Hiya,

I'm new here so Hi all!!!

Got a Q about starting hands hope you can help...

I've read time and time again that on a 10 handed texas no limit ring game in
1st pos you should only call with
AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AKo, AQs,

middle pos:
AJ, A10s, 99's 10's

Latepos/on the button
44's 55's 66's, 78's, 910s

... roughly speaking.

Then someone today said what they actually mean is should only call A BET with these hands in position. To simply call the blinds you can call with a bit less but of course fold if you're weak and someone raises.

Is this the case? I do feel that i've been playing too tight so should i loosen up and play more marginal hands?

However my stats on Coral show i have a pre flop fold percentage of 70%. The books say a tight aggressive should fold 85% of their so that means i need to tighten up!!!

Confused to say the least...

J

I'd recommend getting "Harrington on Hold'em" . . . available on amazon.com.

The book is about NL tourneys, but it could really help your game.

In the meantime, here are hands I would generally raise if I was first in the pot at a 10 handed game if I was a beginner: (note that the "s" means suited, the "o" means offsuit), note that I've ranked them by hand strength

Early Position: AA, KK (these are top hands)
QQ, AK
JJ, TT, 99
AQ, AJs, KQs

Middle Position: all of the above, and:
AT-A8s, AJ-ATo, KQo, KJs, QJs
88-66

Cutoff Seat: all of the above, and:
A7-A4s, A9-A7o, KJ-K9, QT, JT,
22-55
67s, 78s, 89s, T9s, T8s, 97s

Dealer Button: all of the above, and:
A2+
K7+
Q8+
J8+

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Jason75: Ok, you check and the button bets 400. Now what?
Beavis68: You play poker.
Jason75: Darn, I was really hoping for canasta. Maybe Gin.

Hiya Jason75,

Yeah got the s/o thing... Was just using an apostrophe for plural but in hindsight if i was doing that i should have just said 6's... doh!

I get the starting hands and position list too. Thats what has been engrained in my head. My point is, when the books say call with these hands do they mean these are the minimum hands you can call the blinds with?

If i'm in 1st place and i've got

AA, KK (these are top hands)
QQ, AK
JJ, TT, 99
AQ, AJs, KQs

I'm not going to just call anyway... i'll raise and reraise with AA or KK.

I'm thinking i can call the blinds with J10s so long as i'm on a low stakes passive table but i won't call a subsequent raise. The reason i think i should do this is to see a cheap flop or mix my style up a little so my opponents think i'm loose/bit of a gambler plus it helps me not to go on tilt because i'm playing more hands.

On a higher stakes table i'm less inclined to go on tilt anyway because the money means more so i'll play as you suggest, knowing that there will probably be a raise so no point being in the hand if my cards won't stand up to it.

But in the lower stakes i'm loosening up a little and i'm finding it's paying off.

I guess this is what they mean by varying your playing style. Loosen/tighten up as you need to...

What you think?

J

Whether you call or raise is entirely dependent upon what type of game you're playing (NL? Limit? Tourney? Ring game?).

I'm exclusively a NL tourney player, so just let me say I really don't know anything about ring games or limit (which I find to be the most confusing thing in the world - why don't you always just call given the pot odds?)

In a NL tourney, while you're still learning: If you always raised pairs TT+ and unpaired hands AQ+ in EP, I think you'd be doing fine.

The Gap Concept is important: Against a tight player, you need a better hand to call a raise with than that player needed to make his raise.

So for instance, if we are in MP with ATs, and the EP player raises, we need a better hand that the minimum raising hand in EP to call with. Thus, we need a better pair than TT or a better unpaired A than AJs. Of course, once you learn implied odds, you'll learn you can do things like call with any pair hoping to hit a set.

I hope this helps.

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Jason75: Ok, you check and the button bets 400. Now what?
Beavis68: You play poker.
Jason75: Darn, I was really hoping for canasta. Maybe Gin.

Well, for a n00b, I'd suggest:

Limit:
EP (UTG or UTG+1)- you should NEVER call, only raise.
AA
KK
QQ
JJ
AK
AQ

MP (next 3 spots)- never open-limp, only open raise and always raise/3-bet with the hands noted above here. Open-raise/limp/cold call 2-bets with:
TT
99
AJs
KQs

Late position- (button and cutoff)- open raise or 2-bet with all of the above. 3-bet with EP hands. cold call 2 bets or raise to 2 bets with the MP hands. Open-raise/limp/cold-call 2 bets with:
88
77
66
AJo
ATs

Open-raise/limpwith:
ATo
A9
KJ
KT
QJ
JT

Stick yourself to these and you'll make the right decisions going into the flop, but your F/T/R play will only get better with practice.

NL:
I'm guessing that you're a novice, so I'm gonna suggest only playing AA-JJ and AK in EP. (iso open raise with these, fold to any raise with these. With limpers, raise 4-5BB or whatever's a bit more than the normal raise at the table):

MP
TT
99
AQ

Late (facing a raise, fold these hands. But raise with them if there's no raise, for the 4-5BB raise or the normal isolating raise at the table):
88-22
AJ
KQ
KJ

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