Poker is a high-pressure game which requires lots of patience, practice, skill, understanding of table positions and possible hands along with awareness of rules.
For a beginner, it will even work if only he could remember the combination of cards and their ranking which can make him win the hand.
In Poker, the minimum no. of players required is 2. Two cards are dealt face-down to each player before the first betting round, visible only to the player holding them and these cards are called Hole Cards or Pocket cards. After that 5 cards are dealt face-up by the dealer in the center of the table, visible and shared by all players to make the Best Possible Poker Hand using 2 hole cards and the 5 community cards and only 5 best cards are countable.
Lets first of all see the Poker Table Position before the preflop:
Position in Poker table is a very important aspect while playing hands. Your gameplay at a specific position can make other players fold or make them think before they call your bet. Also, the player who is sitting in late position surely has more ideas about other players cards and their hand strength. This will help them to use the actions of other players in the hand to judge what their hand strength is.
For example, if most of the players just call minimum without raising bet amount, there is a chance for the player sitting at Hijack or cut-off position to act for stealing a pot even if he/she has an average hand.
SB and BB: Small Blind and Big Blind “colored in blue in the above Poker table position” both these are the worst positions when playing Texas Holdem Poker hand.
UTG: Under the Gun, This is the early position.
MP: Middle Position
HiJack: This is the best position at the Poker table.
Cut-off: This is a late position and also a preferable position at Poker table.
Poker Hands Matrix
Let's now see the Poker Hands Matrix. It’s basically a table that helps you figure out what hands are strong that will connect when flop is dealt by the dealer and what hands are weak. Or in other words, what are the odds in your favour. This is the first and basic strategic concept that every Poker player should probably learn. For making it easier, I’ve colour coded and provided a legend of what action (play or not) each combination of your Hole cards calls for.
| AA 77% | AKs 61% | AQs 76% | AJs 70% | ATs 65% | A9s 68% | A8s 54% | A7s 47% | A6s 46% | A5s 46% | A4s 46% | A3s 46% | A2s 46% |
| AKo 58% | KK 82% | KQs 80% | KJs 75% | KTs 93% | K9s 73% | K8s 51% | K7s 51% | K6s 51% | K5s 50% | K4s 50% | K3s 50% | K2s 50% |
| AQo 76% | KQo 81% | QQ 87% | QJs 82% | QTs 81% | Q9s 81% | Q8s 74% | Q7s 74% | Q6s 71% | Q5s 70% | Q4s 70% | Q3s 70% | Q2s 70% |
| AJo 70% | KJo 76% | QJo 82% | JJ 87% | JTs 76% | J9s 79% | J8s 69% | J7s 65% | J6s 64% | J5s 64% | J4s 64% | J3s 64% | J2s 64% |
| ATo 62% | KTo 93% | QTo 81% | JTo 77% | TT 74% | T9s 74% | T8s 90% | T7s 52% | T6s 52% | T5s 52% | T4s 52% | T3s 51% | T2s 51% |
| A9o 70% | K9o 70% | Q9o 82% | J9o 80% | T9o 72% | 99 87% | 98s 67% | 97s 62% | 96s 62% | 95s 62% | 94s 62% | 93s 62% | 92s 62% |
| A8o 50% | K8o 47% | Q8o 75% | J8o 69% | T8o 89% | 98o 64% | 88 58% | 87s 39% | 86s 38% | 85s 38% | 84s 37% | 83s 37% | 82s 36% |
| A7o 42% | K7o 46% | Q7o 71% | J7o 65% | T7o 48% | 97o 58% | 87o 33% | 77 49% | 76s 29% | 75s 29% | 74s 28% | 73s 27% | 72s 27% |
| A6o 425 | K6o 46% | Q6o 71% | J6o 65% | T6o 48% | 96o 58% | 86o 33% | 76o 23% | 66 47% | 65s 27% | 64s 26% | 63s 26% | 62s 26% |
| A5o 41% | K4o 46% | Q5o 71% | J5o 65% | T5o 48% | 95o 58% | 85o 33% | 75o 22% | 65o 21% | 55 45% | 54s 25% | 53s 25% | 52s 24% |
| A4o 41% | K4o 46% | Q4o 71% | J4o 65% | T4o 48% | 94o 58% | 84o 31% | 74o 21% | 64o 19% | 540 18% | 44 44% | 43s 24% | 42s 24% |
| A3o 41% | K3o 45% | Q3o 71% | J3o 64% | T3o 47% | 93o 58% | 83o 31% | 73o 21% | 63o 19% | 53o 18% | 43o 18% | 33 42% | 32s 24% |
| A2o 41% | K2o 45% | Q2o 71% | J2o 64% | T20 47% | 92o 58% | 82o 31% | 72o 21% | 62o 19% | 52o 18% | 42o 17% | 30o 17% | 22 40% |
| s = Suited Cards i.e AKs = Ace and King of same suit. o = Off-Suit Cards i.e AKo"Ace and King but not of the same suit. |
| Definitely Play | Can Play | Consider Playing till flop open | Consider if other do not raise | Consider Folding | Definitely Fold |
So that’s a short explanation about the table positions and hand matrix. I hope this article has helped you the basics of each. Stay tuned for more on card games in our future blogs.