1. Digital Poker Book a k a Electronic
or E-Book
Written By,
Jason Narog of
http://www.Pokermoneyclips.com and
http://www.FreeTexasHoldEmSecrets.com
1

2. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this report may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever,
electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any informational storage or
retrieval system without express written, dated and
signed permission from the author.
EARNINGS AND INCOME DISCLAIMER
We make every effort to ensure that we accurately
represent these products and services and their
potential for income. Earning made by our company
and its customers are estimates of what we think
you can possibly earn. There is no guarantee that
you will make these levels of income and you accept
the risk that the earnings and income statements
differ by individual.
As with any game of chance, your results may vary,
and will be based on your individual capacity,
experience, expertise, and level of desire. There
are no guarantees concerning the level of success
you may experience. Each individual’s success
depends on his or her background, dedication,
desire and motivation.
There is no assurance that examples of past
earnings can be duplicated in the future. We cannot
guarantee your future results and/or success. There
are unknown risks in poker and on the internet that
we cannot foresee which can reduce results. We are
not responsible for your actions.
2

3. Preface
I originally wrote all the strategy guides for From Goldfish to Piranha back in
June of 2005 while working on the first ever batch of the Poker Money Clip
which are available for purchase at
http://www.pokermoneyclips.com/ordermoneyclips.shtml. I was pretty good
at poker at the time but nowhere near where I am at now. From Goldfish to
Piranha was started as a work in progress on my own theories on playing
winning poker and will never be 100% complete as my opinion on how to play
and win the game will continue to change as I progress as a player. Everything
written in this book comes from my own head, its ideas and concepts should
not be thought of as concrete or even as right when it comes to playing poker.
The game of poker can be played and viewed many different ways and people’s
opinions vary greatly. This guide should also not be seen as an answer to
making money-playing poker. I cannot give you a winning strategy to winning
money while playing poker. Bankroll management is the most important
strategy and only playing with what you can afford to lose while in a sober
state of mind are the only ways to ever be a real winner, regardless of if you
win or lose at the table. Always gamble responsibly; never use this strategy
guide as a rule of thumb on playing poker but more as a book of entertaining
thoughts and concepts to think about throughout your day. I do not encourage
you to go out and gamble, if you want to play poker play with your friends,
family, and coworkers with cheap plastic chips for no money at all, just enjoy
the game. I am not responsible if you lose money trying any of the strategies
within the pages of this book. If you employ any strategies found within this
book you are doing so at your own risk. I am not a professional poker player nor
have I ever claimed to be one, I just enjoy playing the game. Please learn your
local laws to stay within the boundaries of the law; the last place you want to
wind up is inside a courtroom.
3

4. Table of Contents
Rules of Texas Hold Em Pg. 6
Betting Variations Pg. 8
Hand Rankings Pg. 12
Strategy Introduction Pg. 16
Pre Flop Strategies
Early Position Pg. 19
Middle Position Pg. 23
Late Position Pg. 26
Big and Small Blind Pg. 28
Flop Strategy Pg. 29
Turn Strategy Pg. 32
River Strategy Pg. 35
Betting, Raising, Checking, Calling, and Folding Pg. 37
Bluffing Pg. 41
Starting Hands Chart by Position Pg. 43
The 106 Starting Hands You May (or may not) Want To Play Pg. 47
The Trick To Placing In A Freeroll pg. 49
AA Hand Matchups pg. 51
AK Hand Matchups pg. 55
Outs, Odds Against, and Pot Odds pg. 59
Implied Odds, Bet Odds, Investment Odds, and Best Case / Wose Case Scenario
pg. 61
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5. Odds For The Following Events
Pairs, Trips, Full Boats, and Quads pg. 64
Straight Odds pg. 66
Flush Odds pg. 68
Types of Players pg. 69
How To Beat A Tight Player pg. 78
Strategy For Beating A Loose Player pg. 81
Strategies For Beating A Passive Player pg. 85
Live Tells pg. 87
Online Tells / Betting Patterns pg. 90
Starting A Home Game pg. 92
Finding A Home Game pg. 94
Poker Games and Casino Poker Games pg. 96
Poker And The Law pg. 102
FAQ
Q and A pg. 103
Math Equations pg. 104
Acknowledgements pg. 106
5

6. Rules of Texas Hold Em
The following rules apply to any form of Texas Hold Em regardless of betting
limits. Depending on the betting limit of the game you are playing there may
be caps on the amount you can bet during a specific round. For more on betting
caps check out betting variations.
Before the cards are dealt. Before dealing the first hand of the tournament or
home game each player is dealt 1 card face up. Depending on whether low card
or high card deals was selected either the lowest or highest card will be the
dealer (have the dealer button) in front of them for the first hand. Normally it
is high card is dealer but this may vary in different areas.
Once a dealer is chosen. The player sitting to the direct left of the dealer will
be in the Small Blind. The Small Blind is a forced bet that the player must put
into the pot before receiving any cards. The Small Blind puts half of what the
current minimum bet is into the pot. Directly left of the Small Blind is the Big
Blind. The Big Blind is a forced bet that must be put into the pot before
receiving any cards. The Big Blind puts the current minimum bet into the pot.
The dealer then deals 2-card face down to every player starting with the Small
Blind. Action will start on the player directly left of the Big Blind. They have a
decision of whether to play their cards or fold. Action works its way around the
table in a clockwise fashion until everyone in turn (do not bet or fold if it is not
your turn to act) has called or folded. The first betting round is over when (in
an unraised pot) the Big Blind has checked to see a flop or (in a raised pot)
everyone to the right of the player who made the raise has called the raise or
folded.
The Flop. The dealer places three up cards in the center of the table for
everyone to use. It is a good idea to place all three cards up at the same time
as opposed to one by one to avoid any players giving away a "tell" on which one
or more of the cards have helped their hand. The first person to bet or check
on the flop is the person directly to the left of the dealer who still has cards in
front of them (if the Small Blind didn't fold the then the Small Blind is first to
act, if the Small Blind did fold the Big Blind is first to act, and so on). The
round is over when every player has either called the bet or folded.
The Turn. The dealer places one more up card in the center of the table for
everyone to use. The first person to bet is the same person that was first to bet
on the Flop.
The River. The dealer places one final up card in the center of the table for
everyone to use. The first person to bet is still the same person who was first
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7. to bet on the Flop. After everyone has bet each player reveals his or her hole
cards, in order to see who has the best five-card hand. If a player has a better
hand than you and showed it before it was your turn to show you may throw
away your cards without showing them.
The Winner. The winner of the hand is the player with the best hand using any
3, 4, or 5 cards in the center of the table used in combination with their 2
down cards.
Burning Cards - Depending on where you play / who you are playing with you
may burn 1 card before dealing to every player as well as burn 1 card before
placing the flop cards, turn card or river card. For the flop cards you will only
burn 1 card for the 3 cards, not burn one play one, burn two play two.
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8. Betting Variations
H/L (8b)
No Limit
Limit
Pot Limit
Spread Limit
Mixed Limit
Ante
Bring In
Kill Game
Half Kill Game
Wild Card/Joker
H/L (High/Low) Games
A High/Low game is a split pot game with a low hand qualifier (the typical
qualifier is 8b meaning if you have 5 different cards of 8 or below your hand
has qualified for the low) where the high hand takes half the pot and the low
hand takes the other half. Your hand will not qualify for the low if you do not
have 5 different cards that are low (having 3 2's and 2 3's is not a low hand). A
pair will disqualify your hand from being low. Straights and flushes do not work
against your low hand. The best possible hand to win both the high and the low
is called The Wheel. The Wheel is A5 suited. 26 suited is definitely good enough
to win most high and low pots but would lose the low to anyone with A 2 3 4 5
off suit or A 2 3 4 6 off suit.
No Limit
The most popular form of poker played today. No limit simply means that you
can bet all of your chips at any time during the hand when it is your turn to
act. There is a minimum bet, however, in No Limit. The minimum bet is
whatever the big blind is.
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9. Limit
The amount you can bet or raise is determined by the X/Y. In the first rounds
of betting (for Hold Em, Pineapple and Omaha its pre flop and flop) (for any 7
card game its any cards prior to the 5th card if no pair was on board or no one
doubled the bet when the pair was on board) (for any 5 card game its the first
3 cards) (in Lowball is before the draw, Triple Draw its before the draw and the
first draw) the bet/raise is whatever the X is assumed to be (in a 2/4 game the
first rounds of betting would be call 2 raise 2.) There is typically a cap on the
number of raises allowed. The most common is 4 for a cap (1. bet, 2. raise, 3.
reraise 4. cap). Yahoo Poker uses 5 (bet 2 raise 4 reraise 6 reraise 8 cap 10).
When the first rounds of betting are over the limits increase to Y (2/4 betting is
now 4).
Pot Limit
Pot limit is played exactly the same as limit with the minimum bets being
designed by what 'street' you are currently on (every card game mentioned
above besides Lowball refer to the # of cards out as Streets. Example- Hold Em,
Pineapple, Omaha, 5 card, and 7 card all call the 4th card 4th street.) Unlike
Limit, however, you can bet the amount in the pot at any time in the game.
Spread Limit
A spread limit game has a few choices of possible bets during the betting
rounds. For example, if the spread is 2-6 and 4-12 you can bet between 2 and 6
on the first rounds of play and between 4 and 12 on the final rounds of play.
The spread limit may just be 1 spread for the entire game as well (example 4-
12 on all rounds of betting.) If someone bets the maximum limit (say 12) all
following raises must be in increments of that same number (12). Spread Limit
is basically an unknown limit game until someone makes the first bet, then it’s
a structured limit game (unless they bet the minimum then you can increase it
by any increment up to the maximum). The limit is reset after each round of
betting.
Mixed Limit
A mixed limit game is a limit game with different limits per betting round. For
example in Hold Em the preflop bet may be 2, flop are 4, turn is 6, and river is
12. The numbers can be mixed up however the dealer chooses.
9

10. Ante
Antes are chips every player is required to place in the pot to receive cards. All
stud games are typically played with an ante. Tournament games typically
include antes as the levels (the increase in blinds/antes) increase to force the
short stacks (players low in chips) into action or out of the tournament.
Bring In
Typically found in stud games. The Bring In is the bet a player with the lowest
card (or in some cases highest card) showing must place to start off the betting
action. The Bring In is typically half of what the current limit is (exceptions- in
3/6 games the bring in is 1 just like in 2/4 games to avoid decimals) so it is
very similar to a small blind found in Hold Em games. Players following the
Bring In may simply call the Bring In bet or Complete the bet (in 3/6
completing a bet would be betting 3 instead of 1, in 2/4 its 2 instead of 1). All
raises following a complete bet will be at the current level (in 3/6 its 3, 2/4 its
2, etc)
Kill Game
A kill game is set up to try and stop a current winning player from continuing
on his/her winning streak. For a player to be eligible for the 'Partial Kill' aka 1st
Leg of a kill he/she must win a pot without any splits (in H/L must win both the
high and the low, in any game all players must have matched the bet as
opposed to one player winning a side pot because he/she had more or fewer
chips on an all in) and the pot must be greater than 5 times the big blind (in
2/4 the pot has to be 10 or higher). Once the player has the 'Partial Kill Button'
placed in front of them they must win the next pot in the same fashion as the
last one (outright, 5 times the big blind.) If a player succeeds in winning the
'Partial Kill' hand the limits will increase. On the Kill Hand the Small Blind will
still post the small blind amount, the Big Blind will post the big blind amount
but the player with the 'Kill Button' will post double the Big Blind. Everyone
acts in turn but the level is doubled (2/4 is 4/8, 3/6 is 6/12) so for any player
to call the hand they must now place the new X bet into the pot.
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11. Variations: In some areas/games (Lowball) a player may only need
to win the first pot outright with no qualifier to earn the 'Partial
Kill Button'. The qualifier is in play while on the 'Partial Kill
Button.' Also the player on the 'Kill Button' may be last to act if
those are the rules of the house.
Half Kill Game
Operates exactly the same as a Kill Game. The stakes do no increase double
however, rather 1 1/2 times (2/4 games become 3/6, 4/8 become 6/12, etc).
Wild Cards/Jokers
In wild card and games using a joker whatever card (or cards) the dealer stated
to be wild stand for whatever card you want them to be. In some games such as
chase the Queen the Queen is wild and any card immediately following the
Queen becomes wild. The Joker is trademarked to Card Company.
11

12. Hand Rankings
The following is the ranking of hands from highest to
lowest for MOST poker games.
Royal
Flush
Straight
Flush
4 of a kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
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13. 3 of a kind
2 pair
1 pair
High Card
Rankings of High Card (from Highest To Lowest)
The Ace may be used as a low in a straight for A 2 3 4 5 (or a 5 High Straight,
also known as The Wheel in High/Low games)
Other Points Worth Mentioning
13

14. If 2 players have the exact same hand (say both of them have a pair of 7's) look
at their high card. If they both have Ace high, look at the next highest card. If
they both have the same card for their 1st and 2nd highest cards look at their
final card. If all 3 cards are the same you have a split pot.
J Q K A 2 is NOT a straight. (We know you're saying to yourself "Duh!" but
someone has actually claimed this in a game before while we were playing so
it’s worth mentioning.)
There is no such thing as 3 pair. This is another thing we've heard a lot. In
EVERY card game you play your best 5 cards. For example if someone has "3
pair" consisting of a pair of 2's a pair of 3's and a pair of 4's they have 2 pair 4's
and 3's (use the highest 2 pair) with a whatever their 7th card happens to be as
a kicker (because it has to be 5 high or above in this example)
Hand Rankings In OTHER GAMES
Stud (when determining who brings in)
Suits Arranged From Highest To Lowest
A to 5 Lowball aka California Lowball (or the best hand you can
have in a H/L aka 8b game)
14

15. Deuce To Seven Lowball aka Kansas City Lowball
Soko (Canadian Stud)
2 Pair
4 Card
Flush
4 Card
Straight
1 Pair
Everything else is exactly the same from the chart above.
15

16. Strategy Introduction
The following strategies apply to how to play specific hands out of specific
positions Pre Flop and how you should continue on betting for each round to
follow. The suggestions found here apply to the cards only rather than the type
of opponent you are facing. We have made suggestions on how to play against
particular players in the opponent types section. At the moment the
suggestions are not very detailed.
The true key to poker lies in playing your opponent based on how your
opponent views you, the cards and chips are used solely as symbols in the game
of player versus player. In lower limit games and against players of lower skill
levels (Level 1), however, your cards will matter and fancy tricks such as
bluffing, pot odds, and raising the pot to force draws out of hands will not
work. These lower level players have no real concept of card value or position
and will try to catch their 4 out straight draw regardless of the bet simply
because they know if they do indeed catch their card they can win the pot.
Bluffs will not work against lower level players because they will call you to
either A) make sure you weren't bluffing or B) because they made bottom or
middle pair and believe they have a shot at winning the pot regardless of if
they make a better hand or not. A lot of lower level poker players will typically
fall into 1 of 3 categories - 1) the tight non aggressive player 2) the overly
aggressive player with no concept of what hand beats what so they may fold
flushes and straights yet hold onto face cards with weak kickers or 3) the
calling station/fisherman. The only difference between a calling station and
the fisherman is fishermen will fold to bets on the river if they did not catch
the card(s) they were fishing for whereas calling stations typically will not. This
first type of player is typically the easiest to beat because you can avoid all the
pots they play in. Type ones may and can win in games that have quite a few
calling stations in them. Type two players are the hardest of the three to beat
because they are impossible to place on a hand, especially if you are playing a
type two player who doesn't even know what hand beats what. We have played
in games with type two players who will go all in with pocket tens against a
board holding both an ace and a king yet seen the same player fold flushes and
straights because he had no concept of what a straight or flush was. Type three
players will lose in the long run but may wind up winning a home game or two
on luck alone. Their ability to call large bets regardless of cards almost places
them into the Level 2 style of playing against your opponents and not playing
with the cards, but not quite. The reason calling stations do not qualify for
Level 2 is because they aren't calling all your bets because of the way you are
playing, they are calling all of your bets because that is their style of play.
Calling stations can't shift gears depending on who they are facing, they will
always call bets (unless they don't hold cards they like in which case they'll
fold.)
16

17. Our strategies can be used against a good portion of Level 1 and Level 2
players. Level 2 players understand the concept of poker and can shift gears
depending on what type of opponent they are facing. The Level 2 player
understands that the value of their cards can shift dramatically from player to
player. For example, a Level 2 player may make a raise, regardless of their
cards, when they see tight players in the blinds in an attempt to steal the
blinds from the tight players. At the same time a Level 2 player may only play
the best 24 hands in poker (face card hands mostly) against an aggressive
player to give them the edge needed to beat the aggressive player a better
percentage of the time. Trying to throw an aggressive player's game back in
their face tends to backfire as they are more accustomed to playing with any
two cards whereas, you the Level 2 non overly aggressive play any two cards,
may not be able to raise or call large bets with the 9 5 off suit.
As for the Level 3 player, their game is played based on how they believe their
opponents view them. This is where the concept of mind games in poker comes
from. A skilled level 3 player may be able to fool their opposition into believing
that the only pots the skilled player enters into are quality hands when in
reality the skilled player is really playing the hands they enjoy seeing flops
with. Or the skilled level 3 player may play completely overly aggressive (Gus
Hansen did this in Poker Superstars 1) raising with any two cards to fool
opponents into believing that their raise is weak when in actuality the skilled
player holds a monster and is waiting for its opposition to make a move on the
pot. Level 3 players may even play as calling stations to fool opposition into
believing that the skilled player is a terrible card player in an attempt to win
later rounds, causing its opposition to believe the hands were won on 'luck.'
Being able to shift gears is a must in Poker and is very similar to concepts found
in The Art Of War. For those of you who haven't read The Art Of War (you can
find it in our poker books section) the book covers military strategies for
warfare based on size of army and location of battle. The main point the book
drives home is that you can have no fear of death in battle. Generals of the
invading army are told to burn their ships or line up troops to kill their own
soldiers trying to retreat from battle in areas with only one way in and one way
out. You must use this no fear tactic in poker if you ever wish to elevate your
game to its highest level. The best quote to drive home this no fear concept
comes from Patrick Swayzee in Point Break - "Hesitation causes fear. And fear
will cause your worse fears to happen." You are the general, your chips are
your army, and the table is your battlefield. If you intend on playing a hand
direct your troops properly. If the cards shift in your opponents direction
surrender the battle by folding your cards and taking your casualties then come
back to win the war. There is no sense in continuing on in a battle you can't
win, it takes away your ability to win the overall war.
Another concept in life that also applies to poker comes from how winners play
the game versus how losers play the game. An overall winner is always playing
17

18. the game to win. They aren't playing to break even, they aren't playing for
second best, and they’re playing to win. It's all or nothing. The mentality of a
losing player however is completely different. The losing player is playing the
game to 'not lose.' The losing player wants to win but doesn't hold the
necessary drive or wiring to see the situation as all or nothing. Breaking even is
totally acceptable for the losing player as they view this as a victory, even
though all they did was waste their time. Don't get us wrong breaking even is
much better than losing but no one who plays poker should want to just break
even. There is an exception to this, however. A winning player on a current
losing streak is playing to break even. The 'break even' concept is different for
the winning player as opposed to the losing player in that the winning player is
playing that particular game to win and win only, the breaking even part is
breaking even from past losses and therefore is an overall concept as opposed
to one specific game.
18

19. Pre Flop Strategies by Position
Early Position
You are in early position if you are next to the big blind, or next to the person
next to the big blind, or the person next to that person. The earliest of position
is required to act first preflop and (at best) will be required to bet third on the
flop. Being in early position leaves you at a major disadvantage because you
have no idea who at the table holds a weak hand, monster hand, etc. so you
have to choose your starting hands sparingly to avoid wasting chips. The reason
you only want to select quality hands in Early Position is because the likelihood
of someone at your table raising pre flop is good and you don't want to be
throwing away chips every time you're in early position trying to limp in and
see a cheap flop. Examine our starting hands chart for Early Position. You will
notice that every single hand on that list adds up to 20 in blackjack (except AA
which would be 12 in blackjack but this is poker) and the only 3 cards we put
on the unsuited side were AK, AQ, and KQ. Even though having suited cards
doesn't make you a shoe in for the victory having suited cards is a major plus
when entering a hand because it leaves you with more outs. You will also
notice that every hand on the list is either connected or contains a 1, 2 or 3
card gap (the only 3 card gap hand on there is AT suited). The reason behind
this is because connected cards leave you with more outs as well.
Unfortunately by nature you are not going to have many open ended straight
draws with these cards (except JT) but with the proper flop you could have 12
outs just for completing your straight or flush draw.
Betting Strategies for playing out of early position: Unless your table has a lot
of overly aggressive pre flop raisers do not simply limp in with hands like AK,
AQ, or KQ suited. You must raise with strong hands in early position even
though it will chase out the majority of the players in the hand from calling.
That's just one of the downfalls of acting first. But, if you do not raise with
your quality hands then players in Middle and Late Position will be able to limp
in with weak hands and possibly bust you out of your entire stack.
Never, ever, under any circumstances limp in with AK, AA, or KK. QQ
and JJ are other cards you should never limp in with but too large of a raise
may turn your great starting hand into your coffin due to the fact you've
become pot committed and there's an ace and a king on the board.
Limping in with AA, KK, and AK is simply a recipe for disaster, especially
considering how difficult it is to lay down AA, KK, and AK. The biggest reason
you should never limp in with any of these big hands is because they simply do
not do well against multiple opponents. Letting a player limp in with 9 3 off
suit could spell trouble if they flop trip 3's on the flop. Your larger hands only
do well in pots against opponents holding similar large hands. Even if the board
is low AK will be a huge favorite over AQ, KQ, or QJ. You can, after all, win a
19

20. pot with Ace high..
As for your suited connector drawing hands its best just to call out of Early
Position then, if someone does bet, determine either the pot odds or the
investment odds (whichever you prefer playing by) and go from there. Drawing
hands do best against a full table where there is enough money in the pot to
justify calling bets in hopes of catching your straight or flush card.
Advantages of being in Early Position: If you are seen as a tight player (this
will most likely not work for a loose player) a Preflop raise may pick you up the
blinds because most players won't raise out of early position without a strong
hand.
The disadvantage to this is a player in late position may be holding a monster
and reraise you (or slow play and call) putting you, once again, at a
disadvantage on the flop by having to act first. Opponents in late position may
call your large bet simply to try and steal the pot from you in the later rounds
of action. For the most part it is a good idea to only call with hands that total
20 or better in Blackjack and stick to mostly suited cards (except for the 3
mentioned above.) Even KQ can get you into trouble if you are up against AA,
AK, AQ, KK or QQ. The hand that gets most players into trouble, however, is AQ
off suit. Calling an all in with AQ off suit is risky because your opponent may be
holding a pocket pair or even worse AK, leaving you with 3 outs in the deck to
pick up the victory (unless you get a lucky flop and wind up with an inside
straight draw.) Folding AQ off suit to an all in bet can be the right move to
make. Against any pocket pair AQ is about 32% to hit on the flop, then goes
downhill from there (you have 6 outs unless you pick up a lucky flop.) Take full
advantage of our possible flop odds charts to get a feel for what constitutes a
good hand and what the probabilities are of picking up certain hands on the
flop before going crazy and calling all ins left and right.
Playing Out of Early Position using Investment Odds: Investment odds will
allow you to add a few (or few dozen) hands to the early position playbook. If
you are holding say a medium sized pocket pair or T 9 suited and have decided
the investment odds are in your favor to play this particular hand then you can
ignore all suggestions of what hands to play out of early position and go right
ahead and play your hand. Using investment odds can allow you to play looser
than the typical Hold Em player and will allow you more freedom over starting
hand choices. The trick to investment odds is knowing your opponents. If you
do not know how your opponents think and play (and what they think of you
and how you think and play) then investment odds are going to be totally
useless and you are going to throw away a lot of money on bad calls. But if you
do know how your opponents behave, say you know player X likes to raise only
with AT and above, and you've figured out that he thinks you are a tight player
who won't call his weak double the blind raise with weak cards, then your
investment odds will be much greater because player X's raise and your call will
signal to him that you have a good hand thus making him more likely to call
20

21. your bets when the flop comes 8 7 6 because he has put you on over cards
while he holds over cards.
If you are just learning how to play Hold Em we would suggest not playing with
investment odds and sticking to the Early Position playbook to keep your losses
to a minimum. As you become a stronger player you can start incorporating
Investment Odds and other tricks to your game to increase your winning
percentage. There is a major advantage to being a beginner at Hold Em as
well. Look at Chris Moneymaker. We suggest not playing like he did, however,
(going all in over and over with the worst of it and magically getting lucky time
after time) because in the long run you will lose all your money (look at
Moneymaker today, he’s in Dead Last on the Poker Superstars Invitational
Tournament). Good players tend to overlook the new player and will not give
them credit for a good hand. Thus, sticking to the starting hands list will rake
in pot after pot for you while at the same time allowing you to avoid costly
rookie mistakes of playing way too many hands and losing all your chips
quickly.
Strong Raises versus Weak Raises: Strong raises are 4x the Big Blind and
above. This type of raise will (typically) force players with weaker starting
hands to fold. The point of raising is to force opponents out of the pot so your
hand has a better chance at winning. Weak raises serve absolutely no purpose
and will (likely) not force anyone to fold, or at least not anyone important
(exception: players in the Big or Small Blinds may fold to a weak raise because
they were dealt a garbage hand like 4 2 off suit and had no intention of playing
the hand anyway after checking pre flop to see a flop). Weak raises should only
be used when holding a drawing hand and you want to increase the pot size.
The reason you would use a weak raise in this scenario is because you've
determined the Bet Odds to be great and know that no one, maybe one or two,
players will not call and in the future you will have reasonable pot odds to call
larger sized bets when drawing to your straight or flush draw.
Other Suggestions for playing out of Early Position: If you see 2 unsuited face
cards that are QJ or below, fold them. You do not have a great shot at picking
up the pot, or at least not enough information to know whether or not you have
a good shot at picking up the pot. Also note that players on the button (the
player with the dealer button in front of them) and the player in the Big Blind
are likely to make a raise to the pot. This is known as a Position Raise. It is
used to make Early Position / Middle Position limpers fold their less than great
hands. If you are holding any of the cards on the Early Position starting hands
list you may want to call this raise. The only reason(s) you wouldn't want to are
A) You have a good read on your opponent making the raise and know they
actually have a great starting hand or B) The player making the raise made it
large enough to not warrant a call.
21

22. AJ is a starting hand that will typically land you in a world of hurt. You should
definitely raise with AJ suited but not enough to make yourself pot committed.
Your best-case scenario is catching a Jack on the flop and (hopefully) no one
made 2 pair Jacks and whatever. Depending on the skill level / looseness of
your opponents a pair of aces may be the best hand but could be the 3rd worse
hand behind AK and AQ. Do not call an all in with AJ. We told you above that
it’s most likely a bad idea to call an all in with AQ so it’s definitely a bad idea
to call an all in with AJ. Being the aggressor with AJ is one thing, but risking all
your chips on a hand that only has 3 outs against AK, AQ, KK, QQ, and JJ is a
terrible idea. And if you're up against AA you better pray the board goes runner
runner Jacks or you catch a straight / flush draw on the flop.
Tournament Suggestions: If you are playing in a tournament and are on the
short stack, however, you should definitely make a strong raise (possibly all in
if you don't have enough chips to play the flop and survive), especially if you
haven't seen any better hands lately. A bad play would be making a small raise
or calling with a hand like AK then going all in after your opponent has seen the
flop. If you hold something strong like AK before the flop and are short stacked
its best just to go all in and wait for the call. The likelihood of being called is
good (unless you've been folding for the past half hour and your opponents have
picked up on this or there is no one at your table holding a pair of 2s or better
who was just waiting for you to go all in so they could take you out of the
tournament) but then again you really don't mind being called when holding
face cards and on the short stack because you may double up and be a threat
at the table again.
22

23. Middle Position
There you are smack dab in the middle of the table in spot number 4, 5 or 6
waiting for the Early Position limpers to call so you can take the pot up another
notch and watch them fold away their QJ suited while you hold something ugly
like 8 7 off suit (we definitely wouldn't suggest this move out of middle position
but it made for a good opening.) You've seen what a few players have done,
now it’s your turn to act. What cards should you play, you ask? Well, anything
from the Early Position playbook as well as a good number of hands you would
have quickly mucked had you been in Early Position. Your playable hands now
include pocket pairs from AA-66, Ax suited (except A7 and A6 because they
have weaker straight draws and make lower pairs), and a couple others that
you can check out at our play list chart.
You are still at a disadvantage in the hand but you aren't as bad off as the
players in Early Position. Come flop time you will be somewhere around the 6th
to 8th person to act, leaving you in great, but not the best position to act. The
majority of hands on the play list now consist of drawing hands so you are more
of an implied winner than a real winner. Depending on which hand you are
currently holding will determine whether or not you should raise.
Raise with AK-AT suited or off suit, KQ suited or off suit, Pocket Pairs down to
JJ, and if you really want to QJ suited. Depending on which of these hands you
hold you'll want to raise varying amounts with the pocket pairs, AK, AQ, and KQ
being the larger raises. As for the rest of your drawing hands and middle pairs
it’s probably best to call and hope no one raises (or at least doesn't raise too
much to take away your pot odds.) Kickers will definitely come into play when
the king flops and you start betting wildly with KT off suit against an opponent
holding KJ off suit. Raising pre flop won't rid you of players holding the KJ
either. Your best-case scenario with the KT is to either catch a straight draw or
catch two pair. Flopping two pair could spell disaster though as well if someone
is on a straight draw or worse, caught the straight on the flop.
Raising from Middle Position is also dependant on how other players view you at
the table. A loose aggressive player is much more likely to be called pre flop
than a tight player. The great thing about being in Middle Position, however, is
that a lot of players know that Middle Position is where you are supposed to
start playing those middle pairs so a small pre flop raise from Middle Position
(3x the big blind) will tell everyone at the table you hold a middle pair and set
you up for a bluff known as "Representing The Flop" come flop time.
Representing The Flop means making a large raise on the flop when something
along the lines of a 7, 8 or 9 shows up and you act like you've made trips. Don't
do this too often though because opponents are sure to catch on to your rouse
and start catching you on your bluffs.
A good percentage of the hands you'd call with from Middle Position you'd never
call a raise with. Basically every hand that is a drawing hand you should fold
23

24. unless the pot odds or investment odds tell you to do otherwise. The trick to
playing drawing hands successfully is being able to see cheap flops and folding
them when you do not flop an 8 out straight draw or better. Don't throw away
unnecessary chips preflop hoping to get lucky and bust out your opponent. It
might happen occasionally but in the long run you're going to be down money
and upset with the world. Also calling large raises with hands like Q T and K J
will cost you more chips than it'll win. You have a semi-strong kicker and your
opponent doing the raising most likely has a better kicker with the high card as
you.
Playing 1 card gapped straight cards aren't as great as they sound either. Check
out our straight odds to see for yourself. The problem with the 1-card gappers
is they will typically flop more 4 card straight draws than 8 out straight draws.
4 card straight draws are typically costly and don't reap the reward the player
was seeking. You should (most likely) muck your 1-card gappers to any raiser,
unless it’s an aggressive player. Even then, the play is most likely a fold
because you should never call a raise with cards you wouldn't raise with
yourself.
We would suggest breaking the Middle Position playing list into 3 parts then
playing 1, 2 or all 3 parts depending on where you are in Middle Position. If you
are the 4th to act in the hand (1st person in Middle Position) play 99-88, A9-A8
suited, T9 suited, AJ and AT off suit, KJ, QJ, and JT off suit. If you are the 2nd
person in Middle Position add 77, J9 suited, 98 suited, and KT off suit to the
list. If you are the 3rd person in Middle Position play the entire list. The reason
for this is because as each player acts your cards become stronger starting
cards. Still stick to not raising with anything below AT, KJ, or QJ. Avoid calling
large raises as well. Small raises are fine and are actually welcome as this will
make your drawing hands more powerful when it comes to pot odds.
Do not rely too strongly on pot odds however. Just because you have the
correct pot odds to make a call does not mean you should chase every straight
and flush draw you have. Each event is independent from the previous event
just like in Roulette. If the Roulette wheel is black 25 times in a row that
doesn't mean it has a better chance of being red the next time just as your
straight and flush draws will not improve to straights and flushes based on the
number of times you have missed them. The easiest way for a player to go
broke in poker is by drawing to every straight, flush, and 3 of a kind when they
hold a pocket pair. The odds against these events happening are there and
should be seen as a warning to those who wish to chase their money away.
The other reason you should not constantly chase is because your opponents
will label you as a 'Fisherman.' If they know you always fish after straight and
flush draws they will alter their betting patterns to A) give you better pot odds
to increase the amount of money in the pot when they hold a favorable hand or
B) give you worse pot odds to pick up pots right off the bat. Your opponents
24

25. may also make a bet favorable for you pot odds wise on the flop, then if
nothing hits, raise an insane amount at you to destroy your pot odds and take
your chips from you 1 turn card at a time. Of course you can use the exact
same strategy against an opponent that you have determined to be a
Fisherman.
25

26. Late Position
This is the favorable position to be in, especially if you are on the button. The
button is the dealer button and indicates who was 'dealing the hand' at the
time. The dealer button is used in casinos or other establishments where there
is a designated dealer. You are assumed to be in Late Position if you are the
7th or 8th person to act Pre Flop. You will also be the 9th and 10th to act on
the flop, allowing you to determine how each player is going to play their hand
before making any decisions as to what you want to do. If you are not on the
button there are only 3 out of 9 other players (33%) who can raise up the pot
on you if the pot has not been raised prior. If you are on the button the only 2
players who can ruin your chance at limping in for a cheap flop are the blinds
themselves.
The reason you want to be in Late Position is because you now have a good
idea of who is in the hand and based on past expieriences / understanding what
cards any said player is liable to play out of a specific position, you can better
determine your course of action. Typically the play from Late Position is to
either raise (regardless of what cards you hold, known as a Position Raise) or
call in hopes of catching a lucky flop. Raising is usually the favorable play if
there are a lot of players in the hand already and you know by betting (Bet
Odds) a good portion of them will fold to a strong raise. The others who stay in
the hand will have to act before you on the flop so you will know whether or
not to drop your hand or bet strong at the pot again. Raising with any 2 cards is
definitely the wrong move over time, however. Any cards that's face value
totals 19 or higher justify a decent sized raise (3x the big blind) but nothing too
wild. As with Middle Position a medium sized raise will remove limpers and put
the thought of small or medium sized pockets in the minds of your opponents
allowing you to Represent the Flop when you are last to act on the flop.
Drawing hands are also more powerful in late position because you know
whether or not you can limp in cheaply. The players in Early Position have to
worry about up to 9 possible opponents raising Pre Flop whereas Late Position
players only have to worry about 2 to 3. This means you know 66% more about
your opponent’s hands than the person in Early Position.
Areas where you may land yourself in trouble by raising pre flop from Late
Position: A) Opponents who typically limp in with large hands in hopes of an
opponent raising for them (a wolf in sheep's clothing.) B) Opponents who
protect their blinds (Phil Ivey is an example of this kind of player, he will
typically call raises when he is in the blind to take the pot away from you on
the flop even though he's first to act) C) Opponents who love to reraise every
raise. Your raises from the Button will be tested from time to time so beware if
you plan on making a habit out of Position Raising. Getting caught once may be
26

27. to your advantage, however, as your opponents may believe you are making
the exact same play when you really hold a monster.
There are a good number of hands for you to play in Late Position, over 80 on
our chart. You do not want to play all 80 hands when you are in Late Position.
Sometimes the play will be to limp in with 65 suited in hopes of catching a
lucky flop, other times the correct play is to fold. It all depends on the types of
hands and styles your opponents are using AND what they think about you. If
you are playing at a very tight table where opponents fold to almost every bet
than it’s a good idea to limp in with 65 and buy a cheap pot. If your opponents
are raising wildly with any two cards then it is a terrible idea to start playing
weak hands against maniac opponents. They will take your money quickly
because they are good at throwing large sums of money into a pot, losing big,
winning big, and then losing all over again (or winning even bigger.) You do not
want to be throwing your money towards a maniac with weak drawing starting
cards. Maniacs most likely have some sort of face card with a weak kicker and
are raising because they saw a picture card (picture card=good.) Now if your
opponents believe you to be one of these maniacs raising on the button with 65
suited or limping in with any 2 cards you can then betting away at the flop you
are much more likely to be called than if they believe you to be a tight player.
Tricking your opponents into believing you are a tight player when you are
actually a loose player is the key to playing weak drawing hands well.
With K8-2 suited you are mostly hoping to catch a flush or flush draw rather
than make top pair to take the pot. If you flop a pair of kings that's alright but
don't go drop your son's tuition money on it. K8-2 do best when they flop, or
turn, two pair. Most opponents will not put you on two pair Kings and 3's so you
have a better chance of busting out the guy holding K9 or KT. The same applies
for the Q's and J's although you can make a straight with all the Q and J
combinations listed with the exception of Q7. 3 card gappers are not very
powerful and the amount of flops that will give you an 8 out straight draw are
just as small.
Beware of opponents who hold the Ace or King of the suit you are fishing for on
the flush draw. Sure you may make a Queen high flush but whose to say your
opponent doesn't have a King high flush? Q high and J high flushes are best
when there is already an ace and a king of that suit on the board so you know
your opponents don't hold any cards that can beat you.
As for playing the Tens and below suited and connected cards you should only
limp in with them, never raise unless you know your opponents think of you as
a tight player. Tight players get away with buying pots unchallenged. Loose
players do not. If you do not flop at least 4 to a flush, a straight draw, or top
pair you should drop your weak drawing hands immediately because they are
no longer drawing hands, they're dead hands.
27

28. Small Blind
Being on the small blind is a terrible place to be. You've already invested
money into the pot regardless of what your hole cards are and you are going to
be first to act on the flop. Because you already have half the blind put into the
pot we've added pretty much every single hand that has up to 3 gaps for a
straight to the playable hands list out of the small blind. Is it a favorable call?
Not really but because you already have money invested in the pot you might
as well pay the other half and see if you get lucky. In the long run this will be a
losing strategy but when the blinds are relatively small compared to your chip
size this style can produce some pretty interesting wins with hands you would
never have played otherwise. If you're short on chips or simply don't like the 3
gap straight card you are holding then fold it. Also fold to any incoming raises
as they will act after you regardless of their position at the table.
Big Blind
Being in the big blind is another terrible place to be because you've already
called to see a flop regardless of your hole cards. And to make matters worse
there are 9 players at the table raising in an attempt to take away your already
purchased right at the flop. If the table goes fold, call, with no raise being in
the big blind is a powerful position because you can raise the pot (another
Position Raise) and force some of those limpers out. Of course if you plan on
raising you should hold cards that justify such an action because 1 or more
players may call you on the simple fact that your raise is a common one out of
the Big Blind.
Do not fall victim to the 'Protect Your Blind' by calling large bets syndrome with
any two cards. The money you invested as the Big Blind is already lost to you,
its no longer your money so there is 0 reason to try and protect it with 4 2 off
suit. On the flip side to that do not surrender your blinds too easily either or
players will raise the pot every time you are in the blinds simply because they
see you as an easy target to take money from. If a player raises the blind on
you and you have a playable hand either call the bet or reraise the bet. If you
don't have a hand worth playing then muck it. Just to throw your opponent who
keeps raising every time you're in the blind throw a reraise back at them
regardless of what cards you hold, if you can afford it, and see what happens.
Your opposition may be even weaker than you and won't be able to make a play
back at you. The point of reraising your opponent is to show them that you
won't be bullied out of your blinds and cause them to change their behavior.
Even if you lose that particular pot the message is still sent.
Also players who win with cards they typically would not play otherwise refer
to their win as the "Big Blind Special."
28

29. Flop Strategy
So you've made it to the flop, eh? Did it help you? If not this is the time to fold.
You have already seen 5 out of the 7 cards that will make your hand. That's
over 70% of all the cards used to make your hand. Sure you might wind up lucky
and go runner runner to catch your miracle cards but that doesn't happen very
often. Don't believe us? An open ended (8 out) runner runner will only happen
about 3% of the time (we round the number up) and a gut shot runner runner
will only happen 1.5% (we round that up as well). As for making a backdoor
flush you only have about a 4% shot (real number is 4.17%). Those are terrible
odds to play if you want to be a winning poker player. Only 1 out of every 25
hands will your backdoor flush hit.
What cards should you hold onto if you don't catch on the flop? High cards if
the flop comes low (unless you are playing against an extremely loose opponent
who may have already made two pair on the flop) or any hand that has 4 outs
or better. It's usually best to drop your gut shot straight draws though (4 outs)
unless you are getting great Pot Odds or Investment Odds. Keep in mind that
Investment Odds are Implied Odds so those chances should only be taken when
you have enough chips to take chances and are sure you know what your
opponent has.
Occasionally Investment Odds won't pay off, for example, you are trying to
catch three of a kind when you flopped middle pair. In some cases the
opponent betting at you may also be betting with middle pair and is trying to
catch the exact same three of a kind only they hold a better kicker than you.
Hands like this can be costly, especially if you do not reraise them out of the
pot on the flop. Betting and raising should typically be your strategy, never
calling. The only times you want to call an opponent's bet rather than raise it
are A) You know reraising will put your opponent all in and you want to see the
next cards B) You are setting your opponent up, i.e. slow playing your hand or
C) You are unsure whether or not your hand is the best so you call (this does
not apply to the flop.)
Let's start with A. A typically happens against opponents who hold high cards
like AK and refuse to lay them down no matter what. This is a scenario where
reraising with a straight or flush draw is going to test all of your chips, thus
taking away your Pot Odds and ruining your Investment Odds. Your chances by
the river may be 30% by the river but as each card comes your chances divide
in half. A 17% shot (about 1 in 5) is not a great risk to be taking on the chance
that you may bust out your opponent if the right card(s) come. Your opponent
can win with ace high after all and you've just taken a huge loss to your chip
stack. The type of opponent we are talking about will typically bet small on the
flop, turn, and river anyway giving you cheap calls the entire way through
making it a worth while Pot Odds investment. Or (this is the second type of
29

30. opponent, there's only 3 types) your opponent will bet large on the flop to try
and scare out all its potential opposition even though they did not hit their
hand. This type of player will usually check the turn in fear of being beaten by
a smaller or larger pocket pair giving you a free look at the river (or an
opportunity to bluff them out of the pot.) They are great for playing with
Investment Odds because you know they are tied to their hand yet know
enough about cards to possibly fear the opposition. Check, check on the turn
will typically cause them to bet large again on the river, even after you have
already made your winning hand. The final type of opponent will bet large at
you on the flop, turn, and river regardless of if they made their hand or not.
This type of player takes away your Pot Odds as well as your Investment Odds.
You typically have to be a gambling style player to call on draws against them
but, for the most part, only want to call along if you've made a pair or better.
As for B, the slow playing technique, you only want to use this if there are no
cards on the board that may hurt your hand. Terrible times to slow play include
flops that contain 3 cards in order (4 5 6) showing an obvious straight, 3 cards
of the same suit when you've made 3 of a kind (because a player may have a
high card of that suit in hand and is hoping to catch another suit for the nut
flush), or 2 cards of the same suit / in order (4 5, 4 6, 3 6, even 2 6) because
your opposition may be on a draw and is trying to see a cheap turn card. When
there are 3 cards on the flop that may possibly beat you it's best to represent
the Flop as though you've made your hand even if you only hold two pair or
three of a kind. The reason for this is to eliminate players who are on draws
and show you (by their reraise) any opposition that may have already made
their hand. In some cases the reraise will signal that they are on a draw. An
opponent who bets out at you without even taking a second to decide how
much to bet is typically on the draw. An opponent who takes a second or longer
to decide whether or not to reraise typically has the hand and you should fold
(with 2 pair you have an 8.5% chance of hitting on the turn and basically the
same percent chance to hit on the river, as for 3 of a kind you have a maximum
of 10 outs on the river to make a full house or four of a kind to beat their
straight/flush.).
If there aren't any scare cards on the board you can continue on with your slow
play but in the long run may not wind up with as many chips as you would have
had you just bet from the start. Slow playing is incredibly useful when you flop
something like the nut full boat or four or a kind and are waiting for an
opponent to catch a hand so you can extract chips from them. Or catching the
nut flush on the flop (if you don't hold the ace of that suit, you do not hold the
nuts and should not slow play your hand. An opponent with the ace of that suit
may be trying to see a cheap turn or river card to win with the nut flush.)
Straights on the flop are a hard thing to slow play as well. Typically if you
check a straight and someone bets at you they've made two pair or three of a
kind and simply don't believe someone flopped a straight because it only
happens about 1% of the time.
30

31. When playing top pair on the flop you should always lead out with a good
strong bet to protect your hand from opponents drawing to a better hand. No
minimum raises either. Minimum raises will always get you into trouble when
opponents hit something better in the later rounds. You don't always have to
bet the pot but you should still always make large raises into any pots you
intend on playing. The reason for this is because you want to make hands costly
for opponents to draw against you so they will at least have to second guess
their decision on whether or not they want to call for the next card. Do not use
this betting strategy against calling stations and fishermen as it can backfire on
you if they do catch their miracle cards. The best way to deal with calling
stations and fishermen is to take their chips from them 1 card at a time. If you
are in a pot ONLY with a calling station/fisherman bet strong but not as strong
as you would against a real opponent. As you see more cards and determine
their chances of winning the pot start increasing your bets until you finally
bankrupt them on the river. Fishermen will be harder to bankrupt on the river,
however, seeing that they will only call bets up to the river then fold. For
fishermen make a larger bet on the turn than you would against the Calling
Station to make up for this potential loss of profit.
31

32. Turn Strategy
Or Better Known As 4th Street Strategy
If you've made it to the turn then you have to fall into one of the following
categories: A) You made a pair (or better) on the flop / are holding a pocket
pair B) You hold two over cards to a low board C) Are on a draw D) Plan on
pulling a bluff to steal the pot away from 1 or more players E) are sitting at a
table where everyone checked.
We'll start with A, you've hold a pair or better and are now looking at the turn
card. If you are holding top pair now would definitely be the best time to force
out any players who called your flop bet on a draw because their odds were
just cut in half. A good portion of poker players use the "By the River"
percentages when deciding whether or not to call on the flop so they believe
their odds of catching their card was a lot greater than it truly is. By the River
means they have two different cards in which their draw may hit, but now that
we're on the turn (and they didn't hit) their odds are much worse and your odds
are much greater. Before making any large bets with your top pair examine the
board. Make sure there aren't three cards that would give someone a straight
or flush. When we say any three we mean any. Some players like to play with
two gapped cards because they make less obvious straights. A board with 4 5 7
is just as likely to have someone holding a straight as 4 5 6. Of course if you do
not see any straight or flush possibilities out there make your bet, and make it
large enough to force out the draws. An opponent on a flush draw or straight
draw wants about 4 to 1 (5 to 1 for an 8 out straight) return on their money so
keep that in mind when determining how large of a bet to make. If you're
holding two pair, three of a kind, a full boat, or even four of a kind you can
and should make a much larger bet at the pot than the player with one pair is
able to do. Bet the pot if you hold the nut three of a kind or better. This will
remove all the draws from calling, or at least leave them at an unprofitable
disadvantage. If you hold three of a kind or two pair and don't hold the nuts
throw out a large bet anyway just not as large as the nut three of a kind would.
When you aren't holding the best possible hand you should still bet big, but not
big enough where you will become pot committed (can't lay down your hand.)
Your bet is to find out if any opponents do indeed hold a better hand than you.
The size of your bet should still force out draws just in case the opponent
calling you doesn't hold a better hand but rather a hand they are drawing with.
In the event that a card to finish a straight or a flush pops up on the turn your
bets with top pair, three of a kind, etc are likely to be met with a reraise.
Players on draws will call pre flop, call on the flop, then either check the turn
and reraise or lead straight out with a bet. A few may slow play until the river
at which point their betting pattern would go call, call, check call, check raise
32

33. or simply bet on the river but it should still be easy to see which of your
opponents have indeed hit their draw. The check on the turn is used in an
attempt to slow play or 'be sneaky' by hiding that they have in fact made their
hand but their bet later on is a dead give away as to what hand they really
hold.
If you fall into the B category (holding two over cards) you've either just paired
or you haven't. If you haven't you're now down to catching a pair one out of
every eight times. Those are terrible odds especially if someone has already
made a pair or worse yet has made a pair and holds one of your over cards as
their kicker. Unless you are convinced that none of your opponents hold a pair
or hold bottom pair and will fold to your bet (putting you in category D) you
should fold your hand.
As for category C (the draws) we'd hate to tell you this but the odds aren't
really in your favor anymore. Being that you already know 86% of your hand the
other 14% may not help you much, especially if you're on a gut shot (4 out)
straight draw or are hoping the fourth suited card falls on the river because you
hold the ace (or King if there's an ace on board, Queen if there’s an ace and
king on board). The 4 card flush draws (excluding holding just 1 of that suit)
will lose 4 out of 5 tries, the 8 out straights / 4 card flushes (holding 1 of suit)
5 in 6, and the gut shots about 11 out of 12. Hopefully the other players at the
table will let you check to a free river card or at least make it profitable pot
odd / investment odd wise to justify calling the bet. Better yet they might let
you fall into the D category and pick up the pot without even having to worry
about making your hand.
Good ole category D, the skilled bluffers. Hopefully you set up this maneuver
from the start (pre flop or flop) otherwise it doesn't have that great of a
chance at working, unless a scare card pops up. Set ups for this would include
raising pre flop from Middle or Late Position to represent two over cards or a
small / medium sized pair and thus by betting on the turn you are Representing
the Turn as though you've just made top pair / trips. If you are using the scare
card tactic the best cards to hit would be an over card larger than anything
else on the board (you may run into opposition from Category B) or a card that
completes a straight / flush (which may run into opposition from Category C).
The main trick to pulling off a successful bluff is being able to put your
opponent on a hand and knowing how committed they are to holding onto that
particular hand. Some opponents may fold top pair with a weak kicker whereas
others may continue on with their pocket threes all the way to the river in
hopes of making trips. Keep in mind that it is much more difficult (if not
impossible) to bluff Level 1 (weak) players out of pots than Level 2 and 3
players (good) and is a complete waste of chips if your opponents already view
you as a bluffer, unless this is part of your grand scheme to lose this particular
pot as a way to set up huge winnings when you really make trips on the turn
and pull the exact same maneuver. Also you should not try to pull a bluff in a
33

34. pot with multiple opponents, especially if two or more of them have already
been betting at each other. Even with one player driving the betting it may be
difficult to bluff that particular player out, but then again you won't know until
you try.
Finally category E, a bunch of players checked to see a turn card. Sometimes
this can be the most disasterous scenario to be in. One or more of your
opponents has (most likely) made a hand by now or made their weak pocket
pair turn into a very powerful three of a kind. You probably should have bet on
the flop if you had any intention of winning this pot because your opponents
hands are completely unknown at this point and the likelihood of someone slow
playing a monster or just now making a monster are great. Unless you were the
one slow playing, just made a monster, or just made top pair with a strong
kicker it’s probably best just to fold to any incoming bets.
34

35. River Strategy
Were you Rivered?
If you're going to bet on the river you'd better be prepared for at least one
opponent if not more to call you, otherwise you're just throwing your
money away.
Before we get into any scenarios we should start by repeating what poker pros
have been saying for years. If you think you have the best hand on the river you
need to throw out a bet. Opponents who didn't make their hand or believe
their hand to be weak will fold and opponents who do think they have a
winning hand will either call or raise you. Checking the river because you are
unsure of the quality of your hand leaves your opponents with extra chips in
their stack that should be in your stack. Also you should know by now the
quality of your hand and have made up your mind as whether or not to bet or
fold, not check. If you are on the other side of the coin and think you have a
winning hand but aren't sure and an opponent has bet at you the correct play is
to call rather than raise, unless you smell a bluff / weakness. If you smell
weakness you should probably raise. We say probably because some opponents
may be wolves in sheep's clothing, displaying weakness when they're strong.
Depending on how good of a read you have on your opponent's style of play will
tell you if you should just call or raise.
Now that you're at the river card its best to make sure that the board hasn't
completed any flush or straight draws before you bet with your top pair or
better. If you don't see any then go right ahead and bet. If you do see any bet a
little smaller than you would if you hadn't as a feeler bet to see if any
opponents have the intention of reraising you. Depending on the size of the
raise, the speed of the raise, and any other possible tells the player gives away
as well as your read on how your opponent plays will tell you whether or not
their reraise is legit or if its just a bluff to pick up the pot on the river.
The problem with the river card is that some players may have just made two
pair to your one pair. Checking your top pair won't help you find out which of
these players has made such a hand, however. They'll bet at you and you'll still
call losing to their two pair. This is why you should always bet the river. If an
opponent has made their two pair then they will either raise you or call you.
If you were on a draw and it didn't hit its probably best just to fold unless
you've been driving the betting on every previous round then the correct play
would be to bet again, unless you want to cut your losses short and surrender
over the pot.
35

36. Bluffing on the river may win you a pot here or there but can be costly as well.
As with pulling off bluffs at any other point in the hand this all depends on your
opponents and their opinion of you. Opponents that you could / should be able
to bluff out of the pot include: anyone on a draw that did not catch their
card(s); opponents with middle or bottom pair who were hoping to make three
of a kind or two pair; and opponents holding top pair with a weak kicker. The
size of your bet and effectiveness will vary depending on which opponent we
are talking about. Opponents in the draw category will fold to any sized bet
whereas opponents in the other categories may or may not be tied to their
hand.
What else can we say? There's not a lot to say about the river being that
everyone has either made their hand or hasn't and there's no need to make
protection bets so opponents can't draw to better hands.
36

37. Betting, Raising, Calling, Checking,
and Folding
Betting. When Should You Bet? You should bet whenever you have a hand or a
draw. Slow playing can lead to disaster unless you've flopped the nuts and have
no possible way of being beaten. The second a card pops up that shows a
possible disaster scenario for your hand you need to bet and bet enough to
either scare your opponent off their newly found draw or to make it costly
enough for them that if they do call and don't hit they've lost a huge stack of
chips. Minimum bets do nothing for you unless it’s a feeler bet. When you have
middle or bottom pair with no draws on the board and you simply want to test
the waters to see if your opponents are going to reraise you then a minimum
bet may do the trick. If there is a draw on board and you want to at least get
rid of the draws (as well as top pair with a weak kicker) then you have to bet
enough to force out the draws. Minimum bets and twice the blinds are not
enough. (Internet players tend to whine about how their AK suited lost to 52o
when they only bet the minimum or something relatively small in relation to
the size of the stack of their opponent.)
The reason you should always bet is because it forces opponents to do 1 of 3
actions:
1. Reraise you costing them additional chips above and beyond your already
made bet
2. Simply call and risk having to call again and again risking chips.
3. 3. Fold.
Betting. When Should You NOT Bet? You should not bet against a calling
station when you do not have a pair. They will keep calling you and possibly
win with a pair of 2's or 3's. You should not bet with bottom pair against a tight
player when the board has an ace and a king on board and you have a pair of
7's. You should not bet when your hand is solely 2 live cards and a loose
aggressive player is in the hand with you for they, much like the calling station,
may have a pair or two.
Raising. When Should You Raise? By Raise we mean preflop and beyond that it
means ReRaise being that Bet and Raise mean exactly the same thing. When it
comes to raising preflop you should always raise with good cards to avoid
limpers coming in and flopping 3 of a kind 2's (happened to one of our editors
at his first casino tournament when he failed to raise with AT as the big blind,
flop came A 2 2, opponent had limped in with Q2 off suit.) You can also raise in
late position or as the big blind to at least narrow down the field of possible
competition in the hand on the flop. Raising in Early Position usually signals to
the table that you have a very strong hand and will most likely not be called by
37

38. anyone unless they have AA, KK, QQ, AK, etc. Raising in Middle Position is risky
unless you have the cards to back it up. Some players like to protect their
blinds and will call then raise you on the flop or will reraise you preflop just to
test you and your commitment to your hand. As for flop,turn, river reraising
you should reraise an opponent if you are on a flush or straight draw to take
control of the hand. If all your opponent had was top pair they are much more
likely to go into check mode in the later rounds of betting. Also reraise
opponents who do exactly what we just told you to do above if you have 2 pair
or trips and there is not a straight/flush on the board. If there is a straight or
flush on the board and you bet with 2 pair/trips and were reraised you should
most likely fold your hand. As for 2 pair vs. trips if you are the one holding 2
pair and bet, then are reraised and you reraise again your opponent will either
fold or reraise again. Most people when they make trips won't settle unless
they double up on the hand. By you reraising them you can test their
commitment to the hand. We never said reraise all in, we just said reraise.
Don't put all your chips on the line when you are simply trying to feel out your
opponent. If you've been paying attention to how they play you will also have a
better idea on whether or not they have the trips or are simply on a steal bet
with their reraise and play accordingly.
Raising. When Should You NOT Raise? When you have weak cards and are
playing against a loose player, a calling station or have a tight player in the
hand against you. You should also not raise when you know your hand is
dominated.
Calling. When Should You Call? When you want to limp in from middle or late
position with a powerful drawing hand or if you are slow playing an opponent
and know your hand cannot be beaten. (note. 4 of a kind is not unbeatable. we
have a friend who was at a casino in may of 05. he had AK hearts his opponent
had pocket jacks. flop came jack of hearts ten of hearts and some other card.
the opponent bet and our friend called. turn came the remaining jack in the
deck. both players checked. river was the queen of hearts and the guy with 4
jacks went all in, was called and lost to a royal flush.) Make sure you know how
to read a board WELL if you plan on slow playing. A bad read of a board (for
instance not noticing the inside straight draw or assuming your opponent would
never be going for an inside straight draw) can cost you all of your chips.
You may also want to consider calling when you know you're beat on the flop
but have a lot of chips and feel like taking a stupid risk that may or may not
pay off. In this situation raising would be the wrong thing to do. Let's say you
have 76 suited hearts and are up against AK suited diamonds. The opponent
with AK suited is weak so they only made a minimum pre flop bet (which told
you he had either AA, KK, AK etc.) and you called to see the flop. Flop comes
Ah 7c 5h. You know he has an ace but feel like testing your luck to see if you
can catch your flush. Reraising the weak player here would be the wrong move
because they would simply move all in on you and you don't want to risk that
38

39. many chips on a 30 something percent flush draw and middle pair. (weak
players tend to bet small until they feel intimidated and will then go all in with
their AK, AQ, etc regardless of if they have a pair or not.) So you call their
small bet that they for some reason believe removed all the necessary
competition to leave them up against someone with AJ or AT. Turn card comes
8s. Now you're 4 to the flush, 4 to the straight, and have middle pair. All your
opponent has is an ace. 9 outs for your flush, 6 outs for your straight (yes we
know it should say 8. 2 of your straight cards are already included in the flush),
2 cards to make trips, and 3 cards to make 2 pair. Wow, that’s 20 outs. At this
point you could reraise your opponent being that there aren't too many cards in
the deck that can hurt you (20/46 will help you, 26/46 will hurt you) but being
that your chip commitment is still relatively low in the hand it's safer just to
call based on IMPLIED ODDS. Implied odds simply means that you know your
opponent will go all in on the river after you make your hand because to this
kind of player AK is unbeatable except by AA. So you catch your river card and
the AK bets into you with top pair and you reraise them all in taking a huge
chip stack by calling. Of course if you didn't catch your river card you could
have just folded and lost a small pot rather than risking all your chips on the
draw. Knowing how your opponent plays told you in this example to call rather
than raise.
Calling. When Should You NOT Call? Any time you have a hand and want to
have a chance of winning. By simply calling along the whole time you have no
idea if your top pair aces with a 6 kicker is good or not. You're risking chips
with absolutely no information about your opponent’s hands. They could be on
a flush or straight draw and simply betting to try to get rid of you. Or they
might even be bluffing. If you're just calling you will also never have any
control over the hand. Keep calling along on straight and flush draws and watch
your stack drop to nothing when you don't catch. Professionals always say the
difference between a pro and an amateur is an amateur always calls, a pro
bets or folds.
Checking. When Should You Check? When you're the big blind and have
horrible cards and don't want to throw any more away trying to pull off a stone
cold bluff. You also want to check when you didn't catch anything on the flop
or are slow playing trips on the flop, turn, or river into an aggressive opponent
that you know will bet AND there are no draws, straights, flushes or anything
similar that could beat your hand. Checking to try and get a free look at the
turn or river to finish your straight or flush works as well but if someone bets
you need to reraise them or fold, not call.
Checking. When Should You NOT Check? If you flop trips but there is a
possible straight/flush draw out there DO NOT CHECK. You are giving your
opponents a free look at the next card to beat you and take all your money.
Never check with top pair, two pair, flopped straights or flushes, etc because it
gives your opponent a chance to beat you. Checking a flopped nut boat or four
39

40. of a kind is totally acceptable but checking a hand that is not the nuts is a
surefire way to throw away chips in later rounds of betting if you know you're
not going to fold.
Folding. When Should You Fold? When you have low pairs, small draws, or
anything else you wouldn't raise with in Early Position; when you have weak
cards in Middle Position; when you have extremely weak cards in Late Position;
when you have weak cards in the blinds and someone raised the pot and you
aren't a blinds protector kind of player. You should fold any time you think you
are beat and don't want to raise the pot (unless of course you're playing against
the type of player we suggested calling against). Most of the time its either
fold or raise.
Folding. When Should You Not Fold? Cheap limp ins, inexpensive draws,
checking to the river, etc. Do not fold when there are no bets coming to you
unless you were in the big blind and know your 7 high won't win the showdown
at the river.
40

41. BLUFFING
Should You Use Bluffing In Your Game? Absolutely. If you never bluff then
your opponents (if they are paying attention) will be able to put you on a hand
every time you bet.
Types of Bluffs:
Stone Cold Bluff - You have rags and start betting knowing you have 0
chance of winning the hand
Semi Bluff - Betting on straight draws, flush draws, with middle pair or
any other hand that may or may not improve by the river. You have a
chance at winning the hand you just haven't clenched it yet.
Representing The Flop - You throw out a big bet on the flop when
there's a high card, 3 to a flush, an obvious straight, etc. Your bet makes
your opponents think you flopped something better than their hand. This
style of bluff is usually executed with a pre flop raise followed by a bet
on the flop.
This can also work on the turn and would have the same title only the
word flop is replaced by turn. Again you would want to throw out a
pre flop raise (medium sized raise to cause opponents to think you
have a medium sized pocket pair), check the flop then raise the turn.
When Should You Bluff? Execute Stone Cold Bluffs when you are in Late
Position and no real betting has taken place. Or try executing a Stone
Cold Bluff when a "scare card" comes. Examples of scare cards would
include a card that is larger than everything previously on the board, an
obvious straight draw or a flush draw. Inside/Gut shot straight draws are
harder to represent because a good deal of opponents won't even see
the straight draw and will discredit your raise. Throwing out a large bet
in Early Position is likely to get you into trouble unless you've been seen
as a tight player, then opponents will most likely (unless they're bad,
have a really good hand, or have a read on you) fold to you.
As for Semi Bluffing do that when it’s your turn to act OR check then
reraise an opponent who throws out a bet.
Representing the flop or turn should also be done in Late Position that
way you know all of your opposition is weak and will (most likely) fold to
your bet. Trying to represent the flop in Early Position may land you in a
stand off with someone who really has cards on the flop, or they may
give your pre flop and flop raise credit and drop the hand.
When Should You NOT Bluff? You should NEVER under any
circumstances try to bluff a bad player. The reason being is that bad
41

42. players don't know you are trying to make a move on them and will call
regardless. You should also not bluff a calling station and wait to
execute bluffs on the river against Fishermen. Fishermen seem to call
every bet regardless of size until they failed to make their draw on the
river, at which point you can take the pot from them. You should also
never try to bluff a tight player who is in the hand and is BETTING.
Bluffing loose players may land you in a world of hurt as well being that
they can operate similar to a calling station. You also do not want to
bluff desperate players during a tournament. A desperate player is on
the short stack and is more likely to take chances to double up than
anyone else at the table. If the short stack is in the blinds, however, you
may have a much better chance at getting him to lay down the hand
depending on the player and their attitude toward any 2 live cards can
win a pot.
How Do You Keep From Constantly Getting Caught On Bluffs? First you
have to bet big enough to scare people out of the pot. This new
minimum raise frenzy sweeping the nation will not cut it when it comes
to bluffing. You also cannot have the exact same betting
pattern/number of chips you throw out every time you are pulling a
move. Raising every time you have a straight or flush draw is another
way to get yourself into trouble. Sometimes you have to lay down the
draws. Variation is the key to winning pots. If your opponents label you
as a bluffer they are much more likely to call you in the future.
NOTE - None of these techniques should be executed with an 'all in' maneuver
unless you have a great read on your opponent and know he will not call you. Going
all in puts ALL your chips on the line and can be a costly gamble. Just because Chris
Moneymaker did it in 2003 doesn't make it a good play. Most people agree if Sammy
Farha had caught on to Moneymaker's tell (He was STARING right at Farha)
Moneymaker would have been busted out.
42

43. Starting Hands Chart Grouped By
Position
In Texas Hold Em there are 169 possible starting hands if you exclude
classifying by Spade, Heart, Diamond, and Club. Depending on your Position
at the table you will want to play your hands differently. The value of your
cards is also determined by how many chips you have versus how large the
blinds are in a tournament format. If you are the short stack you may not
want to enter late in position with certain hands but would raise in early
position with face cards in hopes of doubling up. Phil 'The Unibomber' Laak
suggests short stacks go all in with cards that's total face value is 18 or
greater (quoted from E's Hollywood Hold Em where The Unibomber served
as the dealer.) Anyone who has ever played blackjack should know what
cards total up to 18 or higher (exception: in Blackjack AA is only worth 12
and you would always split. In poker if you are on the short stack you should
definitely know the move to make.)
Definitions:
T=10
Red means raise in that position
Early Position Hands
Suited
/
AA , KK , QQ , JJ , TT , AK , AQ , AJ , AT , KQ , KJ , KT , QJ , QT , JT
Pocket
Pairs
Off suit AK , AQ , KQ
Middle Position Hands
Suited
/ 99 , 88 , 77 , 66 , A9 , A8 , A5 , A4 , A3 , A2 , K9 , Q9 , J9 , J8 , T9 ,
Pocket T8 , 98
Cards
Off suit AJ , AT , A9 , KJ , KT , QJ , QT , JT
Other Notes: Raise with every hand from the Early Position Chart
aside from KT, QT, and JT suited. Also reraise with QQ and JJ
because someone from Early Position may be trying to make a
43

44. play at the pot (players usually don't raise from early position
unless they're strong or are trying to make a play. Test them on it
to determine which of the 2 categories they fall into. Every hand
on the list aside from the pocket pairs and A9, A8 have a chance
at making a straight. They are either connected or have a 1, 2 or
3 card gap. K9 and AT are the only 2 hands on this list that have a
3 card gap.
Late Position Hands
Suited
/ 55 , 44 , 33 , 22 , A7 , A6 , K8 , K7 , K6 , K5 , K4 , K3 , K2 , Q8 , Q7 ,
Pocket J7 , T7 , T6 , 97 , 96 , 87 , 86 , 76 , 75 , 65 , 54 , 43
Cards
Off suit A8 , A5 , A4 , A3 , A2 , K9 , Q9 , J9 , T9 , T8 , T7 , 98 , 87 , 76 , 65
Other Notes: When you are in late position you can raise with
pretty much any hand from the Early Position and Middle Position
charts. T9 and below suited are questionable at best for a raise
but if you raise with face cards you should be in decent shape
unless someone was playing Big Slick or AA in early position
praying for someone to raise the pot. The main reason you want
to raise with a lot more hands in Late Position is to A) remove any
Limpers with weak hands from seeing flops B) remove any tight
players from seeing flops C) remove players who feel they don't
want to risk the extra chips due to chip stack size. Also, because
the blinds are forced bets those players may have been dealt 3 2
off suit and have no intention of playing. Or they may have pocket
rockets in which case they'll (most likely) reraise you at which
point you can fold and save yourself some chips. Aside from the
pocket pairs A8, A7, A6, Kx suited, and Q7 all the hands
mentioned above can make a straight with the proper flop.
Small Blind
Suited Q6 , Q5 , Q4 , Q3 , Q2 , J6 , T2 , 95 , 85 , 84 , 74 , 73 , 72 , 64 , 63
Cards , 53 , 42 , 32
A7 , A6 , K8 , K7 , K6 , K5 , Q8 , Q7 , Q6 , J8 , J7 , T6 , T2 , 97 , 96 ,
Off suit
95 , 86 , 85 , 84 , 75 , 74 , 73 , 72 , 64 , 63 , 54 , 43 , 32
44

45. You've already partly paid to see a flop, why not pay the whole way? If you can
afford it, that is. All the hands on the small blind chart have the possibility to
make a straight (except for 72 and T2, those are just fun to win with because
everyone can have a good laugh about it, or start a fist fight). Keep in mind
that you will be first to act on the flop so if you don't hit anything you have
absolutely no information about the other players hands and will most likely be
forced to check and fold. If you aren't willing to take a gamble do not call with
any of these hands. A good portion of the hands on the small blind chart are
controversial at best and don't have a very good chance of winning.
Nevertheless, if you do manage to catch something you'll be glad that you
didn't fold the small blind. As we said before, only call out of the small blind
with these hands IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO. If you're on the short stack in the
small blind and have any of the above hands its probably a good idea to fold (or
if there aren't many players in the pot possibly an all in stone cold bluff to pick
up your chips as well as the big blinds and anyone else who was in then folded).
After all, you do have 2 live cards. This will backfire on you if anyone is playing
tournament style call the short stack with any two cards system. Know your
opponents before trying to pull any sort of bluff.
Big Blind
Winning with a garbage hand you normally wouldn't play with is known as the
'Big Blind Special.' As the Big Blind you have wonderful position Pre Flop but
terrible position on the Flop. You will either be second (if the small blind calls)
or first (if the small blind folds) to act on the flop. With weaker starting hands
probably safer to check. With a strong starting hand it's definitely better to
raise. There are 2 reasons for this: 1) You will remove any limpers who may
have caught something lucky on the flop and 2) Players may put you on a
Position bet (players who bet on the Dealer Button or the Big Blind are typically
assumed to be making Position bets to buy the pot) and if/when your strong
hand hits you may end up winning a larger pot due to the assumptions of the
other players at the table.
Types of Hands and the type of action you are looking for
Large Pairs - Best against as few opponents as possible to avoid the risk
of being outdrawn
Medium Sized Pairs - Best against many opponents to justify making a
call
Small Sized Pairs - Best against as many opponents as you can get to
justify making a call
Drawing Hands - Best against many opponents to justify making a call
45

46. Other Notes
Please send us as much hate mail as you'd like for including 73, 72, and T2 on
the list of playable starting hands out of the small blind.
There are many different strategies on what hands should/should not be played
in a certain position. This is just an idea of what you could do, not what you
should do. No 2 hands are alike, sometimes your terrible cards in the blind
might flop a boat other times your AK suited might not even pair up and lose to
some incredibly loose calling station who (because he's a calling station) called
your all in bet with 85 off suit.
Starting Hands List For A Tight Player (note: do not rely on this list entirely
when playing against a tight player. this is a list of the hands a tight player will
most likely play. There are a few on here a Tight Player might not even
consider playing as well.) This Chart does NOT cover position, only the starting
hands a tight player might play (it doesn't really need to cover position, these
are the stronger hands in Texas Hold Em)
AA , KK , QQ , JJ , TT , 99 , 88 , 77 , AK , AQ , AJ , AT , A9 , A8 , A7
Pair /
, A6 , A5 , A4 , A3 , A2 , KQ , KJ , KT , K9 , K8 , QJ , QT , Q9 , Q8 ,
Suited
JT , J9 , J8 , T9 , 98
AK , AQ , AJ , AT , A9 , A8 , KQ , KJ , KT , K9 , QJ , QT , Q9 , JT , J9
Off suit
, T9
46

47. The 106 Starting Hands You May (or
may not) Want To Play
AAp , KKp , QQp , JJp , AKs , TTp , AQs , AKo , 99p , KQs , AQo , AJs
7 Votes
, ATs , 88p , KQo , A9s , A8s , A7s , A6s , A5s
77p , 66p , A4s , A3s , A2s , KJs , QJs , KTs , AJo , QTs , JTs , T9s ,
6 Votes
K9s , Q9s , J9s , J8s , T8s , JTo , QJo , KJo , QTo
5 Votes 55p , 44p , KTo , ATo , T9o , 98s , 87s , 97s , K8s , K7s
Q8s , K6s , 76s , A9o , 86s , 65s , 33p , 22p , K5s , K4s , K3s , K2s ,
4 Votes
T7s , J9o
3 Votes T8o , 96s , 54s , 75s , 85s , J7s , K9o , Q9o
2 or Q7s , Q6s , Q5s , Q4s , Q3s , J6s , J5s , T6s , 98o , 87o , 76o , J8o ,
Less 64s , 53s , 43s , Q2s , 74s , 42s , 32s , 65o , 54o , 43o , A8o , A7o ,
Votes A6o , A5o , A4o , A3o , A2o , K8o , K7o , K6o , Q8o
How should you use this chart you ask? If the hand appears in the 7 votes box
then that means all 7 of our celebrity judges like the hand and its odds of
winning. If the hand appears in the 6 votes box then its still most likely a very
good hand. 6 out of 7 is 86%. If it’s in the 5 its probably still a good hand, 4 its
turning into a mediocre hand, 3 is worse than 4 and 2 or less are more
preference hands than anything.
How did you compile the information for this chart? We took 7 already designed
playing systems that tell you what to fold in LATE POSITION then threw every
hand that wasn't a fold in late position on a giant list and went hand by hand
determining how many 'votes' each hand received. Our judges systems ranged
from incredibly tight (a whole 29 hands to work with) all the way up to 86
hands. Here's the breakdown: 29; 42; 50; 68; 84; 84; 86. Now these hands don't
come with an instruction manual so play them at your own risk. Just because 7
poker systems included the hand doesn't mean it’s the best hand in the world.
A5 suited for example was on everyone's list simply because you can make a
straight or a flush with it (if you get lucky enough to catch that kind of flop).
There is no real order to the list other than how many votes each hand
received and was placed on the table randomly solely because we placed each
hand according to when we ran across it on our cross out sheet.
Keep in mind there are 169 different starting hands in Texas hold em and our
list has 106 of them. Pick and choose from the list above and create your own
favorite hands list. Study the 106 hands above as well. If your opponent is a
statistics player he will most likely be playing with a good portion of the hands
above and nothing else. Statistics players usually don't stray into 72 off suit
territory making huge raises like some aggressive players do. One of our editors
is famous for making huge raises (as well as making incredible straight flushes
47

48. and such) with 73 in fake money games online. Granted it is fake money but its
still funny.
48