PokertardThe best lessons from the poker books

As has been stated by many authors on poker strategy, starting hand rankings are a key concept to learn. Sklansky and Malmuth take the idea further, categorizing hands into groups then detailing which groups of hands can be played based on the situation. They use 8 groups, with the first group being exactly what you [...]

Phil Hellmuth’s Play Poker Like the Pros is a controversial book because, in part, he advocates a strategy that is what most experienced players consider weak-tight; that is, he doesn’t think beginners ought to be playing many hands, and when they play they should be looking for reasons to lay down the hand.
At least, that’s [...]

Texas Hold’em starting hands contain only two cards. The remaining cards are dealt as community cards.
Here’s the frequency of getting certain combinations of cards to form hands:

You’ll start with…
One time in…

Suited Cards
4

A pair or an ace
5

Unsuited cards, 10 or higher
11

Any Pair
17

Suited cards, 10 or higher
33

Pair of Jacks or higher
56

A-K unsuited
111

Pair of Aces
221

A-K suited
332

For [...]