Know how to Evaluate Your Cards and the Preflop

Once you receive your first two pocket cards, you will need to decide if your cards are worth playing for.  Deciding this will usually depend on how many players are in your game, but for the most part, a general rule of thumb is to fold during the preflop if you do not possess a pair or at least one high card (high cards are A, K, Q, J, 10).  Sometimes even if a player posses only one card less than 10, he or she will still fold, while other more aggressive players will chose to stay in the game if they possess two cards of the same suit, such as an 8 and 9.  The reason for this is because these cards provide a possible chance of that player achieving a straight or even a flush.

In some cases if the big blind bet is relatively low, you may wish to stay in the game at least until the flop, even if you don’t have particularly good cards.  Some players do this to see what the other players will do, and to decide if they have a chance at the pot.  However, you should know that this strategy may prove to be more trouble than its worth, and is really something that should only be tried when you are practicing with play money or are an extremely cunning player.

Due to the fact that the majority of techniques applied to Texas Hold’em is dependent on your cards, don’t be surprised if you find that you are strategically folding more often than not.   Be prepared for games where you will experience nothing but poor hands with low card combinations (e.g. 2-6, 3 -8).  Remain patient with these hands, and cut your losses whenever possible, so that when the time comes, and you receive cards you can work with, you’ll be ready to take advantage of them.  Remember that patience is a true virtue which pays off when it comes to waiting for the right cards.  Don’t be the player who foolishly wastes all of their chips on playing cards worth nothing.

Basic Starting Hands for Texas Hold’em

The following are a run down of the different types of hands that are in combinations worth playing for (Note: The order of high cards are A, K, Q, J, 10, the order of medium cards are 9, 8, 7, followed by the order of low cards, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Suit order consists of Spade, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs):

Best Starting Hands:

•   High Card Pair – (e.g. A-A being the highest)
•   Ace and High Card of Same Suit– (e.g. A-K of spades being the highest)
•   Faces of Same Suit – (e.g. K-Q of Spades being the highest)
•  Ace and King – (e.g. A-K of different suits being the highest)

Second Best Starting Hands:

•   Face and Ten of Same Suit – (e.g. K-10 of spades being the highest)
•   Pairs of Medium Cards – (e.g. 9-9 of spades being the highest)
•   Two High Cards – (A-Q is the highest, with the lowest being J-10)
•   Ace and Medium Card of Same Suit – (A-9 of Spades being the highest)
•   Same Suited Medium Connectors with One Or No Gap – (e.g. J-9 of Spades is the highest followed by 10-9 of Spades and 7-5 being the lowest)

Other Conditional Starting Hands:

•   Low Pairs – (e.g. 6-6 is the highest pair)
•   Ace and Low Card of Same Suit – (e.g. A-6 of spades is the highest)
•  Same Suited Low Connectors with One or No Gap – (e.g. 6-5 of spades is the highest, followed by 6-4 of spades and the lowest being 5-3.)