Poker Tournament Starting Hands

[counterfeit]

http://ezinearticles.com/?Texas-Holdem-Poker-Tournament-Strategy---Starting-Hands&id=13814

The above link shows the starting hands as grouped by David Sklansky who is probably the most respected poker writer there is. These have been slightly modified, in my opinion, so little that it doesn't make any difference but it does also give an indication of hand strength in relation to position, which is why I used this link.

It wouldn't hurt anyone (including me) to print this off and put it next to their computer screen.

By the way, Q9 is in group 5, i.e. down with the rag Aces and therefore should be treated with a degree of caution.

[John]

Very very useful, thanks for sharing. :)

[MattR]

Great stuff CF :thumbs

[mathare]

When I get a chance (which may not be for a few days) I will compare this to some other advice I read recently from the Full Tilt guys

[MattR]

CF, I played a D2N last night using that guide. I had pretty crap hands most of the way through so was gradually dropping chips through the blinds, although did win one on the bb to recover a few chips. Got three starting hands that matched position and won 2 of 3 although one was a small win due to a fold after the pre flop raise. But the upshot was I got in the money and without that list I may have been tempted into playing a couple of lesser hands more from wanting to get involved than anything else and probably would have gone out of the tournament if I'd done so. Sticking to the discipline of those suggested hands kept me in the game and in the money.

[counterfeit]

I have to admit that as I play cash poker in the main I do not use the list myself. However, I played a 9 player STT earlier and finished 2nd (why am I so bad heads up?). Until we got down to 4 players I followed the guide. Once we got to 4 I just went on a stealing rampage and got lucky that I didn't run into a proper hand.

The guide definitely helped me. I hardly ever play STTs anymore so it was good to have a discipline to adhere to.

I hope it keeps working for you Matt. The point of it is that if you stick to the list then you definitely play better. Whether that means you win is a different matter.

[mathare]

I have a few issues with that article, mostly around the way it suggests "playing" hands but doesn't actually tell you how to play those hands. Do you limp or raise? If you raise, then by how much? It also doesn't account for the actions of the players before you, whether there have been limpers or raisers ahead of you. For example, you wouldn't play K9o in late position had there been a raise ahead of you, especially if it comes from early position.

The hand rankings are probably OK on the whole though

[counterfeit]

To me, the word "play" would automaically mean raise. I hate slow playing premium hands and I very rarely limp when there are more than 3 players at the table. I am definitely in the raise or fold camp.

I have just been through some tournament coaching and apparently my biggest weakness is raising in the Small Blind. I lose more chips in the SB than any other position (analysed over 2000+ tournament hands), so I need to start folding or calling here far more than I do.

[mathare]

To me, the word "play" would automaically mean raise. I hate slow playing premium hands and I very rarely limp when there are more than 3 players at the table. I am definitely in the raise or fold camp.I'll limp with speculative hands when the table is pretty full (7+ players) hoping to hit a monster. Fit or fold on the flop though and a heavy use of pot odds to justify the pre-flop call. I don't like to raise those hands too often as I want to keep players around and not risk being in a short-handed pot where I have no business trying to win the pot.


I have just been through some tournament coaching and apparently my biggest weakness is raising in the Small Blind. I lose more chips in the SB than any other position (analysed over 2000+ tournament hands), so I need to start folding or calling here far more than I do.One of the books I read recently (could have been Harrison vol II or could have been something else on NLHE I read, maybe Vorhaus' Killer Poker No-Limit, I can't remember) advised calling in the SB more than I used to as you often have the pot odds to play the hand. Fit or fold on the flop though, obviously. I used to fold a lot of SBs when there were a couple of limpers but now I tend to call into an unraised pot in those cases as I am getting excellent pot odds. If I miss the flop I check-fold but I have given myself a chance. It makes me look a little looser than normal too and means I can get some bigger hands paid off.

[Mavrick]

That's interesting about the small blind. I tend to fold like I would in other position but, feel I need to loosen up just a tad. Especially when the blinds are so small; so I think I will have a look at calling more into an unraised pot. I do use software for the pot odds and win odds but, if you do connect with the flop then the implied odds probably mean a few more small blind calls couldn't hurt when it's not costing you much.

Obviously as the blinds increase I won't be so eager to call.

[John]

I used to fold pretty much everything to the BB if folded round to me, sitting in SB position. Or I'll raise with mediocre-good hands if I have the chips available to do so, and can withstand losing the hand if necessary. But yeah, now I'm much more likely to call the BB in SB position, if it's only a few chips with low blinds to see a flop.

Sometimes I will flat call the BB if folded round to me when I have pocket Aces. I know this can be dangerous in letting the BB see the flop just by checking his BB, but sometimes you have to let them make the first move before you go over the top of them - particularly useful to do this also if I'm short stacked. I want the BB to think "why did he just flat call with so few chips?" and I'll want him to raise me all in. Good strategy when it works... and very nice if you're already past the bubble in doing it to eliminate another player. I do have to say though, speaking from some horrible experiences, that this can go very much boobies up, technically speaking, if you're not careful.

[counterfeit]

If we just change the scenario slightly, if the SB limps into my BB, then I would raise it at least 50% of the time. Ok - this leaves me vulnerable to a re-raise but I will take the pot virtually every time.

There is not enough talk and advice about blind play and it is a very important part of the game to get right. I obviously get my SB play wrong but at least I now know I need to improve that area.

[mathare]

If we just change the scenario slightly, if the SB limps into my BB, then I would raise it at least 50% of the time. Ok - this leaves me vulnerable to a re-raise but I will take the pot virtually every time.If it's folded round to the SB and he limps then I am with you on this play. You have position so exploit it. If the SB is limping in with others though then I'm checking to take the flop as I am out of position on the player that really matters (they guy who limped first).


There is not enough talk and advice about blind play and it is a very important part of the game to get right. I obviously get my SB play wrong but at least I now know I need to improve that area.I agree that it's a very important part of the game and I feel more so for STTs as the blinds are on the rise and you're in the blinds more often as the number of players goes down. A leak in your blind play that costs you say 10% of the BB per orbit on average will soon become expensive in a tourney so needs plugging far more than the equivalent leak does in a cash game, in my opinion.

I wonder if the reason there is so little written about blind play is because the number of potential situations is huge. In early position there are only a few things that could have happened. You're first to act, it could be folded to you, someone could have limped, someone could have raised. And that's about it. As you get into later position more of the talk is on hand strengths and what to play in raised and unraised pots. By the time you get to the SB the pot could be raised but by whom, from what position and by how much? It could be an unraised pot but how many limpers are there? It could be folded round to you, then what do you do? How many players were dealt cards? That will affect the potential hand strengths out there and also set the context for a raise/fold before you. How does the BB play? If you limp will you get raised? There are so many unknowns by the time you get to the SB that I believe offering up much in the way of good advice is very hard. Any advice has to be situational which doesn't help improve your general play from that position.