Best Starting Hands in Poker – What Are Good Hands To Play?

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Last Updated: January 6, 2024

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The best poker starting hands are big pocket pairs like AA, KK, QQ, JJ, or TT and A-high broadways such as AK, AQ, or AJ.

These hands are always good enough to play from any position, and will make up the bulk of your winning over the long term.

Since big pairs and broadways have the highest chance of winning the pot at the showdown, even without improving to a made hand, they are considered by far the best starting hands in poker.

In this article, I will analyze the top 10 of the best starting hands so you will understand why they rank so high and how to play them in the right way.

Top 10 Best Texas Holdem Starting Hands

While some people like to debate which are the best poker starting hands, the truth is that there is no art in this subject.

No matter if you like one hand above the other, it has been mathematically proven which hands are good to play and which ones should be folded without a second thought.

Thus, you should always stick to the top range of hands listed below, and you will significantly improve your results.

#1. Pocket Aces (AA)

pocket aces the best starting hand in poker

The best possible starting hand in Texas Holdem is pocket aces, which is a favorite to win against every other hand with a significant margin. It is also known as Pocket Rockets and Bullets because of its strength.

Pocket Aces has:

around 85% chance to win against a random hand
around 82% chance to beat KK
79% to beat JTs

So this hand is a massive favorite in any preflop situation, and you should be happy to get as much money in the middle as you can when holding the best poker hand there is.

#2. Pocket Kings (KK)

The second strongest of best poker hands is Pocket Kings, also commonly known as Cowboys.

The only hand you are afraid of is Pocket Aces, while you will surely dominate everything else when you have Pocket Kings. Your odds with this hand:

You have around 82% chance to win against a random hand
Around 81% chance to win against 99
A bit more than 78% to win against 98s
Around 69% probability of winning against A5

As you can see, you are in good shape with Pocket Kings against most of the hands, but the biggest threat is the opponent holding an Ax hand since it has the most chance to outdraw the second-best poker hand.

#3. Pocket Queens (QQ)

pocket queens best texas holdem starting hands

Pocket Queens is the third in the list of the best poker starting hands and beats everything else apart previously mentioned AA and KK.

Your odds of winning with Pocket Queens:

You have around 80% chance to win against a random hand
Around 81% chance to win against 77
A bit more than 78% to win against 76s
Around 69% probability of winning against A5
A bit over 56% chance to win against AK

Just like other premium pairs, Pocket Queens is a solid holding with great odds to win before the flop, so you should be looking to play this hand as fast as you can in most situations.

However, you will often see overcards on the board, and when this is the case, you should not overplay your hand since, most of the time, it becomes perfect just for bluff catching in those situations.

#4. Pocket Jacks (JJ)

The 4^th number in top starting hands is proudly sitting Pocket Jacks, also known as “fishhooks.”

While you might hear players complaining about this holding, it is actually a very strong starting hand, and you should be very happy to see it.

Your odds of winning with Pocket Jacks:

You have around 77% chance to win against a random hand
Around 81% chance to win against 77
A bit more than 78% to win against 76s
Around 69% probability of winning against A5 (or one over card)
A bit over 56% chance to win against AK (or two other over cards)

The biggest threat to Pocket Jacks is overcards, so you should be careful if you have one or more of those on the flop. That being said, this is still a very powerful hand preflop that dominates many other holdings, so you should not shy away from playing it aggressively.

#5. Ace-King Suited (AKs)

ace king suited best unpaired poker hand

The first non-paired hand in this list comes in fifth place of top starting poker hands list, and here you see Ace-King suited, also commonly known as Big Slick.

While it is surely not as strong as premium pocket pairs since you basically don’t have anything when you miss the flop, it still fairs quite well against other poker hands, especially if you manage to get your money in preflop.

Your odds with Ace King suited:

You have around 67% chance to win against a random hand
Around 48% chance to win against 77
A bit more than 61% to win against 76s
Around 73% probability of winning against A5

While it is not favorite against pocket pairs, you will always be in a close battle with those unless you happen to be against Pocket Aces or Kings. On top of that, you are ahead of all other unpaired hands, so you should be happy to put your money in the middle before even seeing the flop.

#6. Pocket Tens (TT)

Pocket Tens is in 6th place on the best poker hands list, and it is good enough to start raising for value before the flop and come over the top on aggressive opponents.

It is a strong poker hand that does necessarily need to improve to take down the pot.

However, if you see a lot of raising, 3-betting, and 4-betting before you, this is not a hand you want to put all your money in the middle with that dynamic.

Odds of winning with Pocket Tens:

You have around 75% chance to win against a random hand
Around 81% chance to win against 77
A bit more than 79% to win against 76s
Around 70% probability of winning against A5 (or one over card)
A bit over 56% chance to win against AK (or two other over cards)

It deals fairly well with lower pairs or hands with one overcard, but now there will be way more poker hands that contain two overcards to Pocket Tens, making it only a small favorite against those.

#7. Ace-King Offsuit (AKo)

ace as king offsuit as one of the best starting hands in poker

Ace Kind offsuit is the only non-paired and non-suited hand in the list of the best starting hands in poker and is ranked in 7^th place.

While it is weaker than AKs because it is way less likely to hit a Flush, it is still a very powerful holding that dominates a big part of your opponent's range.

You have around 65% chance to win against a random hand
Around 45% chance to win against 77
A bit more than 58% to win against 76s
Around 72% probability of winning against A5

If you are not up against Pocket Aces or Pocket Kings, you are in good shape no matter what your opponents are holding and are either flipping against pocket pairs or dominate their hands.

#8. Ace-Queen Suited (AQs)

Another suited hand is found in 8^th place of the best starting hands, and here you can see Ace Queen suited. It is a very good hand with plenty of postflop playability.

Your odds with AQs:

You have around 66% chance to win against a random hand
Around 48% chance to win against 77
A bit more than 61% to win against 76s
Around 72% probability of winning against A5
Just around 30% chance to win against AK

While you will hit many strong top pair hands on the flop and can make a nut flush, the biggest risk when putting all of your money in the middle is being dominated by Ace King.

Always evaluate the situation, and if your opponent is showing a lot of aggression, you can choose just to call and see the flop with this hand, especially if you have a poker position on him.

#9. Pocket Nines (99)

Pocket Nines is another strong hand in the list, and while it ranks lower than some unpaired combinations, it surely has its strength, and you should be looking to play it.

Your odds with Pocket Nines:

You have around 72% chance to win against a random hand
Around 82% chance to win against 77
A bit more than 80% to win against 76s
Around 69% probability of winning against A5 (or one over card)
You will win around 55% of the time against AK (or two other over cards)

When you have a chance, always raise with 99 preflop when you are the first player to enter the hand, and do not shy away from 3-betting or calling as well, depending on your opponent.

#10. Ace Jack Suited (AJs)

The last hand in our top 10 poker hands list is Ace Jack suited. It has similar playability as AQs but ranks lower because more hands can dominate this holding.

Your odds with Ace Jack suited:

You have around 65% chance to win against a random hand
Around 48% chance to win against 77
A bit more than 62% to win against 76s
Around 71% probability of winning against A5
Just around 30% chance to win against AK or AQ

While you will hit many good flops with this hand with either a flush draw or a top pair, the biggest risk comes on an Ace-high flop where you face a lot of resistance. While having a top pair is great, you are quite likely to be dominated by Ace King or AQ, so play those situations cautiously.

Other Good Poker Hands To Play

If you are lucky to get one of the top 10 starting poker hands, you should be looking to play those in the vast majority of cases. However, it doesn‘t mean that you should be folding everything else.

While you pretty much never should play the worst poker hands, there are still many good hands left in the deck.

The next strongest hands in line are suited, and offsuit broadways suck like KQ, QJ, and QJ and all lower pocket pairs.

These poker hands can make really strong combinations by either flopping good Top Pair hands or hitting Three of a Kind.

After those, you can add all suited Ax hands and suited connectors. While these hands are not as strong on their own, it does have the potential to win very big pots when you improve it to the nuts.

	Probability winning 1st hand	Probability winning 2nd hand
AA vs KK	82%	18%
KK vs AK	69%	31%
TT vs KQ	56%	44%
T9s vs 22	54%	46%
AJ vs 98	62%	38%
AT vs KQ	60%	40%
A8 vs J9	57%	43

Always carefully select the hands you play since it is one of the most important poker tips for beginners and even more advanced players.

Best Starting Hands In Texas Holdem Poker

I hope you have a full understanding of what beats what in poker and T exas Holdem rules, so we can wrap up preflop strategy and hand selection.

As you know already, the best hand preflop is pocket aces (AA). Unfortunately, you will get that just 1 in 221 times or just around 0,45% of the time.

Therefore, waiting just for premium holdings is not always an option, and you need to have a different plan for both tournaments and cash games.

Luckily, I already created a list of poker hands that you should be playing from various positions and included different ranges for MTTs and cash games. If you want to see it, just grab my poker cheat sheet, and you will be ready to join the action in your games.