No Limit Hold Em Hands
NL Hold’em Starting Hand Charts
Texas hold'em is easily the most popular poker game played in card rooms in the United States. Hold'em comes in four betting structures: limit, no-limit, pot-limit and spread-limit. No-limit hold'em (NLHE) is the rising star of poker games. A few years ago the game could not be found in a live poker room, but the popularity of televised poker has increased interest in this structure. Short Deck Hold’em – also known as Six Plus (6+) Hold’em – is No-Limit Hold’em played with a stripped-down deck. All of the deuces to fives are removed to make the total deck just 36 cards. That means some pretty big changes to the poker hand rankings, game dynamics and to standard Texas Holdem strategy.
- A series of poker lessons providing general guidance and strategic advice on how to play certain starting hands in no-limit hold’em.
- The poker odds calculators on CardPlayer.com let you run any scenario that you see at the poker table, see your odds and outs, and cover the math of winning and losing poker hands. Texas Hold'em Omaha.
One aspect of the game of No-Limit Hold’em that causes beginning players much grief is deciding which hands to play and which hands to dump. NL Hold’em is much more difficult than Limit Hold’em because the value of a hand depends on so many factors other than just the cards in your hand. Despite this difficulty, our coaches believe that following some general guidelines and adjusting from these is a better solution than having no guidelines at all. Given that well over half of your profitability in NL Hold’em is based on hand selection alone, we have developed these charts to help you better determine whether to play or fold.
There are no perfect No-Limit starting hand charts. That is because there are many factors that affect your decision, and charts cannot account for all of them. Some of these include:
No Limit Hold'em Starting Hands - Everything Poker
- The size of your opponent's stacks.
- How loose or tight, passive or aggressive, your opponents are.
- Where these opponents are located at the table – for example, does an aggressive player still have to act after you?
- Your image at the table – for example, how tight or tricky you are perceived.
That being said, these charts will serve you well in most typical low-stakes No-Limit cash games, such as games with blinds of $1/$2, and home games. These games typically have several loose players at the table, and good opportunities for winning big pots with suited connectors and pocket pairs. With practice, you will be able to be a consistently winning player with these charts as a starting point. As you improve, you'll find yourself making adjustments to these charts based on the factors listed above, and more.
AGAIN: These charts are a good starting point for beginners. Specifically, Chart #1 recommends a significant amount of limping. This is great in loose, passive games but less often seen in tougher games. You’ll find other training material on Advanced Poker Training that may recommend a more aggressive approach for more experienced players.
Note: It would be a serious mistake to apply these hand charts before reading the Frequent Asked Questions first.
CHART #1 ‐ LOOSE, PASSIVE GAME (OFTEN 4-5 LIMPERS PER HAND)
NO ONE HAS RAISED YET
- Raise Always
- Call from Early Position, otherwise raise
- Call always
- Call from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)
CHART #2 ‐ TIGHTER GAME (FEWER LIMPERS) OR MORE AGGRESSIVE GAME
NO ONE HAS RAISED YET
- Raise Always
- Call from Early Position, otherwise raise
- Call (or Raise) from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)
CHART #3 ‐ THERE HAS BEEN A SINGLE RAISE
(3‐5 TIMES THE BIG BLIND) BEFORE YOU
- Re‐Raise Always
- Call from Early Position, otherwise re‐raise
- Call always
- Call from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
For the hands in yellow, what do you mean when you say to play these hands if the conditions are right? The hands in yellow are speculative hands. They should always be folded from Early Position. From other positions, they can be profitable given the right conditions. Some of the questions to ask yourself:
- Are there other players who have called so far (the more, the better)?
- Are the players who have called playing poorly after the flop? Will they pay me off if I hit something?
- Is there an aggressive player still to act behind me (you might get raised and have to fold)?
- If there has been a raise and no other callers, what chance do I have of using my position after the flop to win the hand even if I don't improve (Chart #3 only)?
Why does Chart #2 say to sometimes raise with the hands in yellow, but Chart #1 does not? We have different goals in mind. Using Chart #1, we want to call to encourage additional players to enter the pot. These hands will be immensely profitable when our loose, passive opponents enter the hand, and get trapped when we flop a set, or make a well-disguised straight. When using Chart #2, however, we want to size up the opponents still to act. If they are tight, we can raise. Sometimes, we'll pick up the blinds. Other times, our pre-flop aggression will allow us to take down the pot on the flop.
What's the difference between AKs and AKo? AKs means an Ace and King of the same suit. AKo means an Ace and King of different suits.
What are early, middle, and late position? Early Position is generally the first 2 (in a nine player game) or 3 (in a ten player game) positions after the blinds. Late Position is the “cutoff” position (to the right of the dealer), and dealer button positions. Middle Position is everything in between.
How much should I raise? As a general rule, raise 3 to 4 times the big blind, plus 1 extra big blind for every player who has called before you. So if there are 2 callers already, raise between 5 and 6 times the big blind.
What if someone raises after I call? Whether you call the raise depends on how much money the raiser has for you to win, how many other players are involved, and what type of hand you have. As a general rule, if you have a pocket pair, lean towards calling. If there are a lot of other players (and therefore a big pot), lean towards calling. In general, fold suited connectors from early position. Fold hands like KQ that don't play well against a raiser.
How do I play from the blinds? From the small blind, play the same hands you would play from late position, plus a few more. But don't call with junk hands like T5o, just because it is “cheap”. From the big blind, if there is a raise to you, play like you would if you had already called from early position.
The chart says to fold KQo to a raise. Really? Yes, this hand performs very poorly against typical raising hands. Against AK, AQ, AA, KK, QQ, you are a big underdog. Other typical raising hands like JJ, TT, 99, AJs, are slightly ahead of you as well. The only time you might call or re-raise is from late position, if the opener was in middle or late position, indicating they might have a wider range of hands.
I was told to fold AJo from Early Position, why do you say to call with it? Folding AJo is not a bad idea in many games. We included it because, at low stakes tables (even tight or aggressive ones), the players are often playing badly enough after the flop that it can be profitable. We used data from millions of hands of low-limit poker to analyze this. The same could be said for KQo, ATs, and KJs – you can make a small profit in the long run at most low-stakes games, but folding would be perfectly acceptable from early position.
Can I use these charts in a NL Hold'em tournament? The charts would be best applicable to the early stages of a NL tournament, when everyone has a deep stack. In the middle and later stages, they should not be used.
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Table Of Contents
If you watch a lot of poker on Twitch or on television, you've probably noticed how most no-limit hold'em hands are contested heads-up after the flop.
A player opens with a raise, another calls, then it's just the two of them battling for the pot thereafter.
The same is true if you happen to rail online poker games involving better poker players, such as the biggest poker tournaments and Sunday majors.
Unlike perhaps is the case in many poker games with friends and also lower-limit live games, there's often going to be just two players left by the time the community cards arrive.
In heads-up situations, it's obvious enough to point out that one player will be 'in position' postflop and get to act last on all streets while the other will be 'out of position' and have to act first.
If you weren't paying attention, you might assume players spend about half their hands playing from out of position and half playing in position — but that would be wrong.
The truth is, most good players play the majority of their hands in position — by a lot, in fact.
That's because when it comes to starting poker hand selection, good players tend to fold more hands when they would be forced to play from out of position and to get involved more frequently when they can have position.
They do so because they know there are many advantages to having position on an opponent after the flop.
Positions in Poker
The seats around a no-limit Texas hold'em table are usually described as being:
- early position
- middle position
- late position
The location of the button and blinds determines each.
'Early position' (EP) usually refers to the players having to post both the small blind (SB) and big blind (BB), as well as the player sitting to the big blind's left.
That position is often called 'under the gun' or 'UTG.'
At a nine- or ten-handed table, the next seat (UTG+1) might also be considered early position, given that most of the table is in later positions, relatively speaking.
Note by the way that even though the SB and BB act last preflop — after the UTG player and everyone else around to the button — those are considered early position seats since they'll be acting first every betting round after the flop.
'Middle position' (MP) usually refers to the next couple or three seats at the table, leading up to the last two or three seats culminating with the button.
That leaves 'late position' (LP) seats that include the button (the latest position), the cutoff (the seat to the right of the button), and the hijack seat (the seat to the right of the cutoff).
Of course, in short-handed games (e.g., 6-max.) the hijack would probably be better designated middle position.
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As noted, the best no-limit hold'em players generally choose to play most of their hands from late position, fewer from middle position, and least from early position.
Not coincidentally, they also win most of their money playing from later position, with even the best hold'em players tending to be net losers when playing from early position.
Here's a quick list of five reasons why positioning in poker is so important and playing in position is preferable in no-limit hold'em:
1. More free cards
There are times when playing drawing hands when you'd rather not pay the price to get to the next postflop street.
When you have position on your opponent, you have the opportunity to take a 'free card' if your opponent checks to you while you are on a draw, checking behind to see the next community card.
Say you decided to play suited connectors and have on a flop.
Your opponent who has to act first decides to check.
You could bet, but you can also check behind and take a 'free card' to see if you can complete your flush.
If you were first to act, though, you have no assurance when you check that your opponent won't bet and make you pay to stick around in the hand.
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2. Pot control
Acting last on every postflop street usually helps you control how big or small of a pot you end up playing.
If you wish to play a small pot and an opponent checks, you can check behind, and if your opponent bets you can just call and close the action.
If you want to play a bigger pot, you can bet or raise when the action is on you.
When out of position, you can't check and be sure your opponent will check and let you see the next card for free. Nor can you bet and be sure your opponent will fold or only call you (thus keeping the pot small).
3. More bluffing opportunities
Having position on an opponent is so valuable, it can often make up for having a relatively weak hand.
In other words, your literal hand strength may be weak, but by getting to act last you have a lot more leverage when trying to represent stronger poker hands.
Following the best poker tips out there, that translates into more chances to bluff when your opponent who is out of position demonstrates weakness by checking to you.
You raise from the button and get called by the big blind, the flop comes , and your opponent checks.
If you bet and your opponent doesn't have an ace or king (or perhaps a six), you'll likely earn a fold, thereby making your actual hand strength somewhat irrelevant.
You could have , , or , it doesn't matter — using position in poker won you the hand, not the cards.
4. Calculating pot odds
Say you are in a four-way hand holding , the flop comes , and you are second to act.
There is 1,500 in the middle and the first player leads with a bet of 500. With your open-ended straight draw you'd like to call and see the turn.
If you were last to act, you'd know for certain what your immediate pot odds were — you're trying to win 2,000 and need only call 500, so your pot odds are 4-to-1.
With players still to act behind you, you can't make this calculation.
You don't know if the other two players will just call also (making your pot odds even better), or if one might raise and force you to pay even more to stick around (making your pot odds potentially much worse).
If you were in position and acting last, though, you could know precisely what your pot odds were going forward.
5. Knowing your opponent's action
This is the biggest advantage to having poker position (and frankly covers all of the advantages listed above) — namely, being able to know how your opponent is going to play a given postflop street before you have to make your decision how to play it.
You are more informed knowing that while your opponent can always be trying to deceive you (be always on the lookout for poker tells!), a check usually means they are not so enthused by the board while a bet indicates interest.
When playing from position, a lot of strong players use an opponent's action as a primary factor when deciding how to play each street.
Conclusion
No Limit Hold'em Starting Hands
The mere fact that the button moves each hand to ensure everyone at the table gets an equal opportunity to play from all the available positions should tell you that position matters in poker.
If it didn't, there'd be no need to spread the positional wealth evenly in this way.
Playing from out of position can occasionally have advantages, too. From out of position you can check-raise, and use that move as a powerful postflop play.
Also, sometimes acting first enables you to prevent other players from acting, say in a multi-way pot where an early position bet or raise might force others out of a hand.
How To Read Hands At No-limit Hold'em
However, the advantages of playing poker in position are much greater.
Poker positioning is a big reason why the seating arrangement at a table can be so important.
It is much better not to have strong, difficult players on your left and in position on you for most hands than to have them sitting on your right where you get to have position on them most of the time.
Position in poker is one of the most important factors affecting your chances to find out how to win at Texas hold'em more often.
Playing with position on your opponents both reduces your risk and increases your chance at rewards. Help your own cause by playing more hands in position, and try not to help your opponents and play fewer from out of position.
FAQ
By using position to your advantage, you can play hands with useful information about your opponent's play even before the flop is dealt. For more information about why position is important (and how to use it to your advantage), check out this page.
Positions at the table are split into three parts:
- Early positions: The two blinds and the player sitting at the Big Blind's left.
- Middle positions: The next couple / tree seats at the table.
- Late positions: The Button and the two players sitting at the button's right (the cutoff and the hijack, respectively).
Experienced players consider 'late positions' to be the best ones in the game since these allow you to act last after all the other players have already exposed their play.
Early positions are often seen as the worst position in poker as they require you to act with no information on your opponent's play.
The hijack is the player who sits at the immediate right of the cutoff (the player at the Button's right).
The 'Under the Gun, or UTG, is the first player to act and is the one who at the left of the Big Blind.
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cash game strategytournament strategybeginner strategyno-limit hold’empositionvalue bettingbluffingpot odds