What are the top 10 starting hands in holdem?

[heyyo2]

There are a lot of disagreeeonment on the top 10 starting hands you can have in holdem once it gets past the 4th one. For instance most sites say AA, KK, QQ, AK as the best 4 starting hands. Then some people who write articles say JJ is the 5th whereas another site has AQ as the 5th best starting hand. Then i read some ridiculous article that has KQ as the 6th and then AJ as 7th and AK offsuit as the 8th.

Personally I think Phil Hellmuths top ten starting hands
AA, KK, QQ, AKs, JJ, 1010, 99, 88, AQs and 77 is the best .

What are the top 10 starting hands? I know some people disagree with one another but having KQ and AJ both suited doesn't seem to be a top 10 hand to me. Also, what are your top 10 starting hands in Cash game versus MTT/sngs?

[jay_shark]

According to www.pokerroom.com the top ten starting hands in "limit" hold em is :

AA,kk,QQ,AKs,JJ,AQs,AK,1010,AQ,99

The top 10 starting hands should be the top ten in any format .

[Vetgirig]

If all ten players on a table go all-in preflop the following hands is the 10 best hands to have in the following order - the following is thus the best hands in a multiway situation:

AA KK QQ AKs JJ AQs KQs AJs TT AKo

Since all players go all-in, suited hands get high values because of the chance to hit a flush.

PS AA wins 309 times out of 1000 and AKo wins 163 times out of 1000 while KQs actually wins 177 times out of 1000.

[RustyBrooks]

When I did simulations a while back I saw some slight differences in rankings when you started reducing the number of players. I'd have to go back and look again to remember what they are and possibly they did not affect the highest 10.

[jay_shark]

I double checked and noticed that kqs ranks above a-q0 and below pocket 10's .

[heyyo2]

what would be the top 10 starting hands in cash game?

[RustyBrooks]

Why would you expect the top 10 hands to be different in a cash game?

[JABoyd]

In general, people greatly over-value suited cards. Suited cards only outperform their unsuited cousins 3-4% of the time.

With all the money in the pot:

K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] vs. 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
8-7 suited wins 23% of the time

K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] vs. 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
8-7 unsuited wins 19% of th time

K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] vs. A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
suited A wins 32% of the time

K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] vs. A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
unsuited A wins 29% of the time

Therefore, the main strength of a hand comes from the rank of the cards, not the suitedness.

*extracted from Phil Gordon's Little Green Book

[Vetgirig]

Well the difference between 19% and 23% wins is actually 4 units of % better and thus 87s will win 21% more than 87o. So 87s is better than 87o - but the difference is more apperant in multiway hands.

Phil Gordon is correct in 2 ways:
-Many players will play any 2 cards - as long as they are of the same suit. These players chase flush draws - which is a bad idea.
- When less players are involved in a hand - high cards become more important and straight and flush draws decrease in value - one often don't get the odds to draw to them playing HU efter the flop.

[JABoyd]

[ QUOTE ]
Well the difference between 19% and 23% wins is actually 4 units of % better and thus 87s will win 21% more than 87o. So 87s is better than 87o - but the difference is more apperant in multiway hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

87s only has a 2.5% edge versus 87o heads up. Please explain where you get 21%?