Based on this - there are 169 nonequivalent starting hands in hold'em, which equates to 13 pocket pairs, 78 suited hands and 78 unsuited hands. Each of these hands has an equivalent ranking based on the odds of winning. Further details can be found in my sources. I hope this helps and good luck. If there are three of a kind on the table (community cards) in a Texas Holdem game that are used by two or more players to make a full house, then we would look at the strength of the pair to determine a winner. FLUSH: Flush Cards: NA: A flush is any hand with five cards of the same suit. Of the 1,326 combinations, there are 169 distinct starting hands grouped into three shapes: 13 pocket pairs (paired hole cards), 13 × 12 ÷ 2 = 78 suited hands and 78 unsuited hands; 13 + 78 + 78 = 169. The relative probability of being dealt a hand of each given shape is different.

I’ve been asked by a new player to explain how I got to 169 possibilities of starting hands from a previous page. Good question!

In Texas Hold’em poker there are 2,652 possible starting hands. The way that you first get all the possible starting hands is to take the number of cards (52) and multiply that by 51 times.

Remember that the first 2 cards that can be dealt can be anything from the deck. Out of these 2,652 combinations, there may not be different hands though, because the same two cards dealt in two different orders are still the same hand. In the following two examples, you can see that the cards are equal and that there aren’t any differences. Kind of reminds you of algebra in school, huh?

is EQUAL to

is EQUAL to

That reduces the number of hands, 2,652 down by half or 2,652/2 = 1,326.

Still with me? Good.

Now, out of the 1,326 hands, thinking of the samples above, there is a lot of duplication in VALUE of the hands.

The following hands are all equal in VALUE:

is EQUAL to is EQUAL to

Okay, have you digested that? Good. One last thing. Because of the possibility of getting a flush, cards like the following are NOT equal:

is NOT EQUAL

This is because the first two cards have a chance at making a flush and the second two cards not do not have a chance for making a flush.

We need to get the total number of possibly suited starting cards from this bunch so that would be 13 x 12 /2 for a total of 78.

Continuing on, there should be 78 possible suited starting cards and 78 possible non-suited starting cards and 13 possible pairs for a total of 169 cards.

So looking at it this way, there are 169 possible starting hands in this game. Hopefully I answered the question without making it too confusing.

Any questions? Comments? Please drop me a line and check out the other posts and blog on this site!

Thanks for taking the time to visit and for more information or to get back to the beginning of the blog, go here.

Both before and after the flop in any limit Holdem game, it is helpful to be able to make a reasonably accurate estimate of the types and numbers of playable hands that you are likely to be competing against.

Much of your decision making involves the business of 'putting' opposing players 'on their hands' (or in other words, figuring out what cards they are playing). Experienced Holdem players are often very good at this. An understanding of the types of hands that are most likely to be against you helps prevent both underestimating and overestimating your competition.

Here are some stats that are based on the total possible combinations of various Holdem hole cards that are normally playable.

For better viewing on your mobile device (or to download or print the chart), check out holdem hole card frequencies in high resolution universal .pdf format.

How Many Possible Texas Holdem Hands Are There Now

The five different types of two card Hold'em hands highlighted here are those that are most commonly played. They are not shown in any particular order and within the groups are powerful hands that are almost always played, down to marginal value hands that can be played under certain betting conditions.

The rest of the hands, shown as All Others, are all the very weak hands that most players hardly ever play.

Pairs - All pairs. AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22

Two High Cards Suited - AK(S), AQ(S), AJ(S), A10(S), KQ(S), KJ(S), K10(S), QJ(S), Q10(S), J10(S)

How Many Possible Texas Holdem Hands Are There Time

Two High Cards Unsuited - AK, AQ, AJ, A10, KQ, KJ, K10, QJ, Q10, J10

Medium and Low Suited Connectors - These include both no-gap and one-gap connectors: J9(S), 109(S), 108(S), 98(S), 97(S), 87(S), 86(S), 76(S), 75(S), 65(S), 64(S), 54(S), 53(S)

How Many Possible Texas Holdem Hands Are There Every

Ace and Non-High Combinations - A9, A8, A7,A6 Note: 25% of these 64 combinations (16) are suited. 75% of the 64 combinations (48) are unsuited.