Strength Concepts of Starting Hands

Strength Categories of Starting Hands

Strength
Description
Examples


Premium Hands that can win on their own.
Strong Hands that will probably
need improvement to win.
Drawing Hands that will need help from the board to win.
Garbage Should not be played.
Big pairs-AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 10.10; straight draws with aces such as A*K*, AVK>.
Medium pairs—99, 88, 77; Ace-high straight draws such as KYQ4; Royal Draws such as KVJY.
Little pairs—66,55,44,33,22; connected straight-flush draws such as 5*64; Ace-high flush draws such as AV7V.
All other hands not listed above.

Patience is required to play Hold' em, because you rarely receive premium and strong starting cards. The next table summarizes the frequencies of selected premium and strong starting cards and the odds against occurrence.