An Introduction to Poker Hands
Poker fans are all very familiar with the term ‘poker hands’ but have you heard of premium poker hands? Do you know what those are? If you aren’t aware, then there are no problems at all because that is the topic, we will be looking at today. The significance of poker hand rankings cannot be stressed upon enough. However, it is these five cards you hold that will bring you the prize. From the rarest Royal Flush to the most common High Card, we are all familiar with the 10 different poker hand rankings. But do you know how to get there? It is only gradually that a five-card poker hand is made. So, what is important here is to have the best poker starting poker hands.
What are Premium Poker Hands?
When you hear someone talk about premium poker cards, what they are referring to is for someone to have the most reliable preflop hand. Ultimately, it is these initial cards that help create the best hand and thus win at the showdown since they act as bases for your game. Players must receive the best hand possible during the preflop as it puts you at a position of advantage for the rest of the round and the entire game in general.
Talking about the No-Limit variant of Texas Hold’em, there are 169 unique starting poker hands. These consist of 13 different pocket pairs inclusive of deuces up to aces. 78 suited and unsuited hands are also a part of this list. Considering each of the suited hands as distinct hands on the bases of the four suits, we get 1,326 total different possibilities.
Which are these Premium Poker Card combinations?
You would have often heard it being said that pocket aces are always your best bet in terms of starting poker hands. So, that is one premium hand combination you are already aware of. Pocket kings, pocket queens, pocket jacks, ace-kings suited, pocket tens, ace-king off-suit, ace-queen suited, pocket nines, ace-jack suited are all qualified to be the best poker starting hands. 169 poker hands may seem simpler to understand than 1,326 possibilities, but it is still a lot. This is why you will see poker players resort to segregating them in categories like weak, average and premium cards or names similar to those.
Why are Premium hand combinations important?
Naturally, there being so many different poker variants, each player has his preferences. Some are more comfortable than others as to which hands they would want to be dealt with at the preflop. This comes down to personal convenience and experience. However, for the most part, the consensus among players is that the top 10% of poker starting hands make up the premium holdings. Premium poker hands are also calculated on the bases of their positions. Stack sizes and the number of players in the game are also factors for consideration.
A truly proper and universal premium hands would probably be the one you could open from all positions such as pocket tens of suited aces since they give you plenty to work with as the game progresses. These hands have a reputation of being profitable towards the end of the game as they can be used to battle against the aggressive three-bets. That being said, who would not love to start with premium poker hands? Sadly, the odds of having them will generally not be in your favour as being dealt with premium cards is extremely rare.
Benefits of playing Premium Starting Poker Hands
Knowing which hand to play and when to play, it is one of the fundamentals of playing poker. Playing only premium hands drastically improves your game. For poker novices, one of the best pieces of advice would be to focus on only playing big aces, pocket pair and face cards. Your opponent will not take you lightly if you keep your eye on the perfect starting hand combination to play because by doing so, you can build a tough image.
Results of playing Premium hands
You are sure to experience a bad beat if you are rigid about playing only premium hands as your starting hand choice. Your opponent is said to have a 20% chance of winning over you if you get to the preflop holding aces against kings. This serves as proof that you need to engage in active strategies depending on where the game is heading and how it turns out to be based on your opponent’s choices. Poker is never a game of pen and paper where whatever you plan will go as it is. So, never limit yourself when the opportunity presents itself to you to play a different kind of hand.
You will notice while playing poker online that when other players also choose to employ premium hand strategies, your game will become a lot slower if you hold a big hand ready to run into another. This is particularly seen in the deeper stages of the tournament, and it is very frustrating to witness especially when you have been playing since quite a while. In such situations, you will observe plenty of flips, coolers and bad beats.
It is generally understood that time is a factor for one or more players to emerge with premium hand combinations. So, it could quickly get dry and dull for the participants waiting. To tackle this, certain players prefer to play with an open range and thus accepting hands less than premium. This is the right approach more often than not.
It is advised to raise freely and attempt to steal the pot if you see that your opponents are playing tight in anticipation of premium hands. Because if there is a takeaway from everything you have read so far, then that is the understanding that you will not often have such opening hand combinations so make the best out of what you have.
Holding premium hands should be your priority, but not a hill to die on since it limits your chances drastically. It is one of those things that you must let fate decide. If it happens, it happens; if it doesn’t, it is still okay. We hope that this helped you understand as much as you could need to know about these premium combinations. You could read more such interesting pieces on Spartan Poker to upgrade your poker knowledge. You could also download poker app and register with us to start your poker journey if you haven’t already.
