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Starting Hand Selection
Choose a hand you can play with a plan
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Does a cheap call make a weak hand worth playing?
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At a nine-handed $1/$2 cash table, you hold 9♣3♦. A call costs $2, but later decisions can cost much more. Start with the hand, your seat and the action.
What you’ll learn
- Recognize strong, speculative and easily dominated hands
- Adjust to your seat and any raise already made
- Choose a reason to enter before paying
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The three-question starting-hand check
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1. Seat: How many players still act after me? Early position calls for more selectivity; the button can open more hands when everyone folds.
2. Action: Has someone raised? Opening an unopened pot and calling a strong raise need different hands.
From the interactive preview
Open with a reason; respond with more care
Referenced activities and other examples are available in the interactive preview.
In an unopened ordinary cash-game pot, big pairs and strong broadway hands are natural raising candidates. Suited connectors and small pairs need more attention to seat, stacks and opponents.
A weak ace can make top pair and still lose to an ace with a higher kicker: domination. Being suited helps a hand; it does not rescue every weak hand.
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