The Online Poker Player Resource

One important recurring decision is to choose which hands to play. A good rule of thumb is to play fewer hands than your opponents. Learning whether a hand is playable or not, is very much a question of experience. Strong pairs and running cards are good hole cards.

Do not be curious

Remember, it will cost money to see the flop. In order to win in the long term, you should not waste money out of curiosity. Sometimes, high cards are not as good as they may seem at first glance. For example, a queen and a jack off-suit is normally not a good starting hand.

Good starting hands

These are very good starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, TT These are also good: AJ, KQ, QJ, JT, T9 (suited), 99, 88, 77, Ax (suited). You should normally refrain from playing other starting hands.

Heads-up

If you are playing heads-up – one against one – you can play more starting hands than you would at a full table. In that situation you have a greater chance of winning a hand with 22 (55). That is because you already have a pair, and against only one player, the risk of his/her hitting a higher pair than yours is smaller.