Holdem Blog

The 50 Best Starting Hands in Holdem.  

When the starting hands are pitched by a computer against every other holdem starting hand, with bet-calls all the way to the river, this is the average big bets won by the starting hand.  No surprise to see AA,KK,QQ,JJ at the top

1. AA 2.32
2. KK 1.67
3. QQ 1.22 
4. JJ 0.86 
5. AKs 0.78
6. AQs 0.59
7. TT 0.58
8. AKos 0.51 
9. AJs 0.44
10. KQs 0.39
11. 99 0.38 
12. ATs 0.32
13. AQos 0.31
14. KJs 0.29
15. 88 0.25 
16. QJs 0.23
17. KTs 0.20 
18. A9s 0.19 
19. AJos 0.19
20. QTs 0.17
21. KQos 0.16
22. 77 0.16
23. JTs 0.15
24. A8s 0.10 
25. K9s 0.09 
26. ATos 0.08
27. A5s 0.08 
28. A7s 0.08
29. KJos 0.08 
30. 66 0.07 
31. T9s 0.05
32. A4s 0.05
33. Q9s 0.05
34. J9s 0.04
35. QJos 0.03
36. A6s 0.03
37. 55 0.02
38. A3s 0.02
39. K8s 0.01 
40. KTos 0.01
41. 98s 0.00 
42. T8s -0.00 
42. K7s -0.00 
43. A2s 0.00 
44. 87s -0.02
45. QTos -0.02 
46. Q8s -0.02
47. 44 -0.03 
48. A9os -0.03 
49. J8s -0.03 
50. 76s -0.03

Texas Holdem originated from Robstown in Texas.  It first came to light around 1900-1910.

In was in the 1960’s it first started to be played in the card rooms of Las Vegas (predominately at The Golden Hugget), and by 1971 it had become the adopted game of the WSOP Main Event (just 1 year after the WSOP started).

The gradual rise of the WSOP saw Texas Holdem gradually rising in popularity, but it was only as recent as 2003 when a combination of factors really exploded the popularity of the game.  Firstly the internet was increasingly getting into almost every household, and online sites where you could play holdem were becoming very established.  Secondly a player at one of those sites (PokerStars) qualified for the WSOP online and went on to win it.   That man was Chris Moneymaker.  A very apt name, considering he became a millionaire off the back of a $30 qualifier. 

These 2 factors exploded holdem on the world on an unprecedented scale.  The big Vegas pros were from then on outnumbered greatly at all WSOP events, and every online unknown started to believe in the dream.

There are 1326 unique possible starting hands in holdem.   But because As Qc is exactly the same as Ah Qd in rank (ie they are both AQos) then this number reduces down to their being 169 holdem hands, ranging from AA (the best) to 27os (the worst)

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