Starting Hand Selection:Chen Formula : Sklansky Starting Hand Groups
There are 25 starting hands with a probability of winning at a 10-handed table of greater than 1/7. Limit hand rankings. Some notable theorists and players have created systems to rank the value of starting hands in limit Texas hold'em. These rankings do not apply to no limit play. Sklansky hand groups. Poker Hand Rankings Poker Hands Rules, Information by SpartanPoker. Poker is an exciting game of luck and sheer skills. In Poker, each player creates a set of five playings, i.e., Poker hands. Each Poker hand in the game has a Poker hand ranking that is compared against the competitor's rank in.
Oct 01, 2019 Texas Holdem Rankings for All 169 Starting Hands. 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. 58 rows Poker Hand Rankings - Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart. At the bottom of this page is a. Poker Hands Has The Best Winning Poker Hands In Order. Poker Hands in Order Hand Rankings List and Poker Hierarchy Pictures Below. Keep the List Handy and Book Mark this Page so you can refer to our ultra easy to follow Poker Hands Order Listing of Winning Hands High to Low.
The Sklansky & Malmuth starting hands table.
| Group | Hands |
|---|---|
| 1 | AA, AKs, KK, QQ, JJ |
| 2 | AK, AQs, AJs, KQs, TT |
| 3 | AQ, ATs, KJs, QJs, JTs, 99 |
| 4 | AJ, KQ, KTs, QTs, J9s, T9s, 98s, 88 |
| 5 | A9s - A2s, KJ, QJ, JT, Q9s, T8s, 97s, 87s, 77, 76s, 66 |
| 6 | AT, KT, QT, J8s, 86s, 75s, 65s, 55, 54s |
| 7 | K9s - K2s, J9, T9, 98, 64s, 53s, 44, 43s, 33, 22 |
| 8 | A9, K9, Q9, J8, J7s, T8, 96s, 87, 85s, 76, 74s, 65, 54, 42s, 32s |
| 9 | All other hands not required above. |
This table comes from the book Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth.
To regularly play in events like these, they’d need a bankroll with dozens of millions.So, many of the players get staked.This means they get a part or the entire buy-in amount in exchange for a certain percentage of their winnings. This further distorts the image, as many of the big winners on the have been known to sell their action. There is Big One for One Drop ($1,000,000), Aria high rollers, ($300,000), and many more.For someone playing poker for a living and pursuing tournaments, these are a great opportunity. 
But, at the same time, they are very costly, and very few players are able to afford the buy-ins on their own. It’s a common practice, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but it does make you think about actual numbers.
This is a strategy book for limit Hold'em, but the starting hand groups do have some practical use in no limit Hold'em.
What is the Sklansky and Malmuth starting hands table?
The table is a general ranking of hands in Texas Hold'em.
The Sklansky and Malmuth starting hands table groups together certain hands in Texas Hold'em based on their strength. Starting with the strongest set of hands that you can be dealt in group 1, the hands get progressively weaker working down the table until the virtually unplayable hands in group 9.
The rough idea is that a hand in one group has roughly the same value and can be played the same way preflop as any other hand in that group.
How to use the starting hands table.
In their book, Sklansky and Malmuth provide some in-depth guidelines for starting hand strategy in limit Texas Hold'em using this table. Unfortunately, I'm not going to work out any guidelines for you for the NL Hold'em game using this table because:
- It would be quite a tricky job.
- It would be difficult to remember and implement.
- Like any starting hand strategy, it would have its flaws.
- You should avoid using strict guidelines and set rules as much as possible during play.
So really there is not a lot to take away from this table from a purely strategic perspective. Nonetheless it's interesting to see how specific starting hands compare to one another based on their preflop value.
If you're really after a starting hand strategy guideline, try the Chen Formula.
Sklansky and Malmuth hand rankings evaluation.
Although it's a very popular hand group rankings table, it's not going to do you too much good to learn the whole thing off by heart. In my opinion, the real value of this table is being able to see how different starting hands can be grouped together and ranked based on their value before the flop.
For other useful charts and tables, see the odds charts page from the Texas Hold'em tools section.
Poker Hand Rankings Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart
Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.
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