Most of the time, you’ll want to play the aces strong after the flop, too-regardless of what cards are there. You can’t have it both ways, though-if you get action, sometimes you’ll lose. They also get irritated when they get no action. Some players get irritated when they get their aces cracked. Your goal with pocket aces is to get heads-up with someone as soon as possible. You don’t have the ability to make someone play for all her chips, so you have to thin the field as soon as you can. If you’re playing limit, you should raise regardless of your position. You don’t want to give a substandard hand a cheap way to draw out on you. If you’re in middle or late position, you should raise with aces. When the action gets back to you, you can re-raise and make your opponent play for his entire stack. Your hope is that someone following you will put in a raise with a pair of kings or queens. If you’re playing in a no-limit game, if you’re in early position, it might make sense to limp with pocket aces. Even if you mis-play this hand, it’s so strong that you’ll often win lots of money anyway.īut how do you get the most money out of this hand? After all, a pair of aces is easily the most powerful starting hand in the game. It’s hard to go wrong when playing “rockets,” or “bullets,” as a pair of aces if often called. You can (and should) play other hands preflop, but these might be the most important hands to play preflop. Here are the top 10 starting hands in Texas holdem along with some suggestions for how to best play them. You can’t win at gambling without, well… gambling… You’re going to bet and raise with them.ĭon’t forget that even though poker is a game of skill, it’s still gambling. But most of the time, you’re not going to try to play them cheaply. Yes, you’re only going to play good hands preflop. Even if your play after the flop is only mediocre, if you’re playing right before the flop, you won’t lose any money in the long run.īut some players take being tight preflop to the extreme.Īnd they often confuse being tight with being passive. I’ve read that at most Texas holdem games, you can break even just by having strong play preflop. Once you’ve mastered the basics of playing-how the deal works, how the bets are handled, and so on-you start learning about the strategic concepts behind winning the game on a consistent basis.Īnd the first of these concepts is tight preflop play. For most people, the 2 nd thing you learn is how to play 5 card draw. The first thing you learn in poker is the standard ranking of hands.

Top 20 starting hands in texas holdem