Texas Holdem Playable Starting Hands

As you are playing Texas Holdem at online poker sites your first and most important decision will be whether or not your starting hand is playable at all. The two cards you get in Holdem are your only advantage over the opposition and they make your first decision important. You need to know which cards are worth playing and which ones are not. One of the most important parts of Texas Holdem is position so you want to know which starting hands are playable from which position.

Let’s take a look at the playable starting hands in Texas Holdem and also from which position. Early position is the worst you can be in at the Texas Holdem table so only a few hands are worth playing. You can obviously play Aces, Kings, Queens and possibly Jacks, 10’s and Ace-King. Those last three you need to be careful with though as they could be dominated if facing pressure.

From middle position you can obviously play all of the previously listed hands and add AJs, KQs and KJs. The only reason you add those hands in is because they give you good flush and straight possibilities. Remember that you must be able to get away from these hands if facing pressure as you play online poker.

From late position you can add in quite a few hands. You can play virtually anything from late position although some hands will obviously be stronger. From late position you can still play all of the above hands and add in all lower pairs, suited connectors and even unsuited connectors. Late position is such an advantage that you can open up your starting hand requirements a great deal.

You obviously want to raise with big hands and get in as cheaply as possible with drawing hands or marginal hands. There is no hard and fast rule as to how starting poker hands are organized and which ones go in each category. The better way to judge starting hands is by position. In early position you only want to be playing extremely strong hands while in late position you can open up your game a great deal. This obviously changes a bit as the game gets shorthanded, but remember that position in Texas Holdem is always important and it plays a big role in what hands you can play and which ones you can’t.