Best Starting Hands in Poker
If you’ve ever asked “What is the best starting hand in poker?” the quick answer is pocket aces, but the real edge comes from knowing which hands to play, where to play them, and how to act once the betting starts.
In this poker guide, we break down the foundations, rank the best starting hands in Texas Hold’em, explain why position changes everything, and show you how to turn a good starting hand into a good decision.
Learning The Foundations Of Starting Hands In Poker
Before we rank anything, let’s lock in the basics: what a starting hand is, why it matters, and how variance can make strong hands lose and weaker ones spike to victory.
What Is A Starting Hand?
In Texas Hold’em, every player is dealt two private cards face down; these are your "hole cards", and together they form your starting hand.
You’ll combine those two cards with five community cards (the flop, turn, and river) to make your best five-card hand by showdown.
Suits don’t have an order in poker, but your starting hand is identified by both rank and whether it’s suited (same suit) or offsuit (different suits).
For example, an Ace and King suited (both spades) can play quite differently from Ace and King offsuit (let's say clubs and diamonds). You act on your starting hand before any community cards are revealed, which is why getting the pre-flop part right pays off over time.
Why Are Starting Hands Important?
Starting hands shape your plan. Strong holdings let you raise for value and build pots. Speculative hands often want position and good odds to continue, and marginal hands get you in trouble if you stubbornly pay to see flops out of position.
Think of your starting hand as the foundation; if it’s solid, you can stack the next floors (flop, turn, river) with confidence.
If it’s shaky, even a perfect play later might not save the structure. Your pre-flop choices also affect table image: tight, disciplined starts win respect and fold equity; loose, erratic starts invite calls and counter-raises.
Variance And Its Impact On Starting Hands
Variance is poker’s natural ups and downs: even great hands like aces or kings will lose sometimes, because short-term results are noisy. A 70% favourite still gets beaten three times in ten, and multiway pots amplify that swing because more players can hit the board; acting last helps soften it by letting you control the pot size.
Over a big sample, disciplined starting-hand choices and sensible bet sizing let your real edge show through, so judge yourself by decision quality (getting chips in good), not whether a single pot broke your way.
Ranking Starting Hands In Poker
We’re talking No-Limit Texas Hold’em here, which is the format most Canadian poker players meet first.
There isn’t a single "official" ranking list that fits every table size and skill level, but there is broad agreement about the strongest tiers.
Below, we order common categories from premium to playable, explain why they win, and flag how to approach them pre-flop:
1. Premium Pairs: AA, KK, QQ: These are your top-value hands. With aces and kings, you generally want to raise and re-raise to isolate and get stacks in against worse. Queens are also premium but can be more sensitive to overcards on the flop. The goal: build a pot when ahead, deny free equity to drawing hands, and avoid bringing too many callers along.
2. Premium Broadways: AKs, AKo: Ace-king is a powerhouse. Suited AK adds flush potential and plays beautifully against any single pair. You’ll often 3-bet (re-raise) pre-flop, especially against late-position opens. Don’t be shy about betting when you pair the ace or king; when you miss, your two overcards and backdoor draws still give you fold equity.
3. Strong Pairs: JJ, TT, 99: These poker hands perform well versus typical opening ranges but can be awkward when overcards hit. Raise first in, and 3-bet some of the time versus aggressive opponents. Post-flop, set value is huge; otherwise, control pot size on scary boards and avoid paying off multiple streets without a plan.
4. Strong Suited Broadways: AQs, AJs, KQs: These connect with many flops and carry robust equity (top pairs with strong kickers, plus straight/flush possibilities). Open-raising in most positions is standard; 3-bet selectively based on opponent tendencies. When you flop top pair, your kicker often plays; if you miss, use backdoor draws to pressure capped ranges.
5. Medium Pairs: 88–66: Good at flopping sets and winning big pots, but vulnerable on high-card boards. Earlier positions: lean tight; later positions: open more frequently. Versus raises, call when stacks are deep enough to "set mine" (you’re hoping to flop three of a kind and get paid).
6. Suited Connectors: QJs, JTs, T9s, 98s: These hands thrive with position because they make disguised straights and flushes. Open or call in late position; be selective from early seats. They’re equity-rich but often second-best when dominated by higher suited cards, so avoid calling big 3-bets out of position without a clear plan.
7. Small Pairs: 55–22: Mostly set-mining tools. Open in late position; call raises when effective stacks are deep (rough guide: you want to win a multiple of the call size when you hit). Without a set, be quick to fold on coordinated flops; there’s no medal for "most stubborn".
8. Suited Aces: A5s–A2s (plus A9s–A6s in late position): Suited wheel aces (A5s-A2s) bring straight and nut-flush potential and can be used in selective 3-bets as semi-bluffs. They’re excellent candidates for aggressive lines on low, connected boards where you pressure medium pairs.
9. Offsuit Broadways: KQo, QJo, KJo: Playable but dominated more often than their suited cousins. Prefer them in late position and avoid sticky spots against tight early-position ranges that contain better kickers.
How Ties Are Broken In Texas Hold’em
In poker, since the aim is to have the best five-card hand, you can use both, one, or neither of your hole cards. But what happens when two hands are tied?
Well, if you and an opponent both make top pair with an ace, the higher side card (kicker) settles the pot.
So if you had an AQ, this would beat another player who has an AJ when both pair the ace, and the board doesn’t use five cards higher than the kicker. This doesn't just work for pairs either; it also works for flush and straight ties. If two players make a flush, the one with the highest card in the flush wins; for straights, the highest top card wins (A-K-Q-J-10 beats K-Q-J-10-9).
But, what if you hold a suited AK and your opponent holds a suited AK? Then the board runs K, 7, 7, 2, 2. Both best hands are two pair, kings and sevens, with an ace kicker, so the result is a split pot, because both players’ best five are K-K-7-7-A. If the best five-card hand is entirely on the board (e.g., a straight or full house everyone shares), remaining players chop the pot.
Importance Of Position
Position is simply where you sit compared to the dealer button.
If you act last after the community cards are dealt, you get to see what everyone else does first, which makes decisions easier.
If you act first, you have less information, so you should be more careful about which hands you play.
The same hand can be strong when you act last and weak when you act first; context matters.
The four key positions in a game of poker are known as:
Early Position
Early position means you’re one of the first players to act before the flop. Because most of the table still has to decide for you, it’s best to stick to strong starting hands here, big pairs and your best ace-king type hands. Think of it like driving in heavy traffic: you leave less room for risk and keep things tight.
Middle Position
The middle position sits between early and late. You can open up a little because fewer players are left to act behind you, but you still need to be sensible. Add a few more playable hands to your mix, especially ones that can make strong pairs or good draws, and be ready to slow down if there’s a lot of action after you.
Late Position
Late position covers the seats near the dealer button, including the button itself. This is the most comfortable spot because you usually act last. You can play more hands here and use the extra information to decide whether to bet, call, or fold. In simple terms, late position lets you pick better spots and put pressure on opponents who have already shown weakness.
The Blinds (Small Blind/Big Blind)
The blinds are the two seats that post forced bets before the cards are dealt. When you just call from the blinds, you’ll have to act first after the flop, which is tougher. Don’t feel obliged to "defend" every time, choose hands that can make solid pairs or strong draws, and if someone raises big, either fold the weak stuff or re-raise with hands you’re happy to play for more chips.
Actioning Your Starting Hand
You’ve looked down at your cards, now it’s about turning them into a plan.
The Action Before You
Start by reading what’s already happened. If everyone has folded to you, take the lead with a raise when your hand is strong or plays well after the flop. If one or two players have limped in, an isolation raise with something like nines can clear out the crowd and give you position against a single opponent.
When someone has already opened, think about who they are and where they opened from: a tight raise from early position deserves respect, so folding K-Q offsuit can be the smart move; a cutoff open is lighter, so re-raising with A-Q suited on the button is often a strong reply.
Stack Sizes And Why They Matter
Next, weigh the stacks in play. "Effective stack" just means the smallest stack between you and the other player, because that’s the most you can win or lose against them. Deep stacks reward hands that can make big, hidden hands, suited connectors like 7-6 suited rise in value when you can afford to see a flop in position.
With short stacks, fancy draws drop off and simple strength wins more often: big pairs and big aces become the workhorses, while speculative hands you’d happily call with at 100 big blinds are often easy folds at 25.
Basic Actions
- Fold: Your most profitable button over the long run. Toss the marginal hands in bad spots, especially out of position or facing strength.
- Call: Use when your hand plays well multiway or realises equity post-flop (suited aces/connectors), and when your position offsets your opponent’s range advantage. Don’t default to calls from the blinds with weak offsuit hands; you’ll pay later.
- Raise (Open or Isolation): Build pots with value, thin the field, and keep initiative. Size your opens consistently (e.g., 2.2-3x the big blind in cash games) and go a touch larger over limpers.
- Re-Raise (3-Bet/4-Bet): With premiums, go for value; with select bluffs (suited wheel aces, some suited connectors), target opponents who open too wide and fold too much. When called, you still have position or playability to fall back on.
The best starting hands in poker give you a head start, but the real win comes from pairing them with smart position choices and sharp pre-flop decisions.
Premium pairs build value; suited broadways pressure ranges; speculative suited cards come alive with position and depth; and marginal offsuit hands usually belong in the muck.
Read the action, respect the stacks, and choose the line, fold, call, raise that fits the situation, not the ego.