Pre Flop Poker Hands
Preflop is the most common and important street in poker. The decisions you make on this street will greatly impact the rest of the hand. The hands are organized by position or the order in which you act at the table. Play starts out with the Under The Gun (UTG) player, then moves to UTG+1, UTG+2, LoJack (LJ), HiJack (HJ), Cutoff (CO), Button (BTN).
You’ve learned about the poker hand hierarchy and you’ve got the basic rules of the game down pat! The next thing you need to build more confidence at the table is the knowledge of which hands you should start out playing.
Premium Starting Hands
- Anyone who doesn't fold after viewing his hole cards then sees the three flop cards. Another round of betting occurs before the turn card is dealt. A round of betting also precedes the river card. There is then one more round of betting, and the best five-card hand wins.
- Pre-Flop Ranges (8-Max) This chart details the Hole Cards that we believe you should open with in an 8-max No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament without antes – such as Match Poker Online’s™ Scrap game. They are dependent on your position, explained below. The positions around a table in an 8-player game, clockwise from the Dealer Button, are.
- Pre-Flop you are UTG if you are to the left of the Big Blinds (BBs) and after the flop, UTG is the first active player sitting to the left of the dealer Up. This describes the value of a 2-pair poker hand – Example: A player holding a Pair of Kings, a Pair of 8’s and a 3 of Clubs would be described as ‘Kings Up’.
It’s your turn to bet and now you’re wondering if your hand is strong enough to justify a call or raise, or maybe you should fold? Below are the generally accepted, top ten starting hole card hands in Texas Hold’em poker. They are considered premium hole cards and are potential hand-winning cards. With these cards, you will certainly want to play the hand, but be sure to consider your position on the table.
Pocket Aces (Bullets) – Considered the best starting hole cards in Hold’em, AA are playable from any position.
Pocket Kings (Cowboys) – Considered the second best starting hole cards, KK are playable from any position.
Pocket Queens (Ladies) – Great strength pre-flop but becomes difficult to play post-flop when over-cards hit.
AKs(uited) (Big Slick) – This is the fourth strongest starting hand, even against KK and is a significant favorite against the rest.
AQs(uited) (Little Slick) – This hand is strong but can easily be dominated in typical all-in pre-flop scenarios.
Pocket Jacks (Fishhooks) – Many players claim paired jacks are the most difficult top 10 starting hand to play. While being one of the top 10 best starting hand, JJ versus AA-QQ and AKo-AQs is vulnerable.
KQs(uited) (Royal Couple) –While this hand is best suited to make straights and flushes, it can put you in difficult positions when flopping top pair, as you quite possibly will not have the best kicker.
AJ (Ajax) – These hole cards can be difficult to play from early position because you will never get folds from better aces, and you won’t get the value of a top pair. However, it does have value in its ability to make the nut straight or flush.
AKo(ff-suit) (Big Ugly) – The strongest unsuited, non-pair. This hand is easy to overplay and over value in tournaments and in ring games.
TT (TNT) – Extremely strong vs two random cards, yet as with JJ, it can be difficult to play.
Now that you’re familiar with the basic rules and best hands of poker, betting, position and premium starting hands, you’re ready to take a seat and begin your poker adventure!
This chart details the Hole Cards that we believe you should open with in an 8-max No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament without antes – such as Match Poker Online’s™ Scrap game. They are dependent on your position, explained below.
Best Pre Flop Poker Hands
The positions around a table in an 8-player game, clockwise from the Dealer Button, are:
- Button/Dealer (BTN)
- Small Blind (SB)
- Big Blind (BB)
- Under The Gun (UTG)
- Under The Gun +1 (UTG+1)
- Lojack (LJ)
- Hijack (HJ)
- Cutoff (CO)
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How to interpret this chart:
This chart shows all the possible Hole Cards you could be dealt – ‘s’ for ‘suited’ and ‘o’ for ‘offsuit’.
When you are UTG (i.e. directly to the left of the Big Blind), this chart suggests you should only open (i.e. bet first) with the cards in the Red boxes.
The same goes for UTG+1 (i.e. left of UTG).
When you are in the Lojack (LJ) or Hijack (HJ) positions, more hand combinations open up. The chart suggests you can now open with all of the cards in the Orange boxes in addition to the ones in the Red boxes.
In the Cutoff position, even more hand combinations open up. The chart now suggests you can open with all of the cards in the Yellow boxes in addition to the ones in the Orange and Red boxes.
Next you reach the Button and Small Blind, where more options are available to you, including all of those that were available in the earlier positions. In these positions, the chart suggests you can open with any cards in any of the coloured boxes.
Any boxes that are white are those you would usually never open.
Lastly, once you are familiar with this chart and have applied it in practise, you’ll begin to learn how to deviate from these guidelines when the situation calls for it. [Click here to learn why position is so important in poker!]
Learning to quickly recognise what position you are in and how this translates to what hands you should open with will quickly improve your play. We see nothing wrong with printing this guide out and following it religiously in Scrap games (as well as in the first stage of Elimination games) as you learn to find your feet in poker. Diligence is key at this stage in your learning.
Watch your Rating Points soar as you learn to follow this guide!
Best Hands Pre Flop Poker
*Editors Note: We frequently get feedback from players that this chart has led them astray. For example: “I had K3o on the Button and folded, per this chart, and the Flop came out 3-3-K. I could’ve won 3000 chips because three other people played that hand, who I would’ve beaten.”
Best Pre Flop Poker Hands Ranked
To this, our response is that we apologise for leading you astray in that hand, but, in the long run, this chart will ensure you end up in front. We explain this in our article on Expected Value – an integral concept for all aspirational poker players.