Learning to play winning poker is about developing the right set of skills. You have to equip yourself with the right amount of knowledge and strategies. Playing poker is like investing. You want to put your money in good opportunities with the chance for fair return. By playing holdem, good players can win most money with only a reasonable amount of risk. You can win by exploiting opportunities what bad players offers.
As a new player, your journey to the poker world is not about getting the big cards and winning them. Selecting correctly the starting hands (the hole cards) is one of the key at winning poker. Understanding the strength and weaknesses of your hole cards will give you a good information on your winning potential.
Good starting hands gives you more chances to form a strong poker hand with a high potential to win. By only playing hands that have profitable expected value, you will greatly increase your ability to earn money over the long-term. In his book Holdem Poker for Advanced Players, Sklansky presents the definitive grouping of the best Texas Hold'em starting hands.
Group 1: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs
Group 2: TT, AQs, AJs, KQs, AK
Group 3: 99, JTs, QJs, KJs, ATs, AQ
Group 4: T9s, KQ, 88, QTs, 98s, J9s, AJ, KTs
Group 5: 77, 87s, Q9s, T8s, KJ, QJ, JT, 76s, 97s, Axs, 65s
Group 6: 66, AT, 55,86s, KT, QT, 54s, K9s, J8s, 75s
Group 7: 44, J9, 64s, T9, 53s, 33, 98,43s, 22, Kxs, T7s, Q8s
Group 8: 87, A9, Q9, 76,42s, 32s, 96s, 85s, 58, J7s, 65, 54, 74s, K9, T8
These rankings reflect not only which group each starting hand belongs to, but its approximate order in that group as well. The list put strong emphasis on connecting and suited hands. Referring to the above groupings, Group 1 and 2 should usually be raised to almost any position. On the other hand, you should play cautiously those on the lower ranks. For example hand like A7, since you have an Ace it doesn’t mean you have to play the hands all the time. These are one some of the troubled hands that even if you caught an Ace you may still lose the pot because of bad kicker. You have to take extra cautions.
Another to keep in mind in your hand selections is the value of position. Positions affect the value of your hand. Being on the early position, people behind you get to see your actions and those on the later position have more information about what other players going to do. In general, when you are in early position you have to tighten your starting hand requirements while on the later position you may loosen your selection. At early position you should opt to play strong hands more often and discard those troublesome cards. A bet saved is a bet earned.
Winning player thinks, you need to play your hand tactically. You still need to observe your opponents and the table dynamics. You need to play your hand as the situation dictates and not to fall in love to a hand just because it is on the Group 1 rankings. Remember that Texas Holdem is about knowing when to fold as well.
