Starting hands

Ive been having trouble switching gears as players are eliminated from SnGs
just wondering if anyone could provide a starting hands chart or guide for each number of people at a table
ie 10-handed: AA, KK, QQ, AK,...
9- handed: above plus JJ TT or whatever
etc etc
just looking for a guide to follow in order not to get too loose or tight

-ChuckTs

Well, I know that Pre-Flop Mistakes Part I in the Articles section has a chart of sorts, but it's not player specific (i.e. for full or short-handed). I would like to see a chart for short handed play also.

a Really good book that you should read is Harrington on Hold'em Volume 1.

I can recap a little of what he says, but it is completely based on your style of play, and the play of the SNG you're in. If you're playing against a bunch of loose/aggressive players, you're obviously going to want to play tight and very selective. Against those loose/aggressives you'll throw away nearly everything in early position aside from AK, AKs, AA-JJ. In MP you'll play the big suited broadways as well, and occassionally limp in with the smaller pairs if the pot hasn't been raised. Your options grow slightly in LP, but not much. Big suited connectors like 9-10 and 10-J can be limped in with.


If you're playing against a feild of tight/weak players, then you should certainly open up your starting hands greatly. If no one is callign with anything but AA, KK QQ or AK, then playing hands like KTs or QJo from early position on a raise isn't a bad idea. Basically, against a group of tightwads, you have to play super aggressive.

well this i know; tight table - loosen up
loose aggressive table - tighten up
i mostly play the proper hand selection, but once in a while i'll cross the line, and i want a guide that will keep me in check
i think i'm going to write my own up on scrap paper to refer to during games.
i just need something to go by as a template for my hand selection in order not to get too crazy or tight, as recently i've made some pretty crazy calls based mostly upon opponents crazy play

Its really hard to make a set list... I can try, but it'd be rough...card selection is based on position, as well as number of people in the game, as well as chip stacks, etc..


I guess you could start like this:

EP: Raise with AA-QQ, AKs AKo. Limp in with JJ-88 AQs-ATs. Tend to fold anything else.

MP: Raise with AA-TT AKs, AKo AQs. Limp in with any Pocket pair, and suited connectors. Fold to a raise from EP unless you have AA-JJ or AK(suited or not)

LP:Raise with any AA-66, AKs-ATs Any suited big broadways if there has not been a raise. Limp in with Any two paint unsuited, 55-22, any suited connectors better than 4-5, and Call a raise with any PP, AKs AK. Play on EP hands if facing a raise and reraise.

good stuff but thats just full table
i think im just gonna make my own based on # of players at the table - i'm making this basically for 10 person SnGs so i can adjust while players get eliminated - all the way down to HU

thanks guys

yeah, its just full table...but as the table dwindles you can take some of those from MP and put them into the EP, etc. Its all really a judgement call....

The best line in a book i've ever read was in Mike Caro's book of poker tells that says something along the lines of "the only reason someone plays a hand in poker is because of a whim at that very moment" Which makes alot of sense to me.

i found a video version on limewire or something of his book - got deleted with my old HD when it busted though
hes such a madman...but incredible (video) book though

thanks for the input, styrofoam and juicee

juiceeQ said:

Well, I know that Pre-Flop Mistakes Part I in the Articles section has a chart of sorts, but it's not player specific (i.e. for full or short-handed). I would like to see a chart for short handed play also.

Click to expand...

great guide, but for limit poker...slightly different for NL in my eyes though
also one thing i don't like about hand charts is when they say call with X, Y hands
i don't like the idea of calling with weaker hands and raising with stronger ones...i might limp in with deuces or a 45s but not with something like 77 as is suggested in the link

well since you dont know this basic info maybe you should start with poker for dummies then move on to super systems.

kidkrunk said:

well since you dont know this basic info maybe you should start with poker for dummies then move on to super systems.

Click to expand...

things are a bit different in an online SNG environment. Starting hands have to change as the players go down. its not as "elementary" as you may think

This is precisely the topic that was covered in Lou Krieger's article ( I requested anyone with info on this article in poker playing a few days ago). It had a very good breakdown of several aspects of the game as players got eliminated. I'm going to look some more today and hopefully I can finally track it down. Cross your fingers Chuck, this article was a very good reference and I hope I can find it.

Gosh, I wish everyone would follow the rules of limp in with this and raise with that and fold if this person bets this amount.. I would know what was in almost everyone's hand. I would not follow that guideline at all
I guess this is why I continue to be in the red on my poker money investments.