Poker Starting Hands

Calling The Small Blind

A frequently made mistake in Texas Holdem is calling the remainder of the small blind too often; many players call with either weak holdings or poor pot odds in this situation; while it is impossible to know the exact pots odds required to continue for every situation, you can use a certain amount of common sense to spot situations which look to have good pot odds and use discipline to only continue with the best of your small blind poker starting hands. There is no one correct answer for every small blind decision you will have to make, but, if you stick to calling with pairs, big face cards and suited connectors when getting better than 5:1 pot odds, it certainly won't be a major leak in your game, but you will always be in a poker table position disadvantage being first to act on every round after the pre flop betting.

Percentage of Starting Hands Played

More experienced poker players may be able to play a higher percentage of their starting hands because their post flop and opponent reading abilities compensate them sufficiently, generally it is advisable not to exceed the suggested 15 to 25 percent limit by too much though, no matter how skilled you are.

The three other factors to consider when selecting which hands to play are your position, the size of your stack aswell as your opponents and the playing style of your poker opponents. For more on this see our guide to styles of poker play.

Although it is recommended to use these factors to decide which cards to play in a situation, you must remember not to be too predictable in the way you play; observant opposition will quickly work out how you play and use this information against you. There needs to be an element of unpredicatbility in order that your opponents can't read you so easily. The ability to mix up your play becomes more important at the higher stake table limits, there is merit in getting caught playing a weak hand out of position cheaply every once in a while to keep your more observant opponents on their toes and guessing about what hand you have.

Position

Position plays an enourmous part in your decision whether to play a hand or not in Texas Holdem; the later you act the better the poker table position advantage you have, the earlier you act the stronger hand you need to raise the pot because you are said to be 'out of position'.

In early poker table position advantage you must be selective over the hands you play, there are many people still to act behind you and more chance that one of them is holding a strong hand; you are at a disadvantage because you are the first to act on every betting round, your opponents gain information about your hand because of their poker table position advantage over you.

Middle position allows you to play more hands, especially if the early players have folded around to you, there is less chance of an opponent holding a strong hand, you can loosen your starting hand requirements accordingly as weaker hands increase in value, although caution is advised.

In late poker table position advantage if it has been folded around to you then your starting hand requirements lower even further, but again you must act cautiously; although it is not impossible that an opponent has a stronger hand, it is more than likely they don't have one strong enough to call a raise. You have a positional advantage and should be prepared to play the best of your hands stronger, but understand that observant players realise you are loosening up and may reraise you if you play too aggressively.

Stack Size

Stack size can significantly change the way you choose to play a hand in Texas Holdem, assuming all other factors are the same. The reason for this is that your mindset changes in relation to your stack size. When shortstacked, going all in in order to either double up or win the blinds and antes is the primary consideration, when playing with a deepstack, maximising the chance of playing a big pot is of most importance, so an all in play becomes unsuitable using the same starting hand that you would happily go all in with as a shortstack. Playing with a medium sized stack presents a different set of problems; you have enough chips to be able to raise pre flop and still have enough left to have strategic betting options after the flop, but also puts you in a situation where you can be raised off the hand if the pre flop action gets too hot.

Playing Style

The playing style of your opponents effects your starting hand selection in Texas Holdem; if your opponents are tight then you should loosen up, if they are loose then you should tighten up. Playing more hands at a tight table allows you to win more uncontested pots, bluff more aswell as showdown the best hand. Playing less at a loose table allows you to play more aggressively as your starting hands will be stronger than average and the likelyhood off getting paid off is greater.