GAMBLER'$ HANDBOOK

The following is Phil Hellmuth's top ten starting hands for no limit holdem. He recommends that beginning players only play these hands. The list is ordered strongest to weakest, A-A being the strongest and 7-7 the weakest starting hands.

Because these hands are truely the premium starting hands of poker, you can be confident that you likely have a strong advantage pre-flop. You should also feel comfortable playing these hands very aggressively pre-flop. As a minium you should call bets and raises. You should be raising pre-flop with A-A to 10-10.

How you play on the flop should depend on what comes out and how other players are betting. You'll get better at this with experience.

While these are premium hands pre-flop, they are not guaranteed to be the best hand by showdown. To increase the odds of still holding the best hand by showdown you need to try to cut down the number of players going to the flop. A-A has a much better chance against one opponent than three. This is why you should be aggressive pre-flop by raising and making the marginal hands fold, especially when there are a lot of players just limping in to see a cheap flop.

David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth

David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth developed a list of starting hands with recommended play according position.The starting hands have been listed in groups, group 1 being the strongest and group 8 being the weakest.

In early position, play groups 1-4. If the table is relatively tight then play only group 1-3. If the table is relatively loose play groups 1-5. Raise with starting hands in group 1 and 2. Re-raise with group 1. Call raises with group 1-2, if loose game then call raises with group 1-3.

In middle position, in an unraised pot play starting hands group 1 to 5. If the table is loose, you can open up to include group 6. Re-raise with group 1. Raise with group 1 to 3, if you are first in. Cold call a raise with a raise with groups 1 to 3 only.

In late position, any hand in group 1 to 9 is worth a raise if you are first in. Raise with group 1 to 3, if there are some callers. Re-raise with group 1. Cold call raises only with group 1 to 3 (depending on the player who raised). Play up group 7 if you just want to limp in.

In the blinds, re-raise with group 1. Call with hands you would cold call a raise with in late position. Can re-raise out small blind with group 1 to 6 if you think the button is trying to steal the blinds. Limp in with groups 1 to 6.

Sklansky's starting hands are a little more complicated and will expose you to more risks (and likely more mistakes for the beginner). In a way this good to get on a steeper learning curve but Phil Hellmuth's starting hands are definitely the safe way to start.

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Make sure you are playing at a stake level that you are comfortable with so that if you do make mistakes they won't ruin the fun of the game. Also, you won't be playing many hands with starting hand strategies like Phil Hellmuth's Top 10 starting hands. This is where the internet is great because you can play on multiple tables so you will be able to play more often. In a real-life casino poker you'll be looking at 30 hands an hour but online you can easily get 120 hands an hour if you are sitting at two tables. Remember, in the beginning don't be in too much of a rush to make huge wins consistently, you should take a survivalist approach. You mainly want to gain as much experience as possible and get up the learning curve as quickly as possible while not going broke. Good Luck!