Starting Hands in No-Limit

Starting hand requirements in no-limit are different from those in limit, and more murky. You'll often ignore them according to the people you're playing with and/or how loose your style is. But even loose aggressives need to tighten up occasionally and play solid poker. What two cards should you be looking for when playing tight?

Phil Gordon's Handguides provide an answer. They're duplicated from the appendix of the author's little green book but with jazzy color-coding. Gordon emphasizes that his charts should be taken with a grain of salt, for no-limit "is not a game best played by the numbers... it's a game of situations" (p 23). And the charts only show which hands are playable under the specific condition that no one has entered the pot yet.

Dan Harrington gives his version in the first volume of his hold 'em series. He goes into more depth than Gordon, presenting hand requirements under five different scenarios: (1) no one has entered the pot yet; (2) a player opened the pot with a raise; (3) a player limped into the pot; (4) a player opened the pot with a raise and another player reraised; (5) two or more players limped into the pot.

Well, they can do it, so can I. Here are my own rules -- which I break all the time. As a loose aggressive I may cheerfully enter the pot with garbage and try to maneuver my opponents after the flop. But when I need to wind down and play tight, they serve as a general guide, especially when I don't know the players well. I'll consider four scenarios at a full (9-10 player) table.

1. No one has entered the pot yet.

AA, KK, QQ -- Raise 2-3x from any position. Sometimes limp with aces to trap, if the table is tight enough.

JJ -- Raise 4-5x from third position on. Limp from earlier positions.

TT -- Raise 4-5x from fourth position on. Limp from earlier positions.

99 -- Raise 3-4x from fifth position on. Limp from earlier positions.

88, 77 -- Raise 3-4x from sixth position on. Limp from earlier positions.

66, 55, 44 -- Raise 3-4x from the button on. Limp from earlier positions.

33, 22 -- Raise 3-4x from the small blind. Limp from earlier positions.

AK -- Raise 3-5x from any position.

AQ -- Raise 3-5x from third position on.

AJ -- Raise 3-5x from fourth position on.

AT -- Raise 3-5x from fifth position on.

A9 -- Raise 3-5x from sixth position on.

A8 -- Raise 3-5x from the button on.

Face Cards (KQ, KJ, QJ) -- Raise 3-5x from sixth position on.

Face-Tens (KT, QT, JT) -- Raise 3-5x from the button on.

Ax suited, Kx suited -- Limp from any position (though raise if x is high enough, per the above), or from late positions if the table is very aggressive.

Connectors -- Limp from any position (though raise if the connectors are high enough, per the above), or from late positions if the table is very aggressive.

I assign pocket pairs positions based on the likelihood that any remaining player to act will have a higher pocket pair. If that percentage is higher than 10% it's not a raising hand. Raising too high with aces, kings, and queens may discourage action, and sometimes I'll even limp with aces (though not kings and queens) to trap my opponents if the table is tight enough. Jacks and tens are a different story. Those I play very aggressively, because the likelihood that an overcard (ace, king, or queen) will fall on the flop increases and I want to limit the competition. With 9s and below I'm really hoping to make a set (three of a kind).

With aces I loosen my kicker requirements progressively down to 8. Some experts consider A8 the cut-off for playable aces, since A7-A2 are in the bottom half of ace-hands and easily dominated; anyone playing a higher ace is probably going to cream you. For that matter, you have to be careful with any kicker below Q. Even as a loose aggressive I'm religious about not playing AJ-A8 earlier than from the positions I've assigned (not even to limp). Ditto with face cards and face-tens -- big-time trouble hands for beginners. The trouble with medium aces and face cards is that they usually win small or lose big. I'd rather play a garbage hand like 86 than AT from early position.

As for limping (calling) hands: I love medium/small pairs, suited aces/kings, and connectors. They rarely hit the flop (and should be folded in the face of a raise), but when they do hit they hit mighty hard. Sets, flushes, and straights are the best trapping hands.

2. One player opened the pot with a raise.

(a) The raiser is tight.

Using the gap concept, I call with any hand I would open the pot with (by raising) from the raiser's position. I reraise 2-3x with any hand I would open the pot with (by raising) from before the raiser's position.

(b) The raiser is loose.

I simply reraise 2-3x with any hand I would open a pot with (by raising) from my own position. As Harrington says, the gap concept doesn't apply to loose players who often move with marginal hands (like me!).

3. One player opened the pot with a raise, and another player reraised.

I reraise 2-3x with AA and KK, call with QQ, and fold everything else (even AK). I'm not going to get involved with anything other than the very best -- unless both players are complete maniacs.

4. Two or more players limped into the pot.

If only one player has limped, I usually act as I would if no one has entered the pot (assuming the limper isn't tricky-tight who might be trapping). But if I have two or more limpers in front of me, I adjust my play accordingly.

AA-TT -- Raise 4-5x the big blind.

99-22 -- Limp.

AK, AQ -- Raise 3-5x the big blind.

Ax suited, Kx suited -- Limp.

Connectors -- Limp.

Nothing else is worth playing. Medium aces and face cards are usually trouble here, because there are too many people who can connect with the flop in weird ways. With big pairs, AK, and AQ you have to raise hard to drive at least some limpers out of the pot. With small pairs, Ax suited, Kx suited, and connectors, you can only limp, but that serves you in the long run: the pay-off is huge when you make a set, straight or flush; the more people in the pot, the merrier.

Let me stress again that these are my general guidelines for tight-aggressive play (and at a full table) when the occasion demands. When I'm playing loose, familiar with my opponents, or at a table with five players or less, all of this goes out the window. But it's good enough advice for beginners, as are the variations offered by Phil Gordon and Dan Harrington.