Top 10 Poker Hands

Dominating Poker Hands. A texas hold'em hand is dominated if it has 3 or fewer outs against a hand it faces, like AQ against AK. Hellmuth presents a list of the top 10 starting hands in Texas holdem, and he suggests that you ONLY play hands from that list. Top 10 Poker Hands Preflop - kayellow. Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hands Guide to Texas Hold'em Starting Hands Starting Hands. Playing Suited Connectors in Six-Max Suited Aces Example:A♠ 4♠, A♥ 9♥ Similar to suited connectors, these hands are played only to take down very large pots for a very small investment.The chances of getting a. These are standard hand rankings for most poker games and apply to all high-hand poker variations including Texas Hold'em, Omaha and Stud. You'll find a printable poker hand rankings chart below the hand rankings as well as answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about poker hands and poker hand ranking. Top 10 Best Starting Poker Hands have a solid reputation for ensuring their customer data is Top 10 Best Starting Poker Hands truly safe, keeping up with data protection and privacy legislation. The real cash slot machines and gaming tables are also audited by an external regulated security company to Top 10 Best Starting Poker Hands ensure.

As many of you know, Phil Hellmuth is one of the most successful Texas Hold 'em players of all time. I recently read his book, Play Poker Like the Pros, and was very impressed with his Hold 'em Strategy. It is not my intent to plagiarize his book, but no poker strategy site would be complete without mentioning the playing ability and strategy of Phil Hellmuth.

Therefore, I have chosen to reveal and comment on what Hellmuth calls his “Top 10.” When Hellmuth refers to his Top 10, he is talking about pocket card, starting hand requirements. One should note that this isn't a list of the only hands Hellmuth plays, but he does suggest that the poker player can make lots of money in low limit poker, by waiting on these cards and playing them aggressively.

Top 10 Poker Hands

Without further ado, Hellmuth's Top 10:

Top 10 Poker Hands Preflop

1. A-A

2. K-K

3. Q-Q

4. A-K suited

5. J-J

6. 10-10

7. 9-9

8. 8-8

9. A-Q suited

10. 7-7

Hellmuth submits that these 10 hands should be the only pocket cards played by the beginner in low limit Texas Hold 'em. This makes the game much simpler before the flop, however, as you can probably guess, the tricks of how to play these 10 hands after the flop can get complicated.

As a general rule though, bet these top 10 hands aggressively. The higher in the ranking, the more aggressively they should be played. Your strategy after the flop will be determined by what hits the board and the actions of your opponents.

Play these top 10 right in low limit Hold 'em games and you will make money. As you build your bankroll and your confidence, you can increase your starting hand requirements.

Meanwhile, I would suggest making a $16 investment in Hellmuth's book, Play Poker Like the Pros. It's not the perfect poker strategy book, and Phil even cautions that he is a no limit player, not a limit player! However, a look inside the mind of a man who has won multiple World Series of Poker bracelets is well worth the $16!

(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

Mark Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists

Submitted by Franck, this article belongs to the Poker Top 10 lists series.

Franck wanted some links on my blog, and I asked him to write a piece on the top 10 starting poker hands in Texas Hold’em. Let me know what you think of his article.

Texas Holdem is the most popular poker game in the world. Each day, millions play this card game on the Internet. Holdem is a simple game but that doesn’t make it easy to master. If you find yourself tilting more times than you should, then you need to consider your playing strategy.

One thing that can help you improve your chances of winning at Texas Holdem is to understand what the best starting hands are. In this article, we’re going to consider the ten top hands.

Basic Texas Holdem strategy dictates that you play around 25% of the hands you’re dealt. Here are the top ten hands and the percentage of hands that are won by players who hold these powerful hole cards.

A, A: A pair of Aces is otherwise known as American Airlines, Pocket Rockets or Bullets


  • These win 85,1% of the time against a random hand
  • Aces occur 0.45% of the time.
  • This is the best starting hand you can get.
  • Some play it aggressively from the start.
  • You’ll see a tie occasionally (0.49%)


K, K: A pair of King is otherwise known as Cowboy Wolford, Cowboys, King Kong, Kangaroos or Ace Magnets


  • These win 82,4% of the time against a random hand
  • You’ll also see this hand 0.45% of the time.
  • Although very strong, it wins about 2% less than aces.


Q, Q: A pair of Queens is otherwise known as Ladies, Jailhouse Rock, Siegfried and Roy, 4 tits, Flower girls, Hilton Sisters


  • These win 79,8% of the time against a random hand
  • Queens also happen 0.45% of the time.
  • These are strong hole cards.
  • However, they are susceptible to being beaten by suited hole cards.


J, J: A pair of Jacks is otherwise known as Jay Birds, Hooks, One-eyed Jacks or Disabled Veterans


  • These win 77,5% of the time against a random hand
  • You’ll see this pair at the same rate as the other pairs—0.45%.
  • They can easily fall prey to any suited high combination.
  • Play these carefully.



10, 10/9,9/8,8/7,7: The medium pocket pairs


  • These win 74,8-66,2% of the time against a random hands
  • These pairs will come up as often as other pairs (0.45%).
  • Stay in the hand for as long as you can while risking little, they could be winners if betting is conservative.


A, K suited: Ace King suited is otherwise known as Walking back to Houston, Big slick in a suit, Big slick, Anna Kournikova or Santa Barbara


Top 10 Winning Poker Hands

PokerTop 10 Poker Hands
  • These win 66,9% of the time against a random hand
  • You’ll see these less often than pairs—0.30%.
  • However, these can be powerful with a good flop.
  • The ace gives you the best possible flush.
  • An A, K can often win on their own or they can pair up.


A, Q suited: Ace Queen suited is otherwise known as Little Slick, Doyle Brunson or Big Chick


  • These win 66,2% of the time against a random hand
  • These occur 0.3% of the time.
  • These are versatile—they can pair up or become a flush.
  • A straight is also possible.


A, J suited: Ace Jack suited is otherwise known as Blackjack, Ace with winning kicker or Ajax


  • These win 65,4% of the time against a random hand
  • It comes up at a rate of 0.30%.
  • The ace is great for a flush.
  • Inside straights are hard to hit.
  • Wait for the flop before pushing the betting.


A,K unsuited: Ace King unsuited is otherwise known as Walking back to Houston, Big slick, Anna Kournikova or Santa Barbara


  • These win 65,4% of the time against a random hand
  • They come up at the same rate as other suited high cards (0.30%).


A, Q unsuited: Ace Queen unsuited is otherwise known as Little Slick, Doyle Brunson or Big Chick


  • These win 64,4% of the time against a random hand
  • These appear 0.30% of the time.


Here are a few tips for playing these hole cards.

  • Even with two aces, there’s no guarantee that you’ll win.
  • Don’t play a pair of 10s the same way you play aces. 10s are much weaker. As an example, a pair of sevens wins 13.30% of the time. That makes a pair of 10s closer in strength to a pair of sevens than they are to a pair of queens. Play 10s as you would sevens, carefully and conservatively.
  • When playing high, suited hole cards and hitting the flush on the flop, you need to be wary of being beaten by a possible full house on the turn and the river.

Use these tips and the top ten hole card breakdown to your advantage. Many players won’t go in on a hand unless they are holding one of the above combinations. It’s true that in order to play in this manner you need discipline and patience. However, those two attributes often payoff when playing Texas Holdem.

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Not a great article IMHO…but it all counts in Google when it comes to SEO

I usually folding pocket pairs below 10 if I’m not in late position, because too many risks comes with the overcards even in a fair flop.
Sometimes they’re good in heads up, or 5 or more multiway pot situations (when every player has each others outs…) but otherway they pretty much useless.

Folding pocket pairs below 10 if you’re not late seems a bit too tight. I will always call 2-5bb raises with any pocket pair for set value.

@Mark

I don’t agree with that, the odds to hit a set are 8 against 1 on the flop. If a over card falls (which happens most of the time) and the original raises places a bet you cannot call anymore. Even if it’s a bluff you never know where you stand and you probably need to call a bet on the turn and river too.

So I agree with the first mark, if course if its an tight table its a different situation.

@ The probability of flopping a set is 11,76%, which works out to an odds of around 8,5 to 1 (or if you use the European decimal system a pot odds of 9,5).

Top 10 Poker Hands

By use of the Easy rule of thumb (http://www.pokerbankrollblog.com/poker-probabilities_all-you-need-to-know.htm) the probability of hitting your set on the turn and river is about 7%. This gives you a total probability of hitting you set of roughly 20%, which works out to odd around 4 to 1.

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