Preflop Hand Strength: Which Starting Hands Are Good

169 hands, 1,326 combinations

There are 1,326 ways to be dealt two cards, which collapse into 169 different starting hands because suits only matter as suited or not. That is 13 pairs, 78 suited hands and 78 offsuit hands.

Combinations are not evenly spread. A pair has 6 combinations, a suited hand 4 and an offsuit hand 12. That is why you are dealt a pocket pair about 5.9% of the time, any specific pair like aces 0.45% of the time (1 in 221), and ace-king in about 1.2% of deals.

What makes a hand strong

Four things add value: pairs, high cards, being suited, and being connected. Pairs and high cards win showdowns. Suited cards add roughly 2 to 3 points of equity because of flushes, and connected cards such as J-10 make more straights.

The strongest hands are AA, KK, QQ, AK suited, JJ, AQ suited, KQ suited, AK offsuit and TT. Hands like 7-2 offsuit have none of the four traits, which is why it is the classic hand to fold.

Domination

A hand is dominated when it shares a card with a better hand and its other card is worse. A-K against A-Q wins about 74% of the time, because whenever an ace comes the king kicker plays, and the queen needs help.

That is why a weak ace is risky: when you pair your ace you are often behind a better ace. Small suited aces are still playable for their flush potential, but A-9 offsuit is trouble against a raise.

Pairs and the set

A pocket pair flops three of a kind about 11.8% of the time, roughly once in 8.5 tries. That is why small pairs are often played cheaply: they win a big pot when they hit and are easy to fold when they miss.

Against two overcards, a pair is a small favourite of about 55 to 57%. Against a lower pair it is a big favourite of about 80%.

Questions

What is the best starting hand in Texas Hold'em?

Pocket aces. They win about 85% against a random hand and about 82% against kings.

Is suited better than offsuit?

Yes, by about 2 to 3 points of equity, because suited hands can make flushes.