Texas Holdem Poker Best Hand Ever

So here are the Top 10 Best Starting Hands in Texas Hold'em Poker 1. Ace-Ace A pair of aces (also known as pocket rockets) is the best starting hand you can ever get for Texas Hold'em Poker. King-King 'King Kong' (or the two cowboys) is the second best starting hand for Texas Hold'em poker. The best advice that we can give in this situation is that you have to find a good excuse to fold a hand. If you choose to call your opponent who has a better hand than you before the flop then you are the one who will lose in the long run. Below you see the poker chart that provides you the best Texas Holdem strategy.

Decision-making is the key to success in poker, and Texas Hold’em is not an exception. As the saying goes, you gotta know when to hold’em and when to fold’em. This is particularly important at the start of the game.

The pre-flop phase is where you lay the groundwork for the latter stages. If you do well, you will have easier decisions. This is why every Texas Hold’em strategy starts with your pocket hands and what ranges to play from each position.

There is a lot of context and a lot of aspects to consider. However, there are situations when folding a certain pocket hand before the flop is simply impossible. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Pocket Aces

Quite an obvious start, but it doesn’t get any better than that when it comes to starting hands in Texas Hold’em. The aces are always a favorite, and the only way you won’t be ahead is if you face the other two.

This is why you can’t really fold aces; it’s like burning money. Whether it’s a tournament or a cash game, you can’t let go. Every other action might be correct under certain circumstances.

You could limp them and play it tricky. You could raise to make the pot bigger or even push if you believe you could get all the chips in the middle. However, you can’t fold.

Okay, technically, I’ve seen theoretical scenarios where it would be correct to fold aces.

If you’re playing a satellite and you will certainly get a ticket if you keep folding. Still, someone has to actually eliminate the short stacks at some point, and what better hand to do so than pocket aces?

I’ve been playing poker for more than 10 years now and have never folded aces pre-flop. And frankly, I don’t think I ever will. I suggest you to follow suit unless you want to anger the poker gods out there. It’s downright insulting to them when someone folds pocket aces.

Pocket Kings Against an Aggressive Maniac

Okay, so next in line is the second-best pocket hand in Texas Hold’em – two kings. It’s a monster before the flop and way ahead against pretty much any other hand beside two aces. It dominates lower pairs 4 to 1, which is why this starting hand is so powerful.

Still, there are situations in Texas Hold’em when it is considered a good idea to fold your kings before the flop.

If there are a bunch of players all-in, or a super nitty opponent’s play is just screaming he has aces.

There’s nothing wrong with considering the fold as an option under certain circumstances. However, there is one particular spot where you shouldn’t ever fold pocket kings, and that’s when you’re facing an aggressive maniac.

You all know the kind. People who are raising, re-raising, and going all-in pretty much every single hand. Usually, they don’t really care about the money and are simply looking for action. Or they could believe they are some kind of poker prodigy that can do whatever they want and bluff everyone out of the hand.

You can expect some weird bluffs with weak hands and downright ridiculous moves from such maniacs. This is the reason you should never, ever fold kings against them. You are always ahead against their range, period.

Okay, you might eventually face aces, but that would be a total coincidence, and so rare that’s is not worth considering. Simply put your chips in the middle of the table without thinking too much. The cowboys will do the rest

Any Two Cards from the SB in a Limped Family Pot

This one is a bit different and doesn’t really come from the hand you have, but from the particular situation. Imagine the following: you are on the small blind and the whole table before you has limped. You have the chance to see a flop for half a blind against tons of people.

The pot odds you get are so good that you should play any two pocket cards. Also, the implied odds are exceptional. If you hit something really big, it’s almost certain that someone will get hooked. After all, everyone at the table is involved.

Sure, there’s a chance the big blind might spoil the hand for everyone and raise, but you will rarely see it happen. Even if you consider this, you still get good odds, and even the worst hands are worth a shot.

So when this happens, don’t be too strict. If there’s a time to play garbage like 8-2 offsuit, this is it. Embrace the moment, as you can potentially win a large pot with a tiny investment. And on top of that, you can do it with pocket cards you wouldn’t normally play. If that’s not fun, I don’t know what is!

Any Two Against a Raise When You Saw the Hand of Your Opponent

Okay, before I proceed, I should clarify something. Don’t try to see what your opponent has. At least don’t make an effort to do it; it’s close to cheating and considered rude on the poker table.

However, if the other player is careless enough to reveal his hand without noticing, you should take advantage. After all, one of the most important rules in poker is that you are on your own. The other players are on the table to take your money, so you should protect yourself.

So, if someone is not doing that, it’s not immoral to take advantage. If you happen to see his cards, you have a great opportunity to take on him after the flop. Such an information changes the whole hand and gives you an enormous advantage.

You could win by hitting the better hand or bluff the guy under the right circumstances.

When you know what your opponent has, no hand is too weak. You should call his raise even with the likes of 3-9 and 2-8. Simply put, your pocket hand doesn’t really matter and you shouldn’t fold.

When You Have 2-7 and There’s a 2-7 Challenge Going On

We all know that 2-7 offsuit is considered the worst starting hand in Texas Hold’em. Statistically, that’s not quite true, but that’s a topic for another time.

A lot of people in live games like to have some fun and go for the 2-7 challenge. You will see it in home games and sometimes in live casinos when the whole table agrees. It’s interesting to note that it was part of the High Stakes Poker TV show.

If you haven’t heard about this side game, it’s pretty simple. If you manage to win a hand with 2-7, each player on the table is obliged to give you some money, usually ten or even twenty big blinds. It doesn’t really matter how you win; it could be by bluffing or by reaching a showdown.

Such a side bet makes the game very interesting. It’s sometimes hard to distinguish if you are facing aces or 2-7. The dynamics are completely changed, and this is the reason a lot of people love it.

It also changes the math behind the weakest hand in Texas Hold’em. As you could imagine, the added value is crucial. You will be able to take half a buy-in or even a full one, depending on the particular agreement. This makes 2-7 impossible to fold under any circumstances.

Final Words

As you can see, Texas Hold’em is flexible, but there are situations where the correct decision is obvious. You should always play these hands, as there is value for the taking. Even if you feel like this is one of the very rare cases when folding is correct, trust me, that’s not true.

Betting Rounds:Before The Flop : Flop : Flop Hands : Turn : River

The river is a unique street to play due to the fact that there is no potential for players to improve their hands. The final card has been dealt, and players are forced to make the best 5-card hand possible, regardless of how God-awful they might be.

This factor alone makes the river a very different street to play when compared to betting rounds like the flop and turn.

River strategy tips.

To get the ball rolling, here are a few tips for playing the river in Texas Holdem.

• Avoid betting with marginal hands. It is actually better to check and call.
• Betting big is more profitable than betting small, even if you do not always get called.
• Avoid making wild bluffs. It is often very easy to spot unless you are careful.
• Checking is a valuable play on the river. It is far from being a weak move.

Never ever bet marginal hands.

One of the most horrible mistakes you can ever make in Texas Hold'em is betting with a mediocre hand on the river. If you bet with a hand that you are not sure is the winner, there are only going to be negative outcomes:

• Your opponent calls with a stronger hand.
• Your opponent folds a weaker hand - so no benefit to us at all.
• You do not offer your opponent the opportunity to bluff with a weaker hand.

In all of the situations above, we have not benefited from making a bet in any form. We have simply shot ourselves in the foot in every possible way.

If you have a marginal hand on the river and you are not sure whether you have the best hand, it is always better to check rather than bet. This gives our opponent an opportunity to bluff, as opposed to us only ever being called with a better hand.

If you think you have the best hand, bet big.

As a general rule, it is better to make a big bet as opposed to a small bet if you think that you have the best hand. You may well get called less often, but you will still be making more money in the long run.

For example, lets say we are on the river and we have the best hand. The pot is $20 and we are deciding on how much we should bet.

• If we bet $20, we get called 3 times out of 10.
• If we bet $5, we get called 9 times out of 10.

So, let's say we repeated this situation 10 times for each bet.

• We win $60 by betting $20.
• We win $45 by betting $5.

As you can see, the bigger the bet, the more we win. It may seem as though you are winning more by getting lots of little calls, but it's the bigger bets that pull in the money. So don't be afraid to bet the size of the pot on the river when you feel that you have the best of it.

(If you're interested in bet sizing and stuff, have a read over the article on betting strategy.)

Be careful when bluffing on the river.

A very common mistake made by new players to Texas Hold'em is to make wild bluffs on the river. Very often, a player will miss their draw or find themselves with a poor hand on the river, and so they make a last ditch effort to win the pot with a wild bluff. More often than not, the bluff gets called and the player is left feeling a little silly.

The problem with most river bluffs is that they come from out of the blue, and they look totally out of place in the hand. Every hand has it's own story, and the bluff on the river from a player that has been playing very passively up to that point looks very peculiar to say the least.

Texas Holdem Poker Best Hand Ever Caught

The majority of last-ditch attempts to win the pot will fail, so be very wary of recklessly bluffing on the river.

Texas Holdem Poker Best Hand Ever Seen

So, the next time you plan on bluffing the river, think about how the rest of the hand played out. If your bet is in keeping with the rest of the hand and makes it look as though you genuinely have the best hand, then by all means try it. Just be sure to avoid betting with your eyes closed in the hope that your opponent will fold - it's not a very good strategy, trust me.

Playing the river overview.

If you were to take one thing away from this article (hopefully more, but if it's just the one then so be it), it should be that checking can be a very profitable option. In fact, I would say that it is an essential move when it comes to playing the river profitably.

On other streets, checking can be seen as a weak play that is best avoided unless necessary, but on the river it is an essential tactic that can save you a lot of money when you are not sure if you have the best hand.

You should approach the river a little differently to other betting rounds due to the fact that there are no more cards to come, and so there is no potential for you or your opponent to improve.

Playing a hand.

Go back to the sublime Texas Hold'em guide.

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