The No Limit Paradigm

[ama0330]

I think this post is excellent but there was one thing I wanted to query:

[ QUOTE ]
We want hands that have a high expected value postflop. That is, we want a hand that has the potential to make a very strong holding or no holding at all. Examples of these kinds of hands include: 22-JJ/AK/45s-KQs/All Axs

These hands carry high implied odds and have the ability to make very strong holdings such as sets/straights/flushes and full houses.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not every hand can make a straight or a flush but every hand can make the nuts. The reason you play one hand over another is that some hands can make far more combinations of strong hands than others. For example, 72o can make the nuts on a 772 board (or a 777 board or a 222 board) and no other, but hands like 87s T9s can make a huge number of mid to nut strength hands (ie hands which you will happily felt) on many boards. I know that you know what I mean, but just for clarity, a big part of choosing a starting hand is its flexibility, as well as other factors like deception, draw strength etc etc.