Texas Holdem Starting Hands Ranking Chart
There are 1 326 different starting hands in Texas hold'em, but if you leave out the different color constellations there are totally 169.
Which starting hands a player should play is something that has been discussed in many books about poker. By dividing different hands into categories could be helpful for the ranking. This gives an oversight and that method are going to be used here also.
The categories below are only based on the objective strength of the starting hands; therefore, it's not sure that a specific play should be applied on all starting hands in the same category. A-A (two aces) are clearly the best starting hand and there are never an option to fold with it, which may be the case for other hands in 'Category 1'. In the choice of starting hands, you must also consider how many players there are on the table, which structure you are playing in and your own playing style (other articles on this site focus on these subjects).
Abbreviations used: A (Ace), K(King), Q (Queen), J, (Jack), T (Ten), s (suited)
Category 1
A-A
K-K
Q-Q
J-J
A-Ks
General playing instructions: Play in almost all situations and normally raise, re-raise or 4-bet.
Players can find many types of poker games at online casinos, and all of them require skill, Texas Holdem Starting Hand Rankings Chart strategy, and a bit of luck. Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker game in the world, but three card poker is one of the quickest to learn. Players can find many types of poker games at online casinos, and all of them require skill, Texas Holdem Starting Hand Rankings Chart strategy, and a bit of luck. Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker game in the world, but three card poker is one of the quickest to learn. Below you will find an example of our starting poker hand charts for No Limit Texas Hold'em. If you prefer other game types, check out our beginner strategies and starting hands charts for other game types: Sit & Go beginners strategy and starting hands charts; Fixed Limit Texas Hold'em charts; Multi Table Tournament strategy; Pot Limit Omaha. The table is a general ranking of hands in Texas Hold'em. The Sklansky and Malmuth starting hands table groups together certain hands in Texas Hold'em based on their strength. Starting with the strongest set of hands that you can be dealt in group 1, the hands get progressively weaker working down the table until the virtually unplayable hands.
Category 2
A-Qs
K-Qs
A-Js
T-T
A-K
A-Ts
General playing instructions: Play in almost all situations and normally raise or re-raise.
Category 3
A-Q
9-9
K-Js
8-8
A-J
K-Ts
Q-Js
K-Q
General playing instructions: Play in most situations and normally raise and sometimes re-raise.
Category 4
A9s
QTs
77
JTs
A8s
A-T
K9s
A7s
KJ
6-6
T-9s
General playing instructions: Play in late positions and sometimes in midle positions depending on the circumstances.
The list will not necessarily correspond to which starting hands that win most in practical play – a good term for this is ”equity-realization”, which is more about the effective odds than general playability. Which hand that works in practical play depends on different factors. One is that it's very easy to overplay some cards, like A-K. Another kind of 'problem hands' is J-J and T-T. These are big hands, but the value of them decreases when a queen, a king or an ace hits the table.
Number of combinations for different hand categories
The most common hands are offsuited hands. Each offsuited hand have twelve possible combinations.
For example A-Ko: A♥-K♦, A♥-K♣ ,A♥-K♠, A♦-K♥, A♦-K♣, A♦-K♠, A♣-K♦, A♣-K♣, A♣-K♠, A♠-K♦, A♠-K, A♠-K♣.
The next most common hands are the pairs. Each pocket pair have six possible combinations.
For example A-A: A♥-A♦, A♥-A♣, A♥-A♠, A♦-A♣, A♦-A♠, A♣-A♠.
The least common hands are the suited hands. Each suited hand have four possible combinations.
For example A-Ks: A♥-K♥, A♦-K♦ ,A♣-K♣, A♠-K♠.
Starting hands charts
All starting hands in Texas hold'em can be displayed shematically in a chart:
All hands, both with suited and offsuited versions are included. The real benefit of these charts appear when they display ranges, as we will se below.
The green color marks which cards to play. It tells, for example, that if your hole cards are QT (queen-ten) you should probably play, but if your hole cards are Q5 (queen-five) you should fold. In the chart, only about 10% av the hands get a green light, which is a rather tight pre flop disposition. There are many ideas and theories about how many hands should you play in poker; see starting hands ranges for more examples and information about this.
Related articles:
Knowing what beats what in poker or Texas Hold’em is an important early step in learning the game. To help you out, I have provided for you an attractive printable or downloadable “cheat sheet” for both 5 card hand rankings as well as top 24 pre-flop starting hands.
Poker hands ranked from best to worst:
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pair
- One Pair
- High Card
To make things easier on you, I have included some handy charts that can be used to reference during play or even printed out.
Poker Hand Rankings Chart
Never forget what beats what again. Feel free to save this to your phone/tablet/computer or print the chart out.
Click below to download a high-quality PDF that includes a printable copy of both the showdown and pre-flop hand rankings.
The Top 24 Hold’Em Starting Hand Rankings
To help you out, I have also included the top 24 no-limit hold’em starting hands to give you a further idea of what beats what in poker. I based this list on both raw equities as well as post-flop playability.
I have used over 10 years of experience in both tournaments and cash games to compile this info. You get to benefit from my hard work!
How These Hands Were Determined
I took a look at a few of the pre-flop hand ranking charts out there and, while most appeared to get it right for the most part, there seemed to be something off.
The thing is, everyone always does pretty well on the top 5 or 6 hands. However, after that things get a bit murkier
So, what really matters when it comes to weighing hand strength? I decided to take a close look at the problem. Using the knowledge I’ve gained over the past few years, I tried to come up with a better way of codifying hand rankings.
Determining the Overall Playability of Each Hand
I decided to go about it from a logical standpoint. When deciding whether to play a hand or not, what are the factors a strong player considers before acting
So, I decided that there are basically two main factors to consider in determining the strength of a particular pre-flop hand. And, since equity is the tool we use to rank the value of hands I just had to figure out what type of equities matter most and then apply it to each factor
Once I was able to define which equities to consider, it just took a bit of math.
1. Pre-Flop Equity
The first equity I decided to factor in is a hand’s raw pre-flop equity. I mean, sometimes you need to get all-in before the flop, right?
Of course, some hands will get all-in more frequently than others but for the sake of simplicity, raw equity against a strong range will give us a decent enough metric to come up with a comparative ranking.
2. Post-Flop Equity
Secondly, we need to factor in how a hand does post-flop. There’s no doubt, that certain hands play much better after the flop than others.
To calculate how well a hand does after the flop I looked at what post-flop hands tend to get all-in most of the time in a post-flop scenario. This includes the strongest made hands, including top pair and better, as well as strong draws.
Once I was able to figure out what hands are likely to get all-in, I just had to figure out the equity of every hand versus that range on a random flop.
Compiling the Final List
Doing these kinds of calculations by hand would be extremely difficult and time-consuming. Luckily, there is a software program called Cardrunner’s EV that does the math for me.
After I figured out both the raw pre-flop equity and the likely flop equity of each hand, I just used excel to average them. That data was used to compile the rankings.
Here are the final equity percentages:
Which Poker Starting Hand Ranges Should I Use?
Knowing which hands to open raise is important to your success. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
Free Basic Poker Strategy Charts
I have built charts that provide you profitable opening ranges from every position. As a bonus, the charts also include what to do at every decision point possible for playing a 20 to 40 big blind stack
The guide will give you an excellent starting point for playing No-Limit Texas Hold’em and will get you off on the right foot by allowing you to play fundamentally sound poker right now!
FAQ
What if my opponent and I have the same hand at showdown ?
If more than one player has the same hand then you have to follow the tie-breaker rules to determine the winner.
If two or more players have a flush or straight
In the case where two players have a flush or straight, the person who has the highest card in their hand wins. For example, T9876 beats 76543.
If two or more players have a full house
In the case of multiple full houses, the player with the highest “trips” as part of their full house wins. For example, TTT22 beats 555AA.
Texas Holdem Starting Hands Ranking
What if two or more players have the same pair or two pair?
If multiple players have exactly the same two pair, the highest kicker is used to determine the winner. For example, JJ66Q beats JJ66T.
The same process is used for one-pair. The next highest kicker is used. If that is the same, you use the next highest kicker. So on and so forth until the tie is broken. For example, AAK85 beats AAK84.
Who wins if more than one person has the same high card?
Similarly to one pair and two-pair hands, you use the next highest kicker to determine the winner. You keep moving on to the next kicker until a winner is determined. For example, KT763 beats KT753.
Which is better, trips or two-pair?
Three of a kind beats two-pair. It also beats a pair and high card.
Texas Holdem Hand Rankings
Which is better, a flush or a straight?
A flush beats a straight. It also beats three of a kind, two pair, a pair, and high card.
What is the worst hand in poker?
The worst hand against multiple players is 72 offsuit. The worst hand heads-up is 32o.
Texas Holdem Starting Hands Ranking Chart Printable
What are the odds of getting a Royal Flush in Texas Hold’em?
Texas Holdem Poker Hand Ranking
A royal flush is extremely rare. You can only expect to get a royal flush once every 650,000 hands. That doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. Personally, I have played well over 5 million hands and have only had one royal using both cards.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article has helped you learn more about how hand rankings work in poker. If you want to learn about basic poker strategy, be sure to check out my detailed no-limit hold’em basic tutorial.