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Questions tagged [starting-hand]

The cards that a player receives from the dealer in the first round (e.g. pre-flop), without taking into account the community cards or the drawed cards (in the case of Draw poker variant).

The cards that a player receives from the dealer in the first round (e.g. pre-flop), without taking into account the community cards or the drawed cards (in the case of Draw poker variant).

In most cases, the starting is completely hidden from the other players (except 1 card in the case of Stud games).

As opposed to the starting hand, a "playing hand" is the best 5-card combination that a player has.

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Easy to memorize starting hand strategy

I am not too good at memorizing stuff. Is there any starting hand set of rules or chart that is easy to remember? A little bit of context: No Limit Hold'em the number of players is not really a parameter, since in any game one will go from 9 or 10…
Paolo
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Thoughts on Chen's formula

These days I came across this post describing the Chen's formula. The Chen formula is a system for scoring different starting hands in Texas Hold'em. It was created by Bill Chen for use in the book Hold'em Excellence by Lou Krieger. Bill Chen is…
Lucas Reis
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Micro Stakes, playing Big Aces pre-flop against multiple very loose opponents

I'm kinda new to poker online so i'm sorry if my question is kinda silly. I decided to start building my bank-roll by start playing from micro-stakes, where i'm more comfortable in having some losing sessions. Often i find myself in a particular…
bmartins
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What do you do when you get junk in draw poker?

In draw poker, you swap cards with the deck in order to build your hand. Now obviously, if you've got a pair or the beginnings of a flush, you'll keep those cards. Speaking as a complete poker novice, I tend to throw away all my cards unless I have…
Jack M
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The groups of Sklansky starting hands

Which criterion did Sklansky use when dividing starting hands in groups? Computer generated starting hands seems to show a subjective grouping by Sklansky, doesn't it?
emanuele
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Mathematical Derivation of the Chen Formula

I was wondering if anyone knew how the Chen formula was mathematically derived and moreover what it is exactly that it is calculating? I always find it very strange that it gives +2 for suited hands seeing as being suited really makes little…
hmmmm
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What is the difference between limit and no limit starting hand rankings?

I'm reading David Sklansky's book on Hold'em Poker . It was written in a time when limit poker was much more common and so the advice was focused towards it. In his section on hand rankings, Sklansky says "The list would have to be substantially…
dantiberian
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Hands selection in a 6 table

I am trying to find any kind of cheat sheet that would guide me in which hands should I select to play in 6 players (Texas Hold'em) game. I believe it will be needed to play more hands, but I am lost in which range we should be talking about.
Nobita
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What are the top money making starting hands?

We all know the routine: the best hands are AA, KK, QQ, AKs... These are the hands that win the most often, but what if the metric we are interested in is not "how often you win", but the overall cash performance of the hands? Are these top hands…
Sylverdrag
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Distinct head-to-head match ups in holdem

So I'm not very good at math, but I'm trying to improve. I'm trying to understand this calculation that I read in Wikipedia, But I find it to be confusing, I would appreciate a clarification. I understand why there are 169 distinct hands, but…
Y.S
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Why are the odds 16 to 6 that any given player does not hold a pocket pair?

In the book Ken Warren teaches Texas Holdem, its explained that there are 1,326 possible combinations of hole cards. Then its explained that if you disregard suits, there are 169 possible two-hole cards. Then its explained that 1 of 17 hole cards is…
Evan Welch
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What's the chance of a better hand behind me?

in a very casual round of poker, I'm trying to teach the others a few fundamentals about poker. I often try to back things up with some numbers, but some are too hard for me to get. On the issue of starting hands depending on position, is there an…
EasterBunnyBugSmasher
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Pre-flop decision making factors

I am looking for easy to spot key factors for a pre-flop decision making - right before one either folds, calls or raises. The settings is 9 players table, No-Limit Hold'em Cash Game. The factors I am considering so far are: Starting…
Josef Fiedler
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How to count the number of starting hands in Texas Hold 'em

I'm revisiting the excellent book by Tony Guerrera, Killer Poker by the Numbers. In the first chapter he goes over how to count the number of possible starting hands but leaves, as an exercise for the reader, counting the number of starting hands…
Ramy
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What is a small card in a texas holdem preflop hand?

How do you define a small card in a texas holdem preflop hand? In the book "Holdem poker for advanced players" by Sklansky and Malmuth on page 14, they mention that "an x represents a small card". They do this in the context of giving preflop hand…
pokerstrat
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