The next is 8-3 off suit, another hand that feels like a losing lottery ticket. You have slightly less than a 6.2% chance of winning with this hand, just better to calculate in your head as 7-2 drawing so close anyway! The cards are too gapped, leaving a straight highly unlikely, and being unsuited kills any chances of flush. How about trying to play this hand and hitting a miracle, it be equivalent of running in flip-flops half-way through at decent clip. It simply is not worth it. Except for those times when you are forced to play it, such as upon checking as the BB…
9-4 Off-Suit
9-4 off-suit is another hand that should sound the “fold” alarm in your head, You only have about 7% to hit anything considerable here, so it is not likely a good profit over the hand. The cards are so far apart they have virtually no chance of working in tandem, and the suitedness weakens such a hand even more by removing any possibility for some dreamed-of flush-building. That is like planning to start a business without having any plan at all — may be you get lucky, but what are the odds? This is one where if you see it, often times the best thing to do with this card is just let them go.
10-5 Off-Suit
Aces and jacks might sound pretty good with a 10-5 of like suits, but — remember well — it implies nothing at all. The win rate is also bad, barely better than 8%, and the massive gap in between cards makes straights almost as rare. You know the old saying, “Don’t throw good money after bad?” That’s the 10-5 off-suit. Its a trap hand that keeps your head in the game, but seldom results. If you’re not in a position where you can check for free, this hand has very little going for it.
Jack-2 Off-Suit
Then comes Jack-2 off suit, which is just another one of those hands you dread being dealt. The deuce is practically a dead card unless, by some luck of miracles, you hit an extremely favorable board. It still only wins on average about 9% of the time, and it has basically no hope to improve. Using Jack-2 is pretty much akin to putting money you cannot afford to lose on a sea biscuit type long shot in a hundred-to-one horse race — who knows, every once in one thousand instances it might surprise the odds makers and win outright but really statistically speaking… no way. Your best move most games will be to fold with Jack-2 dealt. 🤓
Maximizing Profits with the Best and Worst Starting Hands
If you are dealt a pair of aces or kings, you really should go for it. These are your breadwinners, so do not be shy. Pre-flop: You are raising — anywhere from 3x to 5 x the big blind. This serves the purpose of not just growing pot sizes, but also filters out weaker hands. The focus is to narrow it down — not all in and let half the table see every flop for cheap. If you are re-re-raised, DO NOT FREAK OUT PUSHBACK especially if the action is by loose-aggressive players. However, after the flop you should be prepared to keep firing. Aces are 85–15 percent favorite over a pair of any sort, so get as much in the pot before the flop while you have such favorable odds. If the board comes out innocuous, bet 1/2 to ¾ of your stack building value and protecting your hand.
Ace-King Suited Is a Whole Different Ballgame It is drawing strong but it is primarily a draw so you end up playing it down the street anyways. When the flop hits your top pair, or a flush/straight draw continue to bet. If there is no help on the flop, be very careful—do not throw good money after bad by chasing ghosts. It is a hand that can win you the tournament, but in cash games always remember to balance your risk and reward with this type of semi-bluff.
When Holding the Worst Hands
Now what about 7-2 off-suit or 8-3 off-suit? Folding is the very first response. However, what if you are in a spot where folding is not an option: say that you ended up reaching big blind by cold calling and then facing a small raise from one of the best NL Tournament players? This is when it becomes all-out damage control. Check or make the smallest possible bet if it has to be done then pray for a good flop, but fold immediately if you catch no help on the turn afterwards. But let’s say the flop is too good (like two 7s or 8s), all of a sudden, your dirt hand is now golden. Now, treat it like you would a strong hand- play slow early and trap the enemy &then go for max value in later streets.
If your hand is trash even for a bluff, do it right. This is something that you should also exploit when using proper position and your table image. A great splash of the pot is to bluff from a button when every one look at you. But remember, bluffing is more an art than a science: ~20% of our bets vs raising range can be bluffs; go above that number and you’re just betting to bet. One caution, when you run a big-stakes game and get busted trying to bluff with 7-2 off-suit, your rep at the table is going down so plan accordingly.
Of course the worst hands are not completely worthless — they probably have more expectation all in with good hand reading. But then again, the stakes are all or nothing and time is short. Folding into better spots is often the best course of action.