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Black
Premium hands.
These are the hands you should be raising and re-raising
pre-flop with the intention of seeing a showdown.
For this reason, generally you should be making a raise
with the intention of limiting the number of callers.
Based on the table you are playing an appropriate bet
will vary, but generally your goal should be to play one
or two players going into the flop. Make the general
medium raise, whatever that may be (at every table there
is a table bet, whether it is 2 or 3 times the
blind. This is the consistent bet that stands out as
saying "yes I have a hand", again, with the intention of
scaring a few stragglers off the pot.) Many players will
limp with these hands hoping for a raise behind them,
and then they make a large re-raise hoping to trap an
opponent. I advise against this play as I think it
completely gives away your hand; just raising is
actually more deceptive, and if the player actually has
any kind of hand he is liable to raise you making him
even more committed to the hand.
Green
Premium Drawing hands. These are
hands you should try and play against as many players as possible in
the hopes they will improve to make a very strong hand. If
they even marginally improve (and assuming you've improved as
well), you've set a trap for not one but multiple committed
players.
With Pockets from 88s to TTs you can afford to bet out to a degree but you
still want to see a flop before getting too heavily committed.
Because these hands offer such strong draws you can also bet
them aggressively pre-flop to mix up your image a little (bet an
amount you don't normally bet - make it an odd number if you
normally bet in evens, as an example). In
this case, however, you are left largely to your judgment post flop.
Red
The Danger Cards. The problem with the danger cards is they are
all semi decent hands.; in a very high ante, or shorthanded game
they become stronger hands, but at a full table playing them
against any kind of raise usually means you are dominated or
well behind. Even with the best of these cards you will
always be wondering if you are out-kicked and they don't present
many other draws. Play them when you sense weakness but be
cautious when people play back. If unsure, or at a table
where you fear being outplayed, save yourself the money and
trouble and just don't play them.
Yellow
Weaker Drawing Hands. These hands
present weaker drawing opportunities than green hands.
They are just as valuable when making a hand but will be completed
less often. Try and see a flop cheaply, if the flop is
friendly play aggressively. If not, fold.
Orange
The other end of the deck. These cards are folding cards
the vast majority of the time. Much like yellow cards if
you can play them cheaply it may be worthwhile, the difference
is that you will almost never make a nut hand with these cards
and will be left largely to try and read other players.
The other key point is Hold'em is all about high cards.
Good players play high cards. Having said that, sometimes the flop
comes out low cards. Often, your opponent holding AK or QQ (who
raised big pre-flop) sees
the board come up rags (muck cards) they just wont believe you made two pair on them with 3/6 or 2/4.
This can be profitable and is something to consider. Do
this very rarely, as these hands are also a great way to
finish with a second or third best hand that looks pretty strong
- be careful.
Grey
Basically junk cards. These are the ones you fold the majority of
the time. There are, of course, exceptions where you will be
sitting on the button and feel like making a push to steal.
At this point you are essentially playing blank cards. Don't get me
wrong - you can win a hand with these cards - but you are behind
any good hand, and have very limited draws. In the long run they
simply are not profitable to play at a full table (unless
of course you can significantly outplay the other players post
flop, this of course broadens hand selection further.)
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Pocket Pairs
Looking at the
chart, if you take any pair listed it is a favorite against any
of hands on the same or lower on the chart. Against
starting hands listed above the pair, the pocket pair will be a
very marginal favorite (approx 6 to 5) Against a larger pair
you are a 9-1 underdog.
Max Stretch Suited Connectors
Even when connected, some cards present less
opportunity of making a straight. Cards like A2 or AK can only
use 3/4/5 and 10/J/Q respectively. Therefore the Maximum Stretch
cards are the adjacent cards higher then 4x5x but not higher
then 10xJx. These (powerful and often overlooked) cards
provide the best draws. This is what I mean when using the term
"maximum stretch"; the hands that have both the
maximum likelihood of creating a straight and are suited to
provide a flush draw as backup. Connectors (Cards
immediately adjacent with no numerical gap between them) provide a
greater opportunity for straights, because a larger
number of card combinations are usable to create the your straights
in both directions (high and low).
As an example compare:
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Connectors
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with which a straight can be made using
5/6/7, 6/7/10,7/10/J, and 10/J/Q |
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1-Gap Cards |
with which a straight can be made using
6/7/9, 7/9/J, 9/J/Q |
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2-Gap Cards |
with which a straight can be made using
6/8/9, 8/9/J |
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3-Gap Cards |
with which a straight can be made using only
7/8/9 |
For this reason, when you play drawing cards you should try to
play only direct connectors or 1 gap connectors. Another
valuable note: J10 is highlighted because of its unique property
of always making a nut straight. If at any time you are
making a straight in which you are using both of these cards (J10),
then you have the nut straight. It can not make a
losing straight unless one of its cards is duplicated on the board or
a flush, full house, or quads are present.
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