Texas Holdem Starting Hands

The decision you make in the beginning is critical to your long-term success. So what hands do we want to play? There have been many books written about this subject, and there are some differing opinions, but for the most part the hands are similar. Let's take a look.

First, when deciding which hands to play in Texas Holdem you have to know your position at the table and whether or not you are playing Limit or No-Limit. For this discussion we will just talk about position and you can apply the starting hands to both types of games.

Early Position – your hands must be strong to play at all. You want to force people out of the hand that have garbage cards that could hit a flop.

Middle Position – You have more flexibility but still want to have hands that are strong and have potential to hit something connected on the flop.

Late Position – Your freedom goes way up and many hands are playable. Some people will play nearly everything. I wouldn't go that far, but the chart listed below gives you a lot of freedom.