No Limit Holdem Hand Guide

The element of hand selection is one of the most important principles in poker. By getting your cards right pre-flop, you’ll avoid difficult situations in later streets and be on the right roads to making profit. Pre-flop play and the hands that you choose to enter pots with should be based on a number of important factors including your hole cards, position, table dynamics and stack size. Every hand you’re dealt in No Limit Holdem is different to the last, perhaps your table position changed or an opponent increased his tempo – all of these things need to be accounted for.

Hole Cards

This is by far the most important factor when deciding to enter a pot. Premium holdings such as pocket pairs and AJ+ should always be raised 3-4BBs plus 1 for each limper. This prevents limpers getting cheap pots odds with their drawing hands, and it also allows you to narrow down the hand ranges of opponents on the flop. Your typical calling hands will include suited connectors, high connectors (e.g. 910), broadway cards and aces suited. Most of these have the implied odds to call. Unfortunately, around 80% of the hands you’re dealt will need to be folded. Junk hands such as 72o are the worst, however generally speaking anything that doesn’t have “drawing” potential should be check-folded.

In term of 3betting (re-raises), you should be hitting back with QQ+, or JJ too in late position.

Position

Position is the 2nd most important factor before choosing your starting hands. Common table positions include the blinds, UTG (under the gun), mid-position, late-position and CO (cut off). Strictly speaking, the earlier your position, the more hands you should fold. This is because you will have the least information at the table and will be out of position for each of the future streets (i.e. you will have to act first). In late position, you can afford to play a looser range of hands such as suited connectors, high connectors and low pocket pairs. From early position, you should fold virtually all of your non-premium hands however you can afford to play the occasional marginal hand if the table is weak/passive.

Stack Sizes

A lot of players play badly when short-stacked (under 30xBBs). To call raises with low pockets pairs e.g. 22, you need to be aware of the 10% rule. You should only call raises with multiple callers in the pot behind you or when the raise is worth less than 10% of your opponent’s stack. This is to ensure you get the right implied odds for playing pockets, as hitting a set will only happen 1/8 times.When big stacked, you should be willing to play a higher range of hands and bully the table. For instance, by blind-stealing in late position or raising marginal hands 3xBBs in mid-position, you can force your opponents to fold pre-flop and also improve your folding equity for bluffing on later streets.

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