What are the top 10 starting hands in holdem?

[Nichlemn]

All calculated rankings are by their nature inexact: the equity of your hand in a 9 or 10 way all-in or all-in versus a random hand are more or less irrelevant to typical poker situations.

88 has a higher equity than AKs (69% versus 67%) against a random hand, but much of that occurs from enormous equity against trash hands with one or two undercards that realistically aren't going to be in your opponent's range except in particularly shortstacked situations.

Similarly, the high weighting of suited cards in 9 way situations emerges from the higher hand strength required to win such a pot, but the high likelihood of folds reduces this advantage.

The best starting hands are the ones that have the greatest equity against the range your opponents will play, combined with the degree of implied odds that exist with that hand (which I think of as how all-in equity compares to expected postflop winnings). Also position may change the ranking of some hands: a hand that is highly position sensitive may be better on the button than another hand, but that hand is better than the former in the small blind (maybe KJs compared to a low pocket pair).