Re: Fixed Limit Omaha hi starting hands you can likely refer to basic plo ranges and hands like rainbow kk-aa, that rely on the single goal of thinning the field in plo, are folds in multiway situations. Betting and raising in big pots to protect your equity is a crucial concept in limit hold’em. This hand is a good example of that. My student 3-bet the flop and all 4 of his opponents folded! He picked up 13 small bets instantly without having to see a turn.

Fundamentals of Poker - Limit Texas Hold'emMason MalmuthTwo Plus Two Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 12

• General Guidelines
• Seven Card Stud
• Limit Texas Hold'em

There are five categories of limit hold ’em starting hands that we will discuss: Big pairs, small and medium pairs, two high cards, suited connectors, and big-little suited. Most other hands should be thrown away unless you have the big blind and the pot has not been raised.

Big pairs.

A pair of tens and higher is an excellent starting hand. With a high pair, you not only can make an even bigger hand, but also can completely miss the board — your hand does not improve — and still have a reasonable opportunity to win the pot. Obviously, the chances of winning with two aces are better than the chances of winning with two tens. In general, however, all high pairs have immediate value and should be played aggressively.

Small and medium pairs.

Holdem Starting Hands By Position

In hold ’em, as in seven-card stud, there is a big difference in strength between big pairs and smaller pairs. A hand like the

seldom wins the pot without improvement. Moreover, the odds against this hand improving to three of a kind on the flop are almost 8-to-1 (although you still can flop a straight draw).

Since small and medium pairs rarely win without improving, they have little immediate value and therefore can be classified as drawing hands. And to profitably play these hands, you need several opponents in the pot.

Two high cards.

Two unsuited high cards is usually a playable hand but not a great hand. Even though ace-king almost always should be played, a hand like the

often should be folded, especially if someone has raised. In addition, this hand must hit the flop to win in a multiway pot.

If your hand is suited, you should be more inclined to play. But remember the warning given earlier: Don’t overrate the value of two suited cards.

Suited connectors.

Hands like the

are only fair at best. And if your hand contains a gap, you cannot play it as often since your straight possibilities have decreased. This type of hand usually should be thrown away in early position, and you should not call a raise even from a late position unless many players are already in the pot.

Big-little suited.

An ace or a king with a small card of the same suit is similar in value to the suited connectors and should be played as such. Of course ace-little suited is better than king-little suited.

Starting Hand Quiz

1. What hands are you primarily interested in playing?

Big pairs and high cards, especially suited high cards.

2. How do you play these hands?

Aggressively. Almost always raise, and with the better hands, usually reraise.

3. Suppose two players are already in the pot. The first player has raised, the second has called, and you hold two kings. What should you do?

Raise again. You have a strong hand and would prefer to shut out the remaining players.

4. In what situation do small pairs play best?

In a many-handed pot.

5. When you play a small pair, what are you hoping to do?

To make three of a kind on the flop.

6. When do suited connectors play best?

When many opponents are in the pot.

7. You are in one of the blind positions, someone has raised, and there are several callers. What kind of hands should you play?

All of the good hands, plus all pairs and many of the hands that can make straights and flushes.

8. Which hand is better, ace-jack offsuit or eight-seven suited?

Normally, ace-jack offsuit is the better hand. But when a lot of players are in the pot, you would prefer to hold the eight-seven suited. In this spot, don’t overplay a hand like ace-jack.

9. If there is no raise, what hands do you call with out of the little blind?

Even though you can get in for only a partial bet, you still need to be somewhat selective. Routinely playing hands like the

eventually will prove costly. In other words, you still should discard your worst hands.

10. If someone has raised, how does this affect the hands you should play?

Generally, you need to be much more selective. Small pairs and medium suited connectors do not play well against a large pair, and when someone raises, he’s quite likely to be holding a large pair. In addition, a raise makes it doubtful that a lot of players will enter the pot. This means you will not get the implied odds — the amount of money you anticipate winning versus the amount you expect it to cost you — that many hands require to be profitable.

11. When should you play a hand like king-four suited?

When you are in a late position, several players are already in, and the pot has not been raised.

12. When you have a close decision regarding whether to play a hand, what should you consider?

In hold ’em, as in seven-card stud and all other forms of poker, you must take into account how well those opponents already in the pot play. The better they play, the less inclined you should be to go up against them.

Low Limit Holdem

Texas Holdem is the most popular poker variant. Poker is a card game in which players with fully or partially-concealed cards make wagers into a communal pot during the course of a hand, after which the pot is awarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards.

Multiplayer Poker is usually played with a standard 4-suit 52-card deck, but a joker or other wild cards may be added. The game is commonly played in card rooms (often within casinos), in private homes, and increasingly, on the Internet.

The card ranking is as follows: Ace (the highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (the lowest), Ace (this may also be the lowest card depending on the variation being used, but it is usually the highest).

How To Play Limit Holdem

There are four suits: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. No suit is higher than another. All poker hands contain five cards.

The use of Wild Cards depends on the variations and these take on whatever rank or suit the player wants these to take. A wild card can either be a separate card added like a joker or the player may specify a certain card in the standard deck to be wild like deuces, or whatever else.

The number of cards dealt is dependent on what type of game is being played.

During a given betting round, each player in turn may take one of these actions:

• Check which is a bet of zero that does not forfeit a player's interest in the pot;

• Bet or Raise which is a non-zero wager that is greater than preceding bets. All successive players must match or exceed this or else forfeit all interest in the pot;

• Call which is a non-zero bet equal to a preceding bet that maintains a player's interest in the pot; or

• Fold which is a surrender of interest in the pot in response to another player's bet, accompanied by the loss of one's cards and previous bets

Betting usually proceeds in a circle until each player has either called all bets or folded. Different poker games have various numbers of betting rounds interspersed with the receipt or replacement of cards.

Holdem Starting Hands Chart

Betting limits apply to the amount a player may open or raise, and come in four common forms:

• No Limit
  A game played with a no limit betting structure allows each player to raise any amount of his stake at any time (subject to the table stakes rules and any other rules about raising).

• Pot Limit
  A game played with a pot limit betting structure allows any player to raise up to an amount equal to the size of the whole pot before the raise.

• Fixed Limit
  In a game played with a fixed limit betting structure, a player chooses only whether to bet or not - the amount is fixed by rule. Commonly later betting rounds specify higher bets than earlier rounds.

• Spread limit
  A game played with a spread limit betting structure allows a player to raise any amount within a specified range.

Best Holdem Starting Hands

The player with the highest hand wins the game. The poker hand rankings are discussed here.