Second in a series of articles showing you the value of your pocket cards in Texas Hold’em. This is not a comprehensive guide but should give a good grounding and a good starting point for beginners and a refresher for more experienced players.

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Ace-Small Kicker (Ace-9 and Below)
This is about the only hand where being suited is a significant’ advantage. Ace-4 of hearts could win a big pot; king-4 of hearts could just as easily lose one. That is, with an ace-4 of hearts and three other hearts on the flop (or board) you can always be confident that you have the top flush, but with a king-4 there is a chance that your opponent will have the ace-high flush. In this case you are liable to lose all of your money. All players have some flaws in their game and my worst is to play ace-small suited too often. The fact is, if an ace comes, you can’t be certain you’ve got the best hand, and if two of your suit come, you’re still about a two-to-one underdog to make your flush. Nevertheless, this is one of the few hands, when on occasion the flush does come, where you can move your chips to the centre, confident that you have the nuts.
Ace-small kicker unsuited is a trash hand in a full game.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t stop many people playing it. However, in a short-handed game, especially in the latter stages of a tournament (a full explanation of tournament play is provided in Chapter 8), it becomes worth a lot more.

Two Cards 10 or Higher
These are hands such as king-queen, king-jack, queen-jack, jack-10 etc. Indiscriminate play of these hands will cost you a lot of money in the long run. King-queen suited is a lot better than king-10 offsuit, but a lot of players treat them as virtually the same hand. King-queen gives you two chances to flop top pair whereas king-10 gives you only one chance. In addition, if you flop a pair of kings to your K -10 you cannot be confident about your kicker. Much as Doyle Brunson hates ace-queen, I hate king-10 (and king-9).
I would rather have a jack-10 suited than a king-10 offsuit in most situations because you’ll probably get into less trouble! Of course, in a short-handed game this is not necessarily the case, as, if you are contesting a pot with a small number of players, high cards tend to dominate. The reasoning here is that if you hold a king and a jack as your starting cards and there are nine other players, you are very unlikely to hold the best hand. But if you hold the same king and jack against only one other player, the chances are good that you have the best hand.

Straight and Flush Cards
Every time you play a 10-9 of diamonds or a 6-4 of spades, you are silently willing the words ‘flush’ or ’straight’ as the dealer turns the flop. Sadly, these desires rarely materialise but when they do, you can be handsomely rewarded. But are they always worth playing?
Against a number of players, possibly. For example, if you are sitting on the button with something like a 9-8 suited, and there has been a raise and two calls before the action has reached you, you might consider taking the flop (i.e. calling to stay in the game). There is plenty of money in there already and you have a chance of winning a big pot. But don’t take this too far. Don’t use the excuse that two players have already called to justify putting your money in with say, a 10-5 suited. It’s just not worth it. And, similarly, if there is a raise and no callers before your turn to act, most, if not all, of these hands should be folded! You’re just too far behind and there’s not enough incentive.

Worthless Starting Hands
Basically, everything not covered already falls into this category. Such hands as J -5 offsuit or a 4-2 are total garbage and should never be played.