This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan.
One of the most common amateur poker mistakes is playing too many hands.
If you want to quickly improve your poker game, your best bet is to only play strong starting hands preflop.
So which hands should you actually play in no-limit hold’em?
In this article, we’ll analyze 4 starting hand categories all good poker players know to play.
If you stick with only playing these hands, you’re guaranteed to see an immediate improvement in your poker results.
Let’s get right into it.
Best Poker Hand Category #1: Pocket Pairs
The best hand category all good poker players always play are pocket pairs (pocket Aces through pocket Twos).
Pocket pairs have a statistical advantage over unpaired starting hands for obvious reasons: you already have a made hand preflop.
Pocket pairs also have the ability to make monster combinations post flop, like sets and full houses.
It’s a lot easier to make three of a kind or a full house preflop with a paired hand compared to unpaired hands.
The chance of being dealt a pocket pair is smaller than the chance of getting dealt an unpaired hand, since there are far fewer combos of paired hands in no limit hold’em.
A combo in poker simply refers to a certain combination of hole cards. For example, A♥A♦ and A♥A♠ are two different combos.
There are 6 combos of every pocket pair in no-limit hold’em, but there are 16 combos of a certain unpaired hand (12 offsuit and 4 suited combos).
So the chance of being dealt a pocket pair preflop is 5.9% (or roughly once in every 16 hands).
With this in mind, not every pocket pair is created equal.
The stronger your pocket pair, the more aggressively you should play it, both preflop and post flop.
Smaller pocket pairs are a bit trickier, so you need to adjust your preflop strategy if you get dealt medium to small pairs.
For the purpose of this article, we can categorize pocket pairs in 3 groups:
a) premium pocket pairs (AA through JJ)
b) medium pocket pairs (TT through 77)
c) small pocket pairs) (66 through 22).
This categorization is not set in stone, however.
For example, sometimes you can treat pocket Tens as a premium pocket pair, or you can treat pocket Sevens as a small pocket pair depending on the situation.
Now let’s examine the best way to play each of these categories.
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a) Premium pocket pairs
Premium pocket pairs (JJ+) are the strongest starting hands you can be dealt in no-limit hold’em, and they should be your biggest long term winners by far.
The range of JJ+ is a huge favourite to win even against Ace-King suited, the strongest drawing hand.
Against Ace-King suited, pocket Jacks and stronger pairs have 62% equity.
Your hand equity simply refers to the percentage chance of winning the pot if all the players took their hand to showdown.
So when you get dealt a premium pocket pair, your best bet is to play it very aggressively preflop.
This way, you’re building up the pot as much as possible while your hand is ahead of your opponent’s calling range.
Playing premium hands aggressively will allow you to get to the flop as the preflop aggressor, ideally against only one or two opponents.
Premium pairs don’t really want to get to the flop against 3 or 4 opponents, as they perform worse in multiway pots.
A multiway pot is a pot with more than 2 players involved.
The reason premium pairs don’t prefer multiway pots is the fact that every additional player involved will have some small chunk of equity against you, even if they have some marginal, random hand.
As strong as premium pocket pairs are, it’s worth remembering that it’s still only one pair, and they are vulnerable to getting outdrawn on future streets.
Some amateur poker players are reluctant to play their strong hands aggressively because they don’t want to “scare their opponents off”.
This may seem like a fair objection, but it’s missing a very important point.
In poker, most of the money you’ll win will come from your strong value hands.
So your best bet is to get your money’s worth when you actually do get a strong hand, and not worrying what your opponents are going to do.
If your opponents have something worth calling you down with, they will, and if not, no amount of slowplaying is going to compel them to put more money into the pot.
To slowplay means to play your hand passively (to check or call) instead of aggressively (to bet or raise) in order to conceal your hand strength.
If you slowplay your big pairs preflop, you’re allowing your opponents to see a cheap flop and realize their equity against you.
Worse yet, you’re inviting in multiway pots, which makes it harder for you to actually win the hand.
So if you get dealt a strong hand preflop, you should always open-raise or 3-bet in order to get to the flop as the preflop aggressor.
To 3-bet preflop means to raise against another player’s open-raise.
This way, you’re building up the pot while your hand is likely ahead, and you get the opportunity to continue the aggression post flop in the form of a continuation bet (or c-bet for short).
If you make an overpair on the flop, betting the flop is almost always going to be profitable, as you can get action by a number of weaker hands.
An overpair is a pocket pair that’s stronger than the strongest card on the flop.
For example, on a flop like: Q♥5♣2♦ pocket Aces and pocket Kings are an overpair.
b) Medium pocket pairs
Medium pocket pairs are a lot less likely to flop an overpair than premium pocket pairs.
This makes them a lot trickier to play, but they can still be insanely profitable if you play them the right way.
You should still open-raise with your pocket pairs if you’re the first player to enter the pot.
This will give you the opportunity to c-bet the flop, even if you don’t flop anything spectacular.
If you flop an overpair, you can c-bet for value and get called by some weaker hands.
If not, you can choose between checking or making a c-bet anyway!
That’s because your opponent is just as likely to have missed the flop as you did.
This means you can try to push them out of the pot with a c-bet, even without a particularly strong hand.
Alternatively, you can just check to control the price of the pot, and try to get to a cheap showdown.
Since you already have a pair in your hand, you will likely have a decent amount of showdown value.
Hands with showdown value are the ones that aren’t strong enough to bet for value, but can still often win the pot unimproved at showdown.
If another player open-raises preflop before you, you should usually just flat call with medium pocket pairs.
A 3-bet is also not out of the question, especially with stronger pairs like pocket Tens or pocket Nines.
When you flat call with a pocket pair preflop, you are essentially set mining.
To set mine means to call preflop with the purpose of trying to hit a set post flop and taking down a big pot.
Set mining can also be a very profitable strategy, but only if you do it the right way.
If you want to learn when (and when not to) set mine, check out my full set mining guide.
c) Small pocket pairs
Small pocket pairs will almost never flop an overpair, so their playability relies solely on the prospect of hitting a set post flop.
If you’re the first player to enter the pot, you should still open-raise with small pocket pairs to get to the flop as the preflop aggressor.
However, you should refrain from playing small pocket pairs in very early table positions.
That’s because you’re unlikely to play in position post flop, and there’s also a lot of players left to act who can potentially have a stronger hand than you.
Also, you’re quite unlikely to hit a set to begin with.
The chance of flopping a set with a pocket pair is only 12%.
And since small pocket pairs don’t have much hope post flop if they miss a set, they’re not going to have a lot of playabilty post flop most of the time.
You can still open-raise them in later table positions, as you’re more likely to play in position post flop.
This is going to give you a fighting chance even if you miss the flop completely.
With this in mind, small pocket pairs usually work best as set mines.
In other words, you want to see a cheap flop with the goal of flopping a set and potentially stacking your opponent.
If you miss, you can get away from your hand cheaply, and if you hit, you stand to win a huge pot.
However, in order to set mine profitably, you need to make sure you can get your money’s worth when you actually do hit a set.
Since you’re going to miss the flop almost 9 out of 10 times, you should be able to win at least 10 times the initial investment.
For example, if you call a 3 BB open-raise preflop, you should be able to win at least 30 BB on average post flop in order to break even on a call.
Set mining with just about any pocket pair no matter the situation is a common leak among many amateur poker players.
Check out my recent video for the 5 hands that everybody plays wrong these days.
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Best Poker Hand Category #2: Broadway Hands
The second most profitable hand category is broadway hands.
Broadway hands are strong face cards that can make the strongest possible straight, like AJ or KQ.
Aside from the potential of making strong straights, the biggest advantage of these hands is their ability to make strong pairs.
Since one pair is the most common hand combination you’ll make in no-limit hold’em, most of the pots you’ll win will come from these strong top pair hands.
Also, these hands have good kickers, which can often be a tiebreaker if both players have the same combination.
A kicker is the card in your hand that doesn’t help you make a certain hand combination, but can determine the winner of the hand if both players have the same combination.
For example, if both players have a pair of Aces, the player with the stronger kicker wins the hand.
One of the common amateur poker mistakes is overplaying certain hands with weak kickers, which can often get them in trouble post flop.
If you play hands with bad kickers, you run the risk of your hand getting dominated by a stronger hand.
You always want your hand to dominate your opponent’s, instead of the other way around.
This is why broadway hands are so profitable; you can often dominate players who play hands with mediocre to weak kickers.
This is especially the case if your opponents tend to overvalue certain hands like top pair.
For example, a lot of amateur poker players will play just about any Ace for the prospect of making a top pair post flop.
But this strategy can often backfire, as their hand can easily be dominated by a number of stronger Ax hands.
So playing “rag Aces” is usually more trouble than it’s worth, and you should usually ditch these hands altogether.
Check out my other article on the 4 terrible poker hands you absolutely must avoid playing.
Aside from the ability to make strong pairs, broadway hands can also make strong straights (and flushes), meaning they have great nuts potential.
The nuts refers to the strongest possible combination on a given board.
For example, let’s say you are dealt K♦Q♦ and the flop is: J♣T♥9♣
On this flop, you have the nuts straight, and you can easily get called by a number of weaker hands.
For example, if your opponent has a hand like 87s, they’ll be more than happy to stack off there.
There’s also a number of sets, two-pair hands, and flush draws that will be willing to give you action.
Similar to strong pocket pairs, you should always play your strong broadways aggressively preflop.
This is because your hand is very likely to be ahead of your opponent’s calling range, so you want to start building up the pot as soon as possible.
If you connect with the flop, you can keep building up the pot with a c-bet.
If you miss, you can usually still go for a c-bet, as you’ll often have one or two overcards to improve on future streets.
Example Hand #1
Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
Let’s say you open-raise preflop with A♥K♥, and the flop is: J♥6♠3♦
Even though you missed the flop, you can still fire a c-bet and try to get your opponent to fold.
Since the board is quite dry, there aren’t a lot of hands that have connected well with the flop.
Even if your opponent has a pair of Jacks, you can still outdraw them with your two overcards.
You also have a backdoor flush draw, which gives you a slight equity boost.
If you find it hard to play when you miss the flop, check out my full flop strategy cheat sheet.
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Best Poker Hand Category #3: Suited Aces
Suited Aces are great speculative hands that can connect with the flop in a variety of different ways.
Example: A♥3♥
They also have great nuts potential, i.e. the ability to make the strongest possible flush.
This makes them a lot stronger than other suited starting hands.
Since you’re always drawing to the strongest possible flush, you don’t have to worry about having only the second best hand.
In other words, you don’t have to worry about the reverse implied odds.
Implied odds refer to the amount of money you can potentially win on future streets if you complete your draw (like a flush draw or a straight draw).
Reverse implied odds refer to the amount of money you can lose if you complete your draw, but your opponent ends up having an even stronger hand.
You always have to take reverse implied odds into account when drawing to the bottom end of a straight, or when drawing to a weak flush, for example.
With suited Aces, you simply don’t have that problem, as you’re always drawing to the nuts.
The only exception is if the board pairs, giving your opponent the opportunity to make a full house or quads, but this is such a rare occurrence that it’s hardly worth sweating about.
Small suited Aces (A2s through A5s) also have the ability to make a straight, which further bolsters their nuts potential.
Aside from the potential of making strong combinations like straights and flushes, suited Aces can also obviously flop a top pair.
However, you do need to be careful if you flop a top pair with a weak kicker, as your hand can potentially get dominated by stronger Ax hands.
Due to their versatility, suited Aces can be played in a variety of ways depending on the situation.
If you’re the first player to enter the pot, you should obviously always open-raise with suited Aces, so you can get the pot growing and get to the flop as the preflop aggressor.
If another player open-raises before you, you have 2 options: you can either flat call or 3-bet (re-raise).
There’s nothing wrong with flat calling preflop with suited Aces, as these hands do need to improve post flop to be played profitably.
Flat calling allows you to keep the pot size manageable and see a cheap flop.
Alternatively, you can try to take down the pot right away preflop with a light 3-bet (aka a bluff 3-bet).
A light 3-bet preflop is a 3-bet made with the intention of getting your opponent to fold and taking down the pot right away.
Small suited Aces in particular make for great 3-bet bluffing hands for a few reasons.
As mentioned, suited Aces have great post flop playability, so even if your 3-bet gets called, you still have plenty of equity to fall back on.
This means you can keep applying the pressure post flop if you flop a straight draw or a flush draw, or you can even bet for value if you flop a top pair.
Another advantage of using suited Aces for 3-bet bluffing is their blocker power.
A blocker is a card in your hand that reduces the number of strong combos from your opponent’s range.
For example, if you hold an Ace in your hand, it’s less likely for your opponent to have strong combinations like pocket Aces, Ace-King, Ace-Queen and so on.
This makes their open-raising range relatively weaker, and therefore more likely to fold to your 3-bet.
An Ace blocker reduces the number of combos of pocket Aces from 6 to only 3, and the number of AK combos from 16 to 12.
Example Hand #2
Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
You are dealt A♠5♠ in the SB (small blind). Villain open-raises to 2.5 BB on the BU (button).
You: ???
You should 3-bet to 10 BB.
Flat calling in this spot is not terrible, but a 3-bet is likely to be more profitable.
If you flat call, you are inviting the big blind to call behind you, meaning you will be playing out of position against two opponents with an easily dominated hand.
Worse yet, you’re allowing the big blind to potentially 3-bet squeeze you, which can put you in a tough spot.
If you 3-bet yourself, however, you will often be able to take down the pot right away.
You’re attacking a very wide open-raising range from the button, and a lot of hands in that range can’t stand the pressure of a 3-bet.
You also have an Ace blocker, meaning your opponent is more likely to fold to a big raise.
Even if you get called, your hand is in good shape post flop, as it can hit the flop in more than one way.
These days, it takes more than waiting around for the nuts to be a profitable long term winner.
You also need to know how to play in less than ideal circumstances, like playing out of position against tough opponents who won’t just roll over.
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Best Poker Hand Category #4: Suited Connectors
Suited connectors are another great hand category that can be insanely profitable if you play it the right way.
As the name suggests, suited connectors are cards directly adjacent to one another and are of the same suit, like T♦9♦ or 8♣7♣.
These hands have great playabilty post flop due to their ability to make very strong combinations like straights and flushes.
In other words, they have an insane nuts potential, as they can connect with the flop in more than one way.
Due to their versatility, there’s no one right way to play these hands.
Also, there’s obviously a huge strength difference between hands in this category.
For example, JTs is a lot stronger than 32s, because the former can make a lot stronger combinations post flop.
However, there are still some general guidelines you can follow to make sure you get the most bang for your buck with these hands.
First of all, it’s worth mentioning suited connectors are speculative hands, meaning their profitability relies on their potential to make strong combinations like straights and flushes.
The problem is, it’s actually very hard to make a strong combination in no-limit hold’em.
So when you play suited connectors, you’re going to miss the flop completely most of the time.
And if you connect with the flop in some way, it will usually mean flopping a straight draw or a flush draw.
So generally, the best way to play suited connectors is to try to see a cheap flop, preferably when the effective stack sizes are deep.
The effective stack size refers to the smaller stack size of the players involved in the pot, as you can only win as much as you put into the pot.
For example, if you have $100 in your stack, and your opponent has $80 in their stack, the effective stack size is $80.
Deep effective stack sizes mean better implied odds, because you always want to get your money’s worth if you actually do make a monster hand post flop.
For this reason, speculative hands like suited connectors don’t really perform well when the stack sizes are very small.
For example, if you’re playing in cash games when your opponent is short stacked, or if you’re playing in late stages of the tournament where the effective stack sizes are small.
That’s because there’s simply not enough money left behind to make it worth trying to make a monster combination post flop.
Similarly, if you’re playing cash games with deeper effective stack sizes, suited connectors will perform worse in 3-bet pots compared to single-raised pots.
There’s a few reasons for this.
The first reason has to do with the remaining stack size, as discussed previously.
Calling 3-bets is relatively expensive, and you have to commit a significant amount of your stack just to see the flop.
And since you’re going to miss the flop more often than not, calling 3-bets with speculative hands is usually not a winning proposition.
Another reason suited connectors perform worse in 3-bet pots has to do with your opponent’s 3-betting range.
If your opponent 3-bets you, they will usually have a strong hand, and could easily have a hand that dominates you.
This means that you run the risk of having only the second best hand.
For example, you may hit a flush only to find out your opponent has a stronger Ace-high flush.
This means you should be careful when you’re playing small suited connectors, as you have to take the reverse implied odds into account.
Unlike suited Aces, you’re not drawing to the strongest possible flush (or the strongest straight, for that matter) with suited connectors.
So if you play very small suited connectors, like 43s or 32s, you run the risk of making a very weak flush, which can cost you a big pot.
While these small suited connectors may look pretty at a glance, they actually may be more trouble than they’re worth.
Check out my other article on the 4 overrated poker hands you should think twice about before playing.
Best Hands All Good Poker Players Know to Play - Summary
Being a good poker player doesn’t necessarily mean spending countless hours studying advanced poker strategy away from the felt.
Instead, it all comes down to having a solid understanding of which hands to play, and how to play them optimally.
To sum up, here’s 4 hand categories all good poker players know to play. Stick to playing these hands and you’re guaranteed to see your winnings skyrocket.
1. Pocket pairs
Pocket pairs have the potential of making monster combinations post flop like sets or full houses, and they have a statistical advantage over a lot of unpaired hands in your opponent’s range.
Premium pocket pairs are often really strong in and of themselves, while weaker pocket pairs usually need to improve post flop to be played profitably.
2. Broadway hands
Broadway hands can often make a top pair hand, and since one pair is the most common combination you’re going to make in no-limit hold’em, they’re going to be one of your best performing hands overall.
Aside from the fact they can make strong pairs, broadways can also make strong straights, or even flushes if they’re suited.
3. Suited Aces
Suited Aces are great versatile hands with an insane nuts potential.
When you play suited Aces, you don’t have to worry about the reverse implied odds, as you’re always drawing to the strongest possible flush.
4. Suited connectors
Suited connectors are speculative hands that can make strong combinations like straights and flushes, and they can connect with a variety of different board textures.
However, you should be careful when playing small suited connectors, since you run the risk of making only the second best hand post flop.
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This article was written by Fran Ferlan
Poker player, writer and coach
Specializing in live and online cash games
For coaching enquiries, contact Fran at fran.redline@gmail.com
Or apply directly for poker coaching with Fran, right here
Lastly, if you want to know the complete strategy I use to make $2000+ per month in small/mid stakes games, grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
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