Beginners Poker: Starting Hand Selection
In low stakes games, a solid appreciation of what hands are actually strong will win the money over the long run.
The first and most key thing you have to come to terms with when you first start playing poker is what hands you should and should not be playing. Hold'em can be a deceptive game sometimes, where hands that look very strong can actually turn out to be very weak.
Some hands are intuitively very strong, such as a pair of aces or kings, and other hands obviously very weak, such as two seven or three five off suit. The problems start to arise when looking at hands which look like they could be strong, but in fact are often danger hands. These basically fit into three key categories:
Weak aces. Any ace with a kicker under ten can be a very problematic hand to play in hold'em. The problem is that most players tend to play big aces, with the result that if you habitually play weak aces, even if you do flop an ace, you will be out kicked often and lose a big pot. Although these hands are good stealing hands on the button or when playing heads up or very short handed, in most games they should be avoided unless suited and looking to hit the nut flush.
Weak Broadway. The term 'Weak Broadway' refers to any hand that has two cards over ten, but is not the strong hands of this group, such as ace king or ace queen. Hands like jack king, queen king, and jack queen seem to get bad players into constant problems - for similar reasons to weak aces. As most players will be playing the strong Broadway hands, even if you do hit part of your hand you will often be out kicked and again in serious trouble. These hands are good stealing hands and play well in multi way pots, but when the big money goes in you usually want more than just a pair with them to commit yourself.
Mid pairs. Although it seems obvious that you will probably need to hit another two for a pair of twos to be a good hand by the end, and that a pair of aces will probably not need that much help to win, the pairs between fives and tens can be very problematic to play, as they have the awkward mix of being both strong, yet vulnerable. As an over card to your mid pair will usually fall on the flop, playing these hands successfully if you do not hit a set can be very difficult. Again, they are great stealing hands and will often be the best hand, but if big money starts to go in with over cards out, your hand is probably not good.
In low stakes games, a solid appreciation of what hands are actually strong will win the money over the long run. As so many players at these limits not only play too many hands, but go too far with problematic ones, sticking to solid hand values is all you really need to do to win. By understanding which hands will cause you problems, you can safely avoid many of the pit falls that hold'em throws up, and that will save you a great deal in the long run.
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
