In any of the types of poker, there are universal unifying rules and terms. And the topic of our today’s article in connection with this will be the starting hand in poker. We will try to deal with its possible options and classification. So, the starting hand is the cards received by the player at the very first stage of the game, even before the start of the first round. The number of these cards may vary, depending on the type of poker. For example, in Texas Hold’em there are two, and in Omaha there are four. At the moment when the participants see the cards of their starting hand, they will have to make a decision on further actions: to answer the bet – by raising (raise) or re-raising (re-raise), or to check – to accept the bet. And if the cards do not add confidence in the game at all, the player can make a foul – pass and leave the game, wait for a new distribution of cards.Collage: My Lucky StoryExperienced players say that there are no known winning or losing hands, but you should always consider the chances of strengthening and, of course, the risks. Well, of course, no one can decide from the first cards what they will lead to and how this game will end – otherwise the game would not be so exciting and exciting, that is, it would not be poker. Starting hands in poker are divided into conditional classifications. They are distributed according to the possible chances for a successful strengthening and a positive result of the game, respectively. Below we will learn more about this. For your information – in such a form as Texas Hold’em – Texas Hold’em, there are (excluding card suit) 169 options for the starting hand, we recall that in this game the player is given two starting cards. And in poker Omaha Hold’em – Omaha, due to the fact that participants receive twice as many starting cards (four), – there are already 28,561 possible options. Classification of Texas Hold’em Starting Hands In this section, we will list the types of starting hands in Texas Hold’em that have a chance of improving. These include pairs, suited and offsuit connectors, and so-called leaky bundles with missing cards. Pairs in the starting hand Let’s start with Pair – a starting hand containing a Pair is a hand that contains two cards of identical value. For example, two nines, two fives, two aces, and so on. There are chances to improve, but even a pair of aces, considered the strongest starting hand option, gives the player a little over 80 percent to win. Connectors or Bundles Good connectors for a starting hand are high-value suited bundles of cards, such as, for example, the Queen of Spades and the King of Spades, the King of Hearts and the Ace of Hearts, and the like. Also a good option for a bunch is off-suit connectors. Let’s say a king of hearts and an ace of spades or a queen of clubs and a king of diamonds and the like. Connectors are valued due to the fact that offsuit have a chance to improve to a straight or straight draw, and in the case of suited connectors – even to a flush, one of the very good full-fledged combinations. Leaky links with a missed card Leaky links with a missed card – this is such an “almost” connector. More precisely, a bunch with one missed or missing card. They also come in different suits, for example, the jack of clubs and the king of spades – here, as we see, a queen (of any suit) is omitted, and suited ones – a queen of spades and an ace of spades, here the king of spades is omitted. In this version of the starting hand, there is also a chance for a good gain. True, it is slightly smaller than the previous one, but still. In this case, the superiority remains with the suited “leaky pin”. Leaky starting hands Leaky starting hands – such a classification includes cards that include one significant high card and one low-value card, for example: a king and a nine or an ace and a seven. Leaky hands are also divided into suited and offsuit versions. They have a chance to gain, but rather small. Starting hands in different types of poker Below we will offer you to get acquainted with the strongest and weakest (in terms of the probability of a successful increase and a winning situation, respectively) options for starting hands in various types of poker. Texas Hold’em starting hands: The strongest option is a pair of aces; the weakest option is two and seven (offsuit). Omaha Hi starting hands: the strongest option – two pairs of the most senior cards of the same suit – that is: king + ace (of any one suit) and king + ace (other of the same suit); the weakest option is the offsuit two, three, three and seven, but there are still variations. Omaha Hi-Lo starting hands: The strongest starting hand is a deuce and an ace (one of any suit) plus a three and an ace (another of the same suit); many starting hands have minimal chances for a successful improvement, for example, completely offsuit three of a kind, four, eight and king. Starting hands in Stud Poker: The strongest starting hand in this form of poker is three aces, of course, offsuit. But there is an amendment here – the last ace (out of four aces of one deck) should not come out with a door card (card issued open) of the opponent; the weakest option is an off-suit set of deuces, threes and sevens of any suit. Starting Hands in Stud Hi-Lo Poker: Among the strongest starting hand variations in Stud Hi-Lo poker is a set of three suited cards in exact order. For example, a triple of spades, a two of spades and an ace of spades, but one of the most unsuccessful hands in terms of further strengthening can be considered a combination of fours, sixes and nines of different suits. Note that in such a form of poker as Lowball, the weakest starting hand will be a combination of Royal Flush – that is, a suit of five cards going in order to ace – ten, jack, queen, king, ace. But the strongest is a set of unsuited cards from two, three, four, five and seven. In different types of poker, the strength of the players’ starting hand is evaluated differently. And as for the weakest option, there can be several of them in any of the poker variants. When making a decision on the preflop, the player must analyze not only his chances of a successful increase to a good hand, but also evaluate the behavior and reaction of his opponents at the poker table. Weigh the risks and stack sizes, take into account your place relative to the button or the dealer. In other words, all decisions in this game must be made with a cool head and the right calculation. As we said at the beginning of the article, it is impossible to accurately predict or predict the outcome of the game from the starting hand.
