Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:32 pm Post subject: when to fold preflop
i was woundering what cards are good and bad preflop. i have read ak is deceiving unless suited. me being new i thought of that as a half decent hand depending on position amd preflop bets. so if i could get some examples of good and bad just to help me out some would be greatly appreciated
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Joined: Nov 26, 2003 Posts: 649
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:35 am Post subject:
Good question, thanks for posting it.
There are 176 possible starting hands in Texas Holdem, so that's your range AA being 1 down to 27 offsuit at 176, with every other hand in between.
AK is a great starting hand, hand rank 11 out of 176 so don't let anyone tell you it's not a great starting hand it's almost top 5%. To play well you really need to know immediately where you stand statistically. For example you'll regularly see people playing A9 or A10 but that's hand rank 79 and 38 respectively - in other words cards you really shouldnt be playing. Most novices get caught out with them and the real problems start when you hit your top pair. Almost always you'll be outkicked and a loser but time and again people see the matching aces, be unable to fold them (depending on the betting and your opponents prior play) and are surprised to lose!
I coded a program called holdem poker calc which is on the homepage of my site. Download it and in free form it lets you enter cards and learn all sorts of factual stuff.
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