Strength Of Poker Starting Hands
- Strength Of Poker Starting Hands Signals
- Strength Of Poker Starting Hands Against
- Strongest Poker Starting Hands
- Strength Of Poker Starting Hands Games
NL Hold’em Starting Hand Charts One aspect of the game of No-Limit Hold’em that causes beginning players much grief is deciding which hands to play and which hands to dump. NL Hold’em is much more difficult than Limit Hold’em because the value of a hand depends on so many factors other than just the cards in your hand. The total of 169 combinations represents a square, too — 13 x 13 — another curious symmetry when it comes to hold'em hands. Still, that’s a lot of starting hand combinations — too many for.
Starting Hand Selection: Chen Formula : Sklansky Starting Hand Groups
The Chen formula is a system for scoring different starting hands in Texas Hold’em. It was created by Bill Chen for use in the book Hold’em Excellence by Lou Krieger. Bill Chen is also the guy that wrote The Mathematics of Poker.
The process looks a little tricky at first, but it’s really quite straightforward and logical after you have worked through a handful of examples.
The Chen formula.
- Score your highest card only. Do not add any points for your lower card.
- A = 10 points.
- K = 8 points.
- Q = 7 points.
- J = 6 points.
- 10 to 2 = 1/2 of card value. (e.g. a 6 would be worth 3 points)
- Multiply pairs by 2 of one card’s value. However, minimum score for a pair is 5.
- (e.g. KK = 16 points, 77 = 7 points, 22 = 5 points)
- Add 2 points if cards are suited.
- Subtract points if their is a gap between the two cards.
- No gap = -0 points.
- 1 card gap = -1 points.
- 2 card gap = -2 points.
- 3 card gap = -4 points.
- 4 card gap or more = -5 points. (Aces are high this step, so hands like A2, A3 etc. have a 4+ gap.)
- Add 1 point if there is a 0 or 1 card gap and both cards are lower than a Q.(e.g. JT, 75, 32 etc, this bonus point does not apply to pocket pairs)
- Round half point scores up.(e.g. 7.5 rounds up to 8)
For step 5, it’s easier to refer to this extra 1 point as a 'straight bonus' to save confusion between steps 4 and 5. Subtracting 1 point for 1 gap and then adding it back again for lower cards seems a bit awkward I know, but that’s the way it works.
Chen Formula calculator.
Chen formula hand example scores.
- A K
- A = +10 points.
- Suited = +2 points.
- Final score = 12 points.
- T T
- T = 10 x 1/2 = +5 points.
- Pair = multiply by 2.
- Final score = 10 points.
- 5 7
- 7 = 7 x 1/2 = +3.5 points.
- Suited = +2 points.
- 1 card gap = -1 point.
- 0 - 1 card gap, both cards under Q = +1 point.
- Final score = 6 points. (5.5 points rounded up)
- 2 7
- 7 = 7 x 1/2 = +3.5 points.
- 4+ card gap = -5 points.
- Final score = -1 point. (-1.5 points rounded up)
- A A
- A = +10 points.
- Pair = multiply by 2.
- Final score = 20 points.
So now we know how to work out how many points different hands are worth, what can we do with the numbers to help us with starting hand selection?
Using Chen formula hand points.
The main reason behind using the Chen formula for different starting hands was so that you can categorize them based on the Sklansky and Malmuth hand groups table.
That’s all well and good for helping you to compare the strength of different starting hand in Hold’em, but it doesn’t really do much in the way of strategy for starting hand selection. Therefore, I have done a little bit of work and created a starting hand strategy using the Chen formula.
Chen formula starting hand strategy.
- Only ever consider calling a raise with 10 points or more.
- Always raise or reraise with 12 points or more.
Short-handed strategy. (6 players)
Early position.
- Raise = 9 points or more.
- Fold = 8 points or less.
Mid position.
- Raise = 8 points or more.
- Fold = 7 points or less.
Late position.
- Raise = 7 points or more.
- Fold = 6 points or less.
Full-ring strategy. (10 players)
Early position.
- Raise = 10 points or more.
- Fold = 9 points or less.
Mid position.
- Raise = 9 points or more.
- Fold = 8 points or less.
Late position.
- Raise = 7 points or more.
- Fold = 6 points or less.
'Raise' = Raise if there have been no raises or calls before you.
'Fold' = Fold regardless if there has been a raise before you or not. Just fold.
About my Chen formula starting hand strategy.
As with any set of rules or guidelines in poker, this Chen formula starting hand strategy isn’t perfect and will have it’s flaws. However, I like to think that this is an easy-to-use and solid preflop strategy using the Chen formula.
Most of the strategy involves either raising or folding preflop, which is a solid approach to take as a new player and a style that you will grow accustomed to as your game progresses. The starting hand requirements are also a little tight, but that’s only to be expected if you’re using a guide and you haven’t quite found your feet when it comes to starting hand selection yet.
I took inspiration from the Chen formula article at SimplyHoldem.com (no longer active) to create this starting hand strategy. I decided to develop my own because I believe that the guidelines at Simply Holdem were flawed because:
- It does not distinguish between short and full ring games.
- Just calling the big blind is not a profitable way to play NL Hold’em for the most part.
Chen formula evaluation.
The Chen formula is never going to be a complete substitute for proper preflop starting hand strategy. It will also take a little getting used to if you want to work hand scores out on the fly. However, this is as good a formula as you are going to find for working out preflop starting hand strengths in NL Hold’em.
The starting hand strategy I worked out will also have its own flaws, but again this is as good as a simple guideline is going to get for those preflop decisions.
Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.
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Poker Hands: An Introduction
To fool or be fooled
Poker is a pretty straightforward game. All you have to do is build a hand that’s strong enough to beat everyone else’s – or trick your opponents that you do have a strong hand regardless of what cards you actually have – to win.
But how exactly do you gauge the strength of your hand? Well, there’s a table below that shows you all the hands at your disposal and how each one of them ranks with respect to all the others. But before we get to that, let us first go over some of the basics:
Please note the following card references:
(h) Hearts (d) Diamonds (c) Clubs (s) Spades
What is a hand in poker?
Simply put, a poker hand is just a collection of specific cards. At the end of each game (i.e., the showdown stage), all active players must compare their respective hands to determine a winner (or winners in case there’s an unbreakable tie). The player or players with the strongest hand wins the pot.
In most cases (i.e., in standard games like Texas Holdem and Omaha), a hand is made up of five cards. Even in seven-card poker, only the strongest five-card hands get considered. The only difference is that each player gets more cards to work within seven-card games.
The only exception to this five-card hand rule are three-card poker games, where, as the name suggests, only three cards are used to make a hand.
What determines the strength of a poker hand?
Rarity dictates how strong a certain poker hand is. The more difficult it is to get, the higher it ranks. Now, while we won’t actually show you the math behind it in this post, if you enjoy working with numbers or are just curious, then there’s a detailed write-up on the subject right here.
You said something about tricking my opponents. What’s that about?
Well, it’s a technique called “bluffing.” It basically entails making your opponents believe that you either have a strong or weak hand depending on how you want them to act. By making other players believe that you have a strong hand, you can force those with weak hands to fold, thereby decreasing the total number of people you have to compete with come showdown time. By acting weak, on the other hand, you can bait them into raising the pot, which ultimately means more money for you at the end of the game.
All it takes is a bit of acting. Of course, being able to read your opponents would help a lot as well. But be sure to not overuse this technique to prevent your opponents from seeing a pattern and countering.
Poker hands in order of strength
Now that we’re done with the basics, let’s move on to the hand rankings:
Royal Flush Probability
0.000154%
The top hand in poker, it consists of five suited cards of consecutive values starting with an ace.
Ex: As Ks Qs Js 10s
Straight Flush Probability
0.00139%
It’s essentially a clone of a royal flush but it uses a king or lower as its highest card instead of an ace.
Ex: Js 10s 9s 8s 7s
Four of a Kind Probability
0.0240%
This hand is made up of four cards of the same value and a fifth kicker card.
Ex: 3d 3h 3s 3c 9s
Full House Probability
0.1441%
A trip and pair combo.
Ex: Kd Kh Ks 4s 4c
Flush Probability
0.1965%
Five suited cards of any value.
Ex: Ad 7d 6d 4d 2d
Straight Probability
0.3925%
As you may have guessed, this hand consists of five cards in sequence. The suits do not matter.
Ex: 6d 5c 4s 3c 2h
Three of a Kind Probability
2.1128%
Also known as a trip, it’s just three cards of the same value plus two kicker cards.
Ex: 4h 4s 4c 10d 7s
Two Pair Probability
4.7539%
A pair is just two cards of the same value. This hand has two of them plus a fifth kicker card.
Strength Of Poker Starting Hands Signals
Ex: 10d 10h 6d 6c 2s
One Pair Probability
42.2569%
In contrast, this hand only has one pair plus three kicker cards.
Ex: Kd Kh 6s 3c 2s
High Card Probability
50.1177%
Strength Of Poker Starting Hands Against
It’s called a hand but it’s practically just a collection of random cards. This is what you get by default when you are unable to build anything stronger.
In most cases, it would be best to just fold when you get this hand – unless you’re sure that you can bluff your way to victory.
Ex: Jd 7c 6s 4h 2h
Mastering these poker hands takes experience
Strongest Poker Starting Hands
Don’t worry if the whole subject seems overwhelming. The more games you play, the more you’ll be able to master these things.
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