Hellmuth presents a list of the top 10 starting hands in Texas holdem, and he suggests that you ONLY play hands from that list. His list is a little different from the one I present below, though. His list consists of any pocket pair of 7s or better, plus ace king suited and ace queen suited. Texas Holdem – Top 10 Starting Hands. Starting to play Texas Hold’em is like learning to box. That is, you’re most likely to get knocked out without the protective gear! Keep your stack protected by being aware of the top ten starting hands, listed below. Our rankings order hands by their playability. Ever since the early days of Texas holdem poker, players have attempted to analyze and organize the 169 possible two card starting hands found in the game. One traditional way of doing so involves running thousands upon thousands of simulations in which a particular holdem hand is played out against nine random opponent hands.

So you are standing here (or sitting). Dealer already dealt the cards and you are given your hand.

As a good Texas Hold’em Poker Player you should learn to know, which hands you should play and which hands you should fold. With bluffing etc. you can win any hand, but some hands win more frequently and if you stick to these hands, you should get better results in the long run.

So here are the Top 10 Best Starting Hands in Texas Hold’em Poker

1. Ace-Ace

A pair of aces (also known as pocket rockets) is the best starting hand you can ever get for Texas Hold’em Poker.

2. King-King

“King Kong” (or the two cowboys) is the second best starting hand for Texas Hold’em poker.

3. Queen-Queen

The “ladies” are the third best starting hand for Texas Hold’em Poker. So now you know the top three starting hands for Texas Hold’em poker.

4. Ace-King (suited)

The fourth best pick is a suited ace-king hand (often called “big slick”). Some people wouldn’t pick it for fourth place but a lot of players agree that this is fourth best starting hand for Texas Hold’em Poker.

5. Ace-Queen (suited)

The “big chick” (or “little slick”) is a combination of ace and queen in the same suit. It is the fifth best starting hand for Texas Hold’em poker.
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6. Jack-Jack

The “fishhooks”, a pair of jacks, is the sixth best starting hand for Texas Hold’em Poker.

7. King-Queen (suited)

The king and the queen in the same suit is known as seventh best starting hand for Texas Hold’em Poker by poker players from around the world.

8. Ace-Jack (suited)

In Black Jack you would shout hooray and this would be the best starting hand for Black Jack. For Texas Hold’em poker it is the eigth best starting hand.

9. Ace-King (offsuit)

You surely wonder about an offsuit hand in the top 10 best starting hands for Texas Holdem poker. Well, this is the only hand that could hardly made it onto position 9 of the best starting hands for Texas Holdem poker.

10. Ten-Ten

What would be Number ten without Tens? A pair of tens is always a good hand you should get along with. Texas Holdem players often call them “dimes” and they are number 10 in the top 10 best starting hands for Texas Holdem poker.

What if your hand is not listed above?

Well, as a beginner in Texas Holdem Poker, you should always stick to this top 10 list with best starting hands for Texas Holdem Poker. Use these poker strategy to gain all the times. But as you continue to gain some experience you can expand and experiment with other starting hands. May be bluffing comes into game.

But whatever you do, you should never forget that you could lose money when entering pots with weak hands. Please don’t forget to play responsible!

As many of you know, Phil Hellmuth is one of the most successful Texas Hold 'em players of all time. I recently read his book, Play Poker Like the Pros, and was very impressed with his Hold 'em Strategy. It is not my intent to plagiarize his book, but no poker strategy site would be complete without mentioning the playing ability and strategy of Phil Hellmuth.

Therefore, I have chosen to reveal and comment on what Hellmuth calls his “Top 10.” When Hellmuth refers to his Top 10, he is talking about pocket card, starting hand requirements. One should note that this isn't a list of the only hands Hellmuth plays, but he does suggest that the poker player can make lots of money in low limit poker, by waiting on these cards and playing them aggressively.

Without further ado, Hellmuth's Top 10:

1. A-A

2. K-K

3. Q-Q

4. A-K suited

5. J-J

6. 10-10

7. 9-9

8. 8-8

9. A-Q suited

10. 7-7

Hellmuth submits that these 10 hands should be the only pocket cards played by the beginner in low limit Texas Hold 'em. This makes the game much simpler before the flop, however, as you can probably guess, the tricks of how to play these 10 hands after the flop can get complicated.

As a general rule though, bet these top 10 hands aggressively. The higher in the ranking, the more aggressively they should be played. Your strategy after the flop will be determined by what hits the board and the actions of your opponents.

Play these top 10 right in low limit Hold 'em games and you will make money. As you build your bankroll and your confidence, you can increase your starting hand requirements.

Top 10 Best Starting Hands In Texas Hold'em Poker

Meanwhile, I would suggest making a $16 investment in Hellmuth's book, Play Poker Like the Pros. It's not the perfect poker strategy book, and Phil even cautions that he is a no limit player, not a limit player! However, a look inside the mind of a man who has won multiple World Series of Poker bracelets is well worth the $16!