TEN BEST STARTING HANDS

  One of the best ways to start to become a successful Texas Hold’em player is to know which starting hands to play and which to fold.  Below is a list of the ten best starting hands in Texas Holdem poker to help you improve your game.

It should be noted that there is always disagreement over which starting hands are the best, because it can depend on your skill level and style of play. Also you need to remember that even a top Texas holdem starting hand can turn bad quickly after the wrong community cards fall on the board.

With the Advent of 'Solvers' we can now use them to run thousands upon thousands of simulations in which a particular holdem hand is played out against nine random opponent hands. Using the 'solvers'

the results of every single simulation hand dealt out can be tracked to determine exactly how often a given hand prevails against the nine random hands it would be up against in a traditional tournament or cash game table. 

Below are the top Ten 

 Four cards of the same rank, and one side card or ‘kicker’.

In the event of a tie: Highest four of a kind wins. In community card games where players have the same four of a kind, the highest fifth side card ('kicker') wins.

Three cards of the same rank, and two cards of a different, matching rank.

In the event of a tie: Highest three matching cards wins the pot. In community card games where players have the same three matching cards, the highest value of the two matching cards wins. 

Five cards of the same suit. 

 In the event of a tie: The player holding the highest ranked card wins. If necessary, the second-highest, third-highest, fourth-highest, and fifth-highest cards can be used to break the tie. If all five cards are the same ranks, the pot is split. 

Five cards in sequence.

In the event of a tie: Highest ranking card at the top of the sequence wins.

The Ace may be used at the top or bottom of the sequence, and is the only card which can act in this manner. A,K,Q,J,T is the highest (Ace high) straight; 5,4,3,2,A is the lowest (Five high) straight.

Three cards of the same rank, and two unrelated side cards. 

In the event of a tie: Highest ranking three of a kind wins. In community card games where players have the same three of a kind, the highest side card, and if necessary, the second-highest side card wins. 

Two cards of a matching rank, another two cards of a different matching rank, and one side card. 

In the event of a tie: Highest pair wins. If players have the same highest pair, highest second pair wins. If both players have two identical pairs, highest side card wins. 

Two cards of a matching rank, and three unrelated side cards.

In the event of a tie: Highest pair wins. If players have the same pair, the highest side card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest and third-highest side card can be used to break the tie.