| Premium Hands
Should be played from most any position. Depending
on your style and position, it's not unwise to raise.
JJ can become questionable in a tight game with lots
of calls and raises before you.
- Ace-Ace
- King-King
- Ace-King suited
- Queen-Queen
- Jack-Jack
Strong Hands
Generally should be played from most positions. If
there is lots of players in and raising look for
at least one player to have a Premium hand, so
be cautious. If few players are in and no aggressive
betting, the higher end of these can at times be
worth a raise.
- Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack, Ace-10 all suited
- Ace-King
- King-Queen suited
- 10-10
- Ace-10, King-Jack, Queen-Jack, Jack-10 all suited
- Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack
- 9-9
- King-Queen
- King-10, Queen-10 suited
Medium Hands
In many cases, especially limit games and
when few players have called, these can still be playable.
But beware, medium hands cost amateur players lots
of money. These can certainly be made into monster
hands, but can also get you into trouble. Standing
alone these cards will lose more than they will win.
- 8-8
- Jack-9 10-9 both suited
- 7-7
- 9-8, 8-7 both suited
- Ace with any other suited card
- King-Jack, Queen-Jack, Jack-10
Semi-Decent Hands
Most players will still see the flop in limit
games with these, but beware of weak kickers, and remember
when hitting your low straight to be sure someone
is not holding a higher straight. When you see
someone playing these hands all the time from any position,
chances are they are not a very skilled player.
- Any low pair (e.g. pairs below 7)
- Connected suited card, such as 8-7,5-4,4-3
- Ace-10, King-10, Queen-10
- King-9, Jack-8 both suited
Most any other hands not mentioned here should typically
be folded unless you bluffing, in a forced blind or
simply on full tilt and enjoy gambling. |
