In most cases you’ll be looking to build a big pot before the flop, or even going all-in, as it’s important to press your advantage when you have one. Premium pairs should generally be raised preflop, to protect your strong hands from being outdrawn by weaker ones.Pairs always look great, but there’s a big difference between ‘premium’ pairs like QQ, KK or AA, medium pairs like 77-TT, and small pairs like 22-66, with some hands much stronger than others.

Let’s explore these different hand types a little further, starting with pocket pairs. Meanings of the abbreviations are as follows: Why is this fundamental to poker strategy? Because seeing what other players choose to do before you act is a significant advantage – so much so that the dealer position changes with every deal, so no one benefits more than anyone else.Įach position at the table has a name, and the image below displays search of them at a typical full ring table (for 10 players simply add an additional middle position player). Acting after your opponents is called being ‘in position’, while acting before them is known as being ‘out of position’. This third point is one of the most useful concepts for new poker players to understand.

More hands can be played from late position than anywhere else.

You should generally be more aggressive with limpers in the hand, and a little more cautious vs.

closer to the top of the chart), the better Looking at the starting hands chart above, three things should be clear:

Just a quick look at this poker cheat sheet shows that a greater number of different hands can be played from late position, compared to early position, and that the number of callers or raises in front of you has an effect on how you should play the hand.Ĭlick or tap the link below to save this Texas Hold’em chart for future reference, or bookmark this page to help you when playing online. With our handy chart you can see which hands to raise, call and fold with depending on your position at the poker table, with at-a-glance advice on cards to be played from early (EP), middle (MP) or late position (LP).Īs you can see, the optimal move can vary depending on if you’re the first player to enter the pot (‘Unopened Pot’), if there’s already been one or more callers (calling the blinds preflop is known as limping, hence ‘With Limper(s)’), or if there’s already been a raise in front of you. You certainly don’t want to play every hand the dealer gives you, and even good players will fold a lot of their hands, but how can you know which poker hands to play?

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