Starting Hands Qualifications
The charts below reflect the recommended action for different starting hands under different situations. Each of these situations are cross-referenced with three different positions, early, middle and late position. This is a guideline only, and the player needs to adapt the strategies on this chart to his specific environment at the time. This is not analogous to a blackjack basic strategy chart where it is crucial to memorize the table. Instead, the importance is on the understanding of the reasoning behind each situation. When you are at the table you can use the same logic to make your decisions.
The hands are categorized in three different general categories: pairs, suited cards and unsuited cards. Hands that are not included should be folded with rare exceptions. This chart is for a typical 9-handed game, with a distribution of 2 good players, 3 decent players and 3 bad players. You will have to adjust this chart if there are more good players or more bad players at the table. Against more tough, aggressive players, refrain from getting involved in a pot with drawing hands unless you are quite sure it will be a multiple player pot. Against more passive players, you can take more chances with drawing hands in early position since you will be more confident that the pot will be played by multiple players.
You should also differentiate between passive and aggressive players who act before you or after you. You can see the actions of those that act before you, but you will not know the actions of the players behind you until after you have acted. If the players behind you are generally loose, it means you can be a bit looser and call with some drawing hands. If the players behind you are generally tight, it means you can be a bit more aggressive with the high cards as you won't have to worry about them calling your raise and making it a multiple player pot (a call by any player may encourage other players to call as well). It also means your drawing hands are worth less since you cannot count on the tight players behind you to follow your limp by limping themselves.
The correct strategy for some hands fall in a gray area between two or three decisions. With those hands, all the choices are listed, although my preferred action is listed first. You must choose for yourself based on your own style and how your opponents play. For example, if you do not feel comfortable being the aggressor all the time, especially in early position, you may choose to limp instead of raise if the recommended action on the chart is "Raise / Limp". JJ is such a hand. If you do not feel like mixing it up against tricky players, you may decide to limp in early position (the second option listed for JJ) rather than raise.
Most hands have four rows attached to it. For those with only one row, it means the same strategy should be used in all situations. The four rows fall under the following situations:
- No one has yet called
- There are limpers but no raises
- There is a raise and no other players yet involved
- There is a raise and at least two other callers
| Pair | Early Position | Middle Position | Late Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA, KK, QQ | Re-raise | Re-raise | Re-raise |
| JJ / TT | Raise / Limp | Raise | Raise |
| Raise | Raise | Raise | |
| Re-Raise | Re-Raise | Re-Raise | |
| N/A | Call | Call | |
| 99 | Raise/Limp | Raise | Raise |
| Limp | Raise | Raise | |
| Fold | Re-Raise / Call | Re-Raise / Call | |
| N/A | Call | Call | |
| 88 / 77 | Raise / Limp | Raise | Raise |
| Limp | Limp | Raise | |
| Fold | Call / Fold | Re-Raise against mid/late position raiser / Fold against earlier raisers | |
| N/A | Call | Call | |
| 66 / 55 | Fold / Limp | Fold / Limp | Raise |
| Fold / Limp | Limp | Raise / Call | |
| Fold | Fold | Re-Raise against late position raiser / Fold against earlier raisers | |
| N/A | Call with 3 or more players already in / Fold | Call with 3 or more players / Fold | |
| 44 / 33 / 22 | Fold | Fold | Raise |
| Fold | Limp | Raise / Call / Fold | |
| Fold | Fold | Re-Raise/Fold against late position raisers / Fold against earlier raisers | |
| N/A | Call with 4 or more players already in / Fold | Call with 4 or more players / Fold |
| Suited Cards | Early Position | Middle Position | Late Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| AKs | Re-Raise | Re-Raise | Re-Raise |
| AQs | Raise | Raise | Raise |
| Raise | Raise | Raise | |
| Call / Re-Raise | Call / Re-Raise | Re-Raise / Call | |
| N/A | Call | Call / Re-Raise | |
| AJs | Raise / Limp | Raise | Raise |
| Raise / Call | Raise / Call | Raise | |
| Call / Fold | Call / Fold | Re-Raise / Call / Fold | |
| N/A | Call | Call | |
| ATs | Limp | Raise | Raise |
| Limp | Raise / Call | Raise | |
| Fold | Fold | Re-Rase / Fold | |
| N/A | Fold / Call | Call / Fold | |
| A9s / A8s / A7s | Limp / Fold | Raise / Limp | Raise |
| Limp | Limp | Limp / Raise | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold / Re-Raise (re-raise a late position player you think is stealing) | |
| N/A | Call / Fold | Call | |
| A6s - A2s | Fold | Limp / Fold | Raise |
| Fold | Limp | Limp | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold / Call | |
| KQs | Limp / Raise | Raise | Raise |
| Call / Raise | Raise | Raise | |
| Call / Fold | Fold / Call | Re-Raise / Call | |
| N/A | Call | Call | |
| KJs | Limp | Raise / Limp | Raise |
| Limp | Limp / Raise | Raise | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold / Re-Raise (re-raise a late position player you think is stealing) | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| KTs | Fold | Fold | Raise |
| Limp | Limp | Limp | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| K9s - K6s | Fold | Fold | Raise |
| Fold | Fold | Limp / Fold | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| QJs | Fold / Limp | Raise / Limp | Raise |
| Limp | Limp | Limp / Raise | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Call | Call | |
| JTs | Limp | Limp / Raise | Raise |
| Limp | Limp | Limp / Raise (consider raising against 3 or more limpers, although a limp is fine as well) | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Call | Call | |
| QTs / T9s | Fold / Limp | Limp / Fold | Raise |
| Limp | Limp | Limp | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Call / Fold | |
| 98s / 87s / 76s | Fold | Fold | Fold |
| Fold | Limp | Limp if there are 2 or more limpers | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| Q9s | Fold | Fold | Raise |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| J9s / T8s | Fold | Fold | Fold |
| Fold | Fold | Limp if there are 2 or more limpers | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| Q8s | Fold | Fold | Raise |
| Fold | Fold | Limp if there are 2 or more limpers | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold |
| Unsuited Cards | Early Position | Middle Position | Late Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| AK | Re-Raise | Re-Raise | Re-Raise |
| AQ | Raise | Raise | Raise |
| Raise / Limp | Raise / Limp | Raise if only a couple of limpers / Call against more limpers | |
| Fold against a tight early position raiser / Re-Raise | Fold against a tight early position raiser / Re-Raise | Fold against a tight early position raiser / Re-Raise | |
| N/A | Call | Call | |
| AJ | Limp | Raise | Raise |
| Limp | Limp | Limp / Raise | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold / Re-Raise (re-raise a late position player you think is stealing) | |
| N/A | Fold / Call | Fold / Call | |
| AT | Fold | Raise / Limp | Raise |
| Fold | Limp | Limp / Raise against only 1 or 2 weak limpers | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold / Re-Raise (re-raise a late position player you think is stealing) | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| A9 | Fold | Fold / Raise | Raise |
| Fold | Fold | Limp with only 3 limpers / Raise against 1 limper / Fold against 4 or more limpers | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| A8 / A7 | Fold | Fold | Raise |
| Fold | Fold | Limp with only 2 limpers/ Raise against 1 limper / Fold against 3 or more limpers | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| A6 - A2 | Fold | Fold | In the cutoff, raise with A6, A5, Fold with A4 - A2. On the button, raise with A6 - A2 |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| KQ | Fold / Limp | Raise | Raise |
| Limp | Raise / Limp | Raise | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold / Call / Re-raise against a late position blind stealer | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold / Call in a loose game | |
| KJ | Fold | Fold / Raise | Raise |
| Fold | Limp / Fold | Limp | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| KT - K8 | Fold | Fold | In the cutoff, Raise with KT and Fold K9 and K8. On the button, raise with KT-K8 |
| Fold | Fold | Limp with KT, fold K9 and K8 | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| QJ | Fold | Fold | Raise |
| Fold | Fold / Limp | Limp | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| QT | Fold | Fold | Raise on button, otherwise fold |
| Fold | Fold | Call | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold | |
| JT / T9 | Fold | Fold | Raise on button, otherwise fold |
| Fold | Fold | Limp against many limpers | |
| Fold | Fold | Fold | |
| N/A | Fold | Fold |
Here are charts summarizing the percentage of hands to call, raise and fold with in each position. Each box has four different situations, just like in the starting hands charts above.
| Previous Action | Early Position | Middle Position | Late Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Call | |||
| No other callers | 2.4% | 2.4% | 0.0% |
| Limper but no raises | 5.6% | 11.0% | 13.7% |
| One raise, no other players yet | 0.9% | 1.5% | 0.0% |
| One raise, at least two other callers | N/A | 9.2% | 10.1% |
| Average Call | 3.0% | 6.0% | 6.0% |
| Previous Action | Early Position | Middle Position | Late Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raise | |||
| No other callers | 5.1% | 11.2% | 25.8% |
| Limper but no raises | 3.8% | 6.9% | 10.4% |
| One raise, no other players yet | 2.9% | 3.9% | 8.3% |
| One raise, at least two other callers | N/A | 1.2% | 1.2% |
| Average Raise | 3.9% | 5.8% | 11.4% |
| Previous Action | Early Position | Middle Position | Late Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fold | |||
| No other callers | 92.5% | 86.4% | 74.2% |
| Limper but no raises | 90.6% | 82.1% | 75.9% |
| One raise, no other players yet | 96.2% | 94.6% | 91.7% |
| One raise, at least two other callers | N/A | 89.6% | 88.7% |
| Average Fold | 93.1% | 88.2% | 82.6% |
Notes - The Average row measures the average of the four different situations. It does not weight the probability of each situation occurring. In late position, it is more common to be faced with a raise (the 3rd and 4th situations) then the other two situations. The average numbers in this chart do not reflect this, but it is still a useful way to view the differences in the positions.
Calling in Late Position vs Calling in Middle Position
I advocate playing many more hands in late position compared to middle position. In late position, the chart shows to call or raise with 17.4% of all situations, while in middle position only call or raise with 11.8% of all situations. Raisable hands increase from 5.8% (middle position) to 11.4%(late position), while callable hands stay the same at 6.0%. In fact, two of the calling categories decrease to 0% in late position. In the situations of "When there are no other callers" and "When there is just one raise and no other players yet", I suggest never calling in either case when in late position. In those situations, you should either fold or raise. Notice the big jump in the situation of "When there are no other callers" from raising with 11.2% of the hands in middle position to raising with 25.8% of the hands in late position. Hands such as K♦T♥ and Q♣J♥ are now raisable hands from the button if no one else has come in, but were hands that should be mucked in middle position.
Stealing the Blinds
When you are in late position and everyone has folded, you need to decide if you should raise or fold (do not call). Here are some factors to consider when trying to steal the blinds.
-
How likely are you to have the best hand?
When everyone else has folded and you are in late position, the better hands are the high card hands. As discussed in a previous section, this is the position where a high card hand like ATo is better than a drawing hand like T9s.
-
How loose are the blinds?
It is usually best to play against players that are loose. However, when you are trying to steal the blinds, it is not always the case. The tighter players may be more willing to give up and fold their blinds when you raise. When you are trying to steal the blinds, this makes you happy. But the looser players will call more often. Some of these loose players will give up so much edge after the Flop with poor play that you will not mind when they call pre-Flop. However, if they are loose pre-Flop but play decently after the Flop, then you would not be happy. Against this type of player, you should limit the hands that you try to steal the blinds with.
-
How aggressive are the blinds?
If the blinds are aggressive, then they may play back at you if they think are you are trying to steal their blinds. In particular, the small blind has more reason to re-raise since he will usually prefer to have the big blind fold. If they are aggressive, it means you will often have to put in three bets instead of two when you are stealing the blinds. Against the aggressive players, you will have to limit your blind stealing hands.
-
How well do the blinds play post-Flop?
If the blinds play well post-Flop, then there is less value in trying to steal blinds.
-
How tight do the blinds play on the Flop?
If the blinds play tight on the Flop, but call raises before the Flop liberally, then a blind stealing raise is worthwhile. Although they will fold pre-Flop less often, this type of player will be more willing to check and fold on the Flop.
-
How predictable are your opponents?
Predictable players are always better to play against. If your opponents are predictable, then you can be sure that if you are re-raised before the Flop or check-raised on the Flop that you are actually beat. If they are unpredictable, it is more difficult to play against them. Try to steal the blinds of the predictable players more often than the blinds of the unpredictable players.
-
How often have you been raising the blinds in the last few rounds?
If you have been raising the blinds often in the last few rounds (whether or not those raises were legitimate raises or blind stealing raises), then you should be a bit more conservative when you are in the position to steal the blinds again. Your opponents will start to feel that you are taking advantage of them if you keep raising their blinds, and they will be more likely to call your raises.
Playing the Blinds: To Defend or Not to Defend
You will often be in the blinds when a late position player has open-raised. You have to decide whether or not to defend your blind hand by calling. Here are some factors to consider when a late position player raises in an apparent blind stealing opportunity
-
How likely are you to have the best hand?
If you think you have the best hand, you should consider re-raising, especially if you are in the small blind. By re-raising, you will put even more pressure on the big blind and take control of the pot. If the blind stealer's hand is weak, he may meekly fold on the Flop when you bet out.
-
How often will your opponent attempt to steal the blinds with unwarranted hands?
If your opponent is constantly open-raising in late position, then you need to loosen up and call with more hands. You will also need to play more aggressively and raise back when you have decent hands that you may not normally raise back with. You do not want anyone to push you around at the poker table, and in the blinds is a spot when other players are looking to push you around.
-
How well does your opponent play post-Flop?
If your opponent plays well after the Flop, then he will be more difficult to play against. When you are in a blind position, you will always be in a worse position than your opponent and you will have to act first. A good post-Flop player will be able to take advantage of his position, so you have to a bit more selective.
-
How predictable is your opponent?
As always, playing against predictable players is better than playing against unpredictable players. Given all else equal, tend to call raises against predictable players more than against unpredictable players.
Sunk Cost and the Blinds
Many people think they need to defend their blinds all the time because they have already partially called and are getting to see a Flop at a 50% discount compared to other players. This is an incorrect thought process. It is important to think of the blinds that you had put up as part of the pot, not part of your stack. The chips you put up for the blinds are a sunk cost. You had to put them up regardless of the strength of your hand. Of course you have equity in the pot as well as the other players, however, if your starting hand is poor, there is no reason to put in good money after bad money.
Varying your play
In games where you may be facing the same opponents routinely, it is useful to vary your play with starting hands to some degree. In certain situations you won't have to adjust at all, such as when everyone has folded to you in late position. If your strategy is close to the chart suggested in this book, then you would be raising with about 25% of your hands in those situations. With that many different hands, it is no longer necessary to vary your play on purpose to throw off your opponents. When you are raising with 25% of your hands, your hand is already unpredictable to your opponent.
The times that you may want to vary your play is when the pot has yet to be raised and you have a drawing type of hand. It is important for the pot not to have been raised by another player because it means it is less likely for anyone else to have a premium hand. With a drawing type of hand, you can still make some nice hands and may surprise your opponents. For example, open-raising instead of calling in middle position with a hand like Q♣T♣ or T♠9♠ once in a while is useful. But you cannot do it too often. It is less worthwhile to do it from the early positions because there are so many more players yet to act when you are in early position. If one of the players behind you has a premium hand, then a raise in early position with a drawing hand is too costly.
Don't be worried about giving away info pre-Flop in Early Position
Don't be worried about giving away too much information by your pre-Flop play in early position. Since there are so many players to act behind you, it is too difficult to try to be deceptive without giving up too much edge. There are too many players you would need to fool one way or another. The players who know what a raise from a tight early position player means (hopefully this describes you), will fold, and you will not be able to extract value out of them. But in typical games, there should be enough players who are willing to call a raise with dominated hands such as AJo and KQo that it is still worthwhile to be raising in early position with your best hands.
In tougher games where there are more players who are willing to fold decent cards against a tight early position raiser, you may decide to limp in with some of your stronger hands. If there are many players who will fold AQo to a raise by you in the under the gun position (as you would), then when you raise with AA, you will not gain anything from them. But if you limp in with the intention to check-raise, then you would likely have trapped a player with a hand that he would not have played if he knew the real strength of your hand.
Common Mistakes made with Starting Hands in Different Positions
Early Position Play Common Mistake: Suited Connectors and Middle/Small Pairs
A common mistake that players make with suited connectors and middle to small pairs in early position is that they either always fold or always call with these hands. Instead of one fixed strategy, players should be more flexible and adjust to their environment. The decision to limp with these drawing hands should be dependent on how the other players play and the mood of the table. If you can count on other players limping along with you and the mood is a happy-go-lucky table, then that means you can be more confident that the pot will be contested by multiple players. When this happens, you will have enough pot odds to limp in and see the Flop. A problem occurs when you are not quite sure if others will limp along after you limp, so it is important to size up the other players before you are faced with a drawing hand in an early position. If it is a fairly tough table with a few professional players in it, these drawing hands may be completely unplayable. If you cannot expect to get many other callers then you are not going to be able to put yourself into the position to get enough pot odds for your limp to be correct. On the other hand, typically in low limit games such as 2-4, 3-6 and 5-10, the atmosphere of the game and the general personality of the players will usually allow for a limp with a drawing hand to be correct. In those games, you will be more confident you can get into a multiple player pot.
Middle Position Play Common Mistake: Don't limp along with non-drawing hands
A common mistake many players make is to limp in middle position, without holding a drawing hand, after a horde of players have limped into the pot. If you are in middle position and three other players have limped, you can limp along with hands like 9♣8♣ and A♦5♦. But other hands that may be as strong or stronger in other situations will not play as well in multiple player pots like this. Such hands include A♣7♥ and K♠9♣, which should be thrown away in this spot. These are good hands to raise as a late position blind stealing hand, but they have major problems in multiple player pots. The problems include kicker problems (others may be limping with dominating hands like A♠9♦, K♥J♥) and drawing problems (if you make a straight with either A♣7♥ or K♠9♣, it is possible that someone has a better straight).
Late Position Play Common Mistake: Calling raises with high cards
In an earlier section of this chapter, I discussed the issue of calling with AQo against a tight early position raiser. The same concept applies to other hands in late position when a middle position player raises. Often, players will indiscriminately call raises with hands such as K♣Q♠ and A♦T♣. If the raiser is a reasonable player with reasonable raising standards and is raising from middle position, then typically these hands should be folded. Oftentimes a legitimate raiser will have dominating hand over K♣Q♠ and A♦T♣ with hands such as A♣K♠ and A♥Q♥. Calling a raise when there is a good chance you are either dominated or facing a big pair is not a pleasant way to play poker.
On the other hand if you are on the button and an aggressive player open-raises in the cutoff seat, you can consider re-raising with K♣Q♠ and A♦T♣. The difference is that the player in the cutoff is raising with a wide variety of hands. Calling a raise gives the blinds too much equity to call and see the Flop. It would be better to re-raise and play the hand heads-up because you likely have the best hand and these hands play better in heads-up situations.
General Common Mistake: Not being careful with pre-Flop calling standards
It is easy to loosen up and add to the hands you play. If you often limp with T9s, it is easy to take a step back and also limp in with similar hands, such as T8s and 98s. Once you have made that move, it becomes easy to also limp in with hands that resemble 98s, such as 98o. This is dangerous. You have gone from limping with a borderline hand such as T9s to limping with an unwarranted hand such as 98o. This is one of the dangers of playing marginal or borderline hands. It is may not be the hands themselves that are dangerous, but what they can represent when you get a hand that may look similar in quality but is not.