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Holdem Hands Charts

The most important decision in Texas holdem is whether to enter a hand or fold immediately after the deal. Refusing to play junk is the simplest and most effective way to reduce losses. At a full table, skilled practitioners of limit holdem play only one or two hands out of ten (plus blinds). This is hard to stick to, however, because the temptation to get into the action is constant. It is therefore essential to know by heart which hands are playable, and in which positions. People who don't have the basic starting hands down pat will constantly be swept up in the moment and chase phantasms. These non-copyrighted charts are a handy way to look up hands and learn them.

Adjusting starting hands

As table conditions change, you should adjust the range of hands that you play. As a rough guide to adapting, you can tighten the cutoff to button standards, or loosen the button to use cutoff hands, etc.

Tighten up

your stealing against loose players who won't fold their blinds.
especially when tough opponents enter a pot.
if blinds keep three-betting your steals.
as more people enter the game.

Loosen up

stealing against tight players who often fold blinds.
as the table shrinks, steal more liberally
your calling standards vs. many limpers. If you can see the flop cheaply, play more speculative hands like low pairs and connectors, even more so at passive tables.

Half-table seat positions and abbreviations

Holdem short-handed seat positions