How to know when to hold and when to fold is the most basic poker lesson. One of the most important decisions you have to make at the start of a poker game is whether your first hand is good enough to keep playing or whether you should quit. One of the most common mistakes made by new players is to hold on to the worst hole cards instead of folding and protecting their money.
So, if you are just starting out with poker, one of the first things you should learn is which starting hands are worth keeping and which ones force you to fold. Since Texas Holdem is the most common type of poker, you can find lists of the best and most valuable starting hands for Holdem poker here.
Best Poker Hands
If you are lucky enough to be dealt one of these first hands, you are off to a great start:
Pair of Aces, also called American Airlines or pocket rockets, is the best starting hand you can have in Texas Holdem.
A pair of Kings isn't as good as a pair of Aces, but it's still a great way to start a Texas Holdem game.
Pair of Queens: If you want to see the bright side, only Kings and Aces can beat you.
If your Ace and King are both of the same suit, your hand is even better because you can easily make a nut flush.
Pair of Jacks: If the flop doesn't show a Queen, King, or Ace, you have a good chance of winning with this hand.
Ace and Queen: Like Ace and King, a suited hand like Ace and Queen would increase your chances of winning.
If your starting hand is a King and a Queen, and the community cards don't have an Ace, you're in good shape. If your hand is suited, it's even better.
Ace and Jack are a good starting hand, even if they don't seem to go together.
King and Jack is still one of the best starting hands in Texas Hold'em, but you should be careful with it when you are not suited.
Ace and Ten: The Ace makes it a pretty good hand, but you have to be careful because any of the starting hands listed above can beat it.
Worst Poker Hands
If you play some of the lowball variations of Texas Holdem, these hands would work well for you. However, if you play traditional Texas Holdem, the best thing to do would be to fold.
If you are dealt 2 and 7, especially if they are not suited to each other, you can't even make a straight. Even if your cards are all the same, you should be lucky enough to make a low flush or the lowest pair. Fold, in a word.
The hand of 2 and 8 is the same as the hand before it. A pair of 8s is still a low pair.
Even though 3 and 7 can beat the other hands, they are still not worth anything.
Again, not even a low straight between 3 and 8.
If you have the cards 2 and 6, you can't make a straight unless the community cards are 3, 4, and 5. But don't count on it, especially if more than 3 people are going to the game.
You're in better shape with 2 and 9 because of the 9, but you still can't make a straight, and even a pair of 9s would lose to a pair of 10s, Jacks, Queens, etc.
3 and 9 are the same: they are both higher than an 8, but lower than almost every other hand.
4 and 9: As was already said, foldem.
Even though Doyle Brunson won two WSOP bracelets with 2 and 10, you shouldn't hold this hand if you don't have the skill and experience of Brunson.
This hand, which is also called "Dolly Parton," wouldn't get you anywhere near the final table.
