Fixed limit starting hands

Texas Holdem pre-flop play from early position

This is how you select your starting hands and how you play them pre-flop when you sit at an early position at the table.

As mentioned earlier these suggestions in particular applies to a full table with 10 players and fixed limit. Applying these rules to tables with only 5 or 6 players or less including yourself will probably slowly but surely consume your money (Faster blind rotation)

It is better if you play too tightly than too loosely as a new player. By doing this you are kept away from tougher decisions and marginal hands that won´t even give hold'em pros any bigger profits in the long run. By staying away from these hands you will probably save money. Texas Holdem isn't just about maximizing winnings - you want to minimize your losses too. It is very important that you do not play bad starting hands. If you cannot keep away from doing that you will not win either. Remember that the average win only is somewhere between 1 and 3 BB/hour if you play well and this is not difficult to spend on bad starting hands and hands that are played too far!

You do not know how many players will join the betting round and how the players sitting after you will act. If you for instance make a bet with T9 offsuited (which you should get spank for) and the player to the left of you makes a raise this might lead to that most players after him fold. Due to this the odds for you will not at all be good for you as you at least can count on the fact that the other player has one good card on his hand or at least a fairly good pair (a bad player might have made a raise with bad cards but you should almost always assume that a raise means good cards). This means you will play two disadvantageous cards in a situation that will not pay off in the long run even if you flop pairs, two pairs, straights etc every now and then. The pots you win will then normally be too small to pay for the times you have screwed up.

When you spend money from an early position this should always be done on hands belonging to the strongest ones – you should even fold with many of these if somebody makes a raise. A raise is always only answered with a top quality starting hand from an early position. As a beginner you will find it hard to throw away hands you find strong (which they often are'nt!) – but you have to do this in order to win in fixed limit Hold’em. Practically everybody knows this but beginners find it hard to believe.

Pre-flop playing strategy from early position

In normal situations you make raises with these starting hands:

Question: Why should you make a raise with the above hands?

Answer: You are interested in playing your pairs and high cards against a few opponents as they then normally go on all the way. You are not afraid of raises after you as they probably will be in your favour. They tend to scare even more players away. Playing like this allows coincidence to work on fewer players so you hopefully will not risk that somebody flops two pairs of 4 and 9 etc … and at the same time the risk to be “out” after the flop is reduced. Cards in a suit manage quite well in pots where many players have joined. It is probable that you for the time being have the best hand even if somebody after you makes a raise. (You should however worry with everything below AA-KK-AK, especially if there are many re-raises).

In normal situations you make re-raises with these starting hands:

Question: Why re-raise with these starting hands?

Answer: You probably have the strongest hand in spite of the fact that an other player made a raise. Your pair is the highest and often manages all the way to showdown with a profit as a result. The high sequential cards are very strong and also manage very well in pots where many players have joined.

You call with these starting hands:

Question: Why call with these starting hands?

Answer: Perhaps you are thinking of making a raise with the pairs of medium size to make more players fold. This is however not to recommend as the only ones who will fold are the ones with low value cards. A few players with A, K etc… will stay on. Bad pot-odds and a weak hand is no success. That is why you call and hope for some help from the flop.

Fixed limit starting hands and Pre-flop playing from middle position >>>