Starting Hands in No Limit Texas Hold'em Poker

Introduction

No Limit Texas Hold’em poker is a game where the objective is to make better decisions than the other players. The decision you’ll face most often, in any hand, is how you handle your starting hands (the hole cards).
The sooner you get a good understanding of which hands to start with, the sooner you’ll be in a good position to work out an advantage over your opponents.

In this article, you’ll learn which hands you can use to get into the game of No-Limit Texas Holdem and why it’s sometimes best not to play with your hand in the first place.

Basic considerations

Because of the blinds that you have to pay regardless of your playing decisions, in No Limit Texas Holdem you can’t just sit at the table and watch the other players play, unless you are eager to take losses by force.
This means that you should play at least once every 6 hands on average for 6 players (that is 16% of the time), at least once every 10 hands on average for 10 players (that is 10% of your possible starting hands), and heads up for 2 players at least 50% of all starting hands.

If you choose to play fewer hands on average, your opponents could simply fold every time you enter a hand, which means you’ll win less chips without a fight than you’ll lose through the blinds.
In practice, however, your opponents won’t be so attentive, especially in fun-oriented games, which means that you can play a very abstinent playing style (also called “tight” in poker language) if it suits your general approach to the game.

Preflop in MP2

In MP2, you can afford to wait for the best starting hands and only play when your hand really allows it, so don’t bluff.
If you follow this videos recommendation, you can play 126 hands in MP2 out of a total of 1326 possible starting hands, which is about 9%.

While this is less than the 16% minimum at tables with 6 active players, it is the early positions at the table that are the most difficult to play from the flop onwards. So even if your opponents were to adapt to your abstinent playing style in MP2 and give up every time you enter the hand, your losses in that position would not be exorbitant and you would be able to win back the lost chips in a better position later in the game.

I suggest you raise with the red,purple and light blue hands, to 4 big blinds.
If one of your opponents raises after you, you fold the red hands, call the purple hands, and re-raise the light blue hands 3-5 times your previous raise, depending on how many players have called your original raise.

If your bet leaves you with less than 50% of your stack, you go all in.

MP2 starting hands

action	range	color in the chart
Raise/Fold	22-JJ, ATs-AQs, KQs,QJs, AQo	red
Raise/Call	QQ, AKs, AKo	purple
Raise/4-Bet Bluff
Raise/4-Bet/All In	KK-AA	blue

Preflop in MP3

Just like in MP2, you can wait for strong starting hands in MP3 and hardly ever bluff. If you follow the given recommendations, you will play 194 of 1326 possible starting hands in MP3, which is about 14% of the hands. Due to the tight playing style, MP3 is still well below the 20% minimum that one would expect at tables with 5 active players. However, the same arguments regarding the more complicated post-flop play apply in MP3 as they do in MP2.

If no one player has raised before you, you will raise all red,purple,orange and light blue hands to 3 big blinds + an additional big blind if MP2 called the minimum bet.
If there is a raise after you, you fold the red hands, call the purple hands, and re-raise the light blue and orange hands 3-5 times the amount of the previous raise, depending on how many players have called your original raise.

You are ready to go all in with Kings, Queens and Aces against further aggression, while you give up with King Queen suited (that is King and Queen of the same colour) against further aggression.

If you are facing an open raise from MP2, you’ll only play the orange and light blue hands. You raise the light blue hands (Queens, Kings and Aces) to 3 times the original raise willing to go all in against further aggression. King Queen suited (that is King and Queen of the same suit) you raise as a bluff to 3 times the original raise, but give up against further aggression.
If your bet leaves you with less than 50% of your stack, you go directly all in.

MP3 starting hands

action	range	color in the chart
Raise/Fold	22-TT, A8s-AJs, KTs-KJs , QTs-QJs, JTs, T9s, 98s, ATo-AQo, KQo	red
Raise/Call	JJ, AQs-AKs, AKo	purple
Raise/4-Bet Bluff	KQs	orange
Raise/4-Bet/All In	QQ-AA	blue

Preflop in the CO

In the cutoff you can play significantly more hands and bluff a little more often. If you follow the recommendations given, you’ll play 310 hands out of 1326 in the cutoff, which is about 23% of the possible starting hands and is already relatively close to the 25% one could expect at a table with 4 active players.
If no player has raised before you, you will raise all red, purple orange and light-blue hands to 3 big blinds + one additional big blind for each player who simply called the minimum bet before you. If there is a raise after you, you fold the red hands, call the purple hands, and re-raise the light blue and orange-marked hands 3-5 times the amount of the previous raise, depending on how many players have called your original raise.

You are ready to go all in with the light-blue marked hands against further aggression while you give up with the orange hands against further aggression. If the raise was made before you, you will only play the orange and light-blue hands. The light-blue hands (Queens, Kings, Aces and Ace King) are raised 3 times the original raise, and you shove All In against further aggression. Queen Jack suited and Jack Ten suited are raised as a bluff to 3 times the original raise, but you give up against further aggression.

If your bet leaves you with less than 50% of stack, you go all in.

CO starting hands

action	range	color in the chart
Raise/Fold	22-99, A2s-ATs, K7s-KJs , Q9s-QTs, J9s, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, 65s, A7o-AJo, KJo-KQo, QJo	red
Raise/Call	TT-JJ, AJs-AQs, KQs, AQo	purple
Raise/4-Bet Bluff	JTs, QJs	orange
Raise/4-Bet/All In	QQ-AA, AKs, AKo	blue

Preflop in the BU and SB

For the button and small blind, I recommend that you use an identical strategy for the starting hands. This is because the advantages and disadvantages of these positions roughly balance each other out in the game. While you still have to play against two other players in the button (the small blind and the big blind), you only have one player behind you in the small blind. However, the button may act as the last player in all subsequent betting rounds and therefore has an advantage over the small blind, who must act first in all subsequent betting rounds.

If you follow the given recommendations , you will play 590 out of 1326 hands in the button and in the small blind, which corresponds to about 44% of the possible starting hands, that is in the button due to your position advantage significantly more than the 33% one could expect at a table with three active players. but in the small blind slightly less than the lower limit of 50% one would expect at a table with only two active players.

If no player has raised before you, you will raise all red, purple orange and light-blue hands to 3 big blinds + an additional big blind for each player who simply called the minimum bet before you. If you think the players behind you are very tight, you might consider raising the button and small blind to 2.5 big blinds + an additional blind for each player who just called the minimum bet.
If there is a raise after you, you fold the red hands, call the purple hands, and re-raise the light-blue and orange hands by 3-5 times the amount of the previous raise, depending on how many players came in after your original raise.

Like in the other positions you are ready to go all in with the light-blue hands against further aggression while you give up with the orange hands against further aggression.
If the raise was made before you, you’ll only play the orange and light blue hands. The light blue-marked hands (Queens, Kings, Aces and Ace King) you reraise to 3 times the original raise and go all in against further aggression. The orange hands ( Ten 9 suited, 98 suited and 87 suited) you raise as a bluff to 3 times the original raise, but give up against further aggression.

If your bet leaves you with less than 50% of stack, you go all in.

BU and SB starting hands

action	range	color in the chart
Raise/Fold	22-77, A2s-A9s, K2s-KTs , Q2s-QTs, J7s-J9s, T7-T8s, 97s, 76s, 65s, 54s, 43s, A2o-A9o, K8o-KJo, Q8o-QJo, J8o-JTo, T8o-T9o, 98o	red
Raise/Call	88-JJ, ATs-AQs, KJs-KQs, QJs, JTs, ATo-AQo, KQo	purple
Raise/4-Bet Bluff	T9s, 98s, 87s	orange
Raise/4-Bet/All In	QQ-AA, AKs, AKo	blue

Big Blind Defense

In the big blind, you win the blinds if all players in front of you fold.
If no player has raised before you, but simply joined in with the minimum bet, I recommend that you follow the appropriate guidelines for the button and the small blind.

If a raise was made before you,I recommend that you follow the guidelines for the position from which you were raised. This means that the light blue and orange hands for that position will be re-raised to 3-5 times the original raise, depending on how many players have already entered. Against further aggression, you go all in with the light-blue hands and give up the orange hands.

An exception are the pocket pairs. Even if they are marked red in the respective charts, you can usually always call them after a raise, as long as no further raises can be made after you.

If your bet leaves you with less than 50% of stack, you go all in.

Summary and prospects

In this article I have given you some recommendations which will help you as a beginner with your orientation and as an advanced player to challenge and sharpen your own game again and again. Of course, all recommendations are only to be understood as an introduction to the sophisticated topic of starting hands. However, in practice and in leisure-oriented games the strategies shown can be a good starting point.