The Key to Success in Texas Hold'em Various "experts" may disagree on the relative importance of different factors in becoming a successful Texas Hold 'Em player, but high on everyone's list is the ability to make correct decisions about which starting hands are worth playing. While one can err in the direction of being too tight (i.e., playing too few hands), most observers would agree that beginning Hold 'Em players are much more likely to err in the opposite direction and play too many hands. In all poker variations, especially at the lower limits, the newcomer will pay a higher penalty for being too loose than being too tight. Given this proclivity to play too many hands and the unpleasant consequences of this behavior, it is probably excellent advice for the beginning player to pay special attention to the task of identifying hands that have the best chances of winning the money. There will come a time when other factors, such as the desire to be deceptive, the need to "play the players," post-flop strategies, the significance of position, the importance of "table image," etc., will need to be mastered, but these are complex and subtle issues that are very difficult to quantify. Read more...

Starting Hands in Hold‘em High and Low The purpose of this approach is to identify hands that have a 15 percent or more probability of winning in a ten-handed game of Hold 'Em High-Low poker. The assumptions are: One, while any hand can win high, only the hands that are eight-low or better qualify for low. Two, each player plays each hand to the finish, (i.e., to the "river"). Three, the system is not valid for hands with less than 12 pts. Read more...