These texas hold'em poker hand stats were graciously compiled and given out by PokerRoom, a major online poker site. Thus, these stats are compiled from live table data instead of hand simulations. I recommend you print this out and tape it to your wall if you need help with starting poker hands. One thing to remember is that these poker hands are statistically based and not mathematically based, which means that this data is based from live texas hold'em table results. If you play your poker hands different from the average poker player, then your EV for different hands may differ by only a little or a lot.

Statistical Rankings of Hole Cards

David Sklansky's texas hold'em starting hands from the book Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players is considered a standard in the poker world. However, these charts were created by Sklansky without any definitive proof of why certain hands were better - they simply were.

With this poker hands EV chart, you now have statistical rankings of how good each hold'em hand is. By only playing hands that have profitable long-term value, you will greatly increase your ability at texas hold'em. Please remember however, that this is a compilation of EV for the average player, while the average player may not play the same as yourself.

You will still need to play your poker hands accordingly, which means you need to observe your opponents, take notes, watch out for traps and calculate your odds. You need to play your hand as the situation dictates and not get married to a hand, just because it is a long term winner. Remember: texas hold'em is all about knowing when to fold'em as well.

Position Affects Your Hand Value

The most important aspect to focus on in this ranking chart is to notice the value of position when it comes to your hand. In texas hold'em, position is a huge advantage, where you want to be closest to the button as possible, the button being the last person to act.

When you are in positions like the SB (small blind) and BB (big blind), you can see that your poker hand EV drops significantly in hold'em. This is due to the fact that often in these positions, you end up betting or calling with hands that are much weaker than you normally would have played with. In addition, people behind you get to see the action last, so they are in better positions to perform tricky moves or steal the pot if necessary. This is why many texas hold'em experts say that if you observe a game, that money tends to flow toward the direction of the button.

What this means, is that you want to tighten up your poker hand selection early on in the game and drop questionable hands like KT, QT, JT, T9 and possibly even KJ or QJ in early position. You can see for yourself on the EV chart that these poker hands will lose you money in the long run in texas hold'em. In late position, you can relax your starting hand selection to include these cards however. You can also begin playing pocket pairs a bit more liberally in late position.

Starting hands are the key to success in texas hold'em

You might think that starting hands in poker is all about getting big cards and winning with them. That's only half the story. The other half of the story is avoiding getting yourself into situations where you call down with weak cards.

If you've played poker already, you'll probably nod your head in agreement when I relate the situation of being in the big blind, catching top pair on the flop with a weak kicker, calling the turn, then calling the river even when you really don't want to and find yourself out kicked. It happens all the time - so the key is to let it happen to your opponents, not you. A bet saved is a bet earned, always remember that.

The starting poker hand ranking charts is as follows:

Total EV stats ordered by value

Cards EV Count AA 2.32 521,324 KK 1.67 522,652 QQ 1.22 520,663 JJ 0.86 521,866 AK s 0.78 348,364 AQ s 0.59 348,759 TT 0.58 520,705 AK 0.51 1,048,008 AJ s 0.44 348,126 KQ s 0.39 346,772 99 0.38 522,454 AT s 0.32 348,013 AQ 0.31 1,042,962 KJ s 0.29 346,582 88 0.25 521,972 QJ s 0.23 348,870 KT s 0.20 348,774 A9 s 0.19 348,992 AJ 0.19 1,045,857 QT s 0.17 346,115 KQ 0.16 1,045,069 77 0.16 524,345 JT s 0.15 348,235 A8 s 0.10 349,431 K9 s 0.09 348,286 AT 0.08 1,047,289 A5 s 0.08 348,544 A7s 0.08 349,949 KJ 0.08 1,047,098 66 0.07 520,946 T9 s 0.05 348,264 A4 s 0.05 347,862 Q9 s 0.05 348,760 J9 s 0.04 349,965 QJ 0.03 1,044,338 A6 s 0.03 347,677 55 0.02 521,945 A3 s 0.02 347,895 K8 s 0.01 350,401 KT 0.01 1,045,392 98 s 0.00 348,759 T8 s -0.00 347,443 K7 s -0.00 348,341 A2 s 0.00 347,318 87 s -0.02 348,348 QT -0.02 1,047,827 Q8 s -0.02 348,381 44 -0.03 523,398 A9 -0.03 1,047,672 J8 s -0.03 348,046 76 s -0.03 347,540 JT -0.03 1,043,812 97 s -0.04 350,158 K6 s -0.04 347,029 K5 s -0.05 349,320 K4 s -0.05 348,681 T7 s -0.05 347,638

Cards EV Count Q7 s -0.06 348,073 K9 -0.07 1,045,630 65 s -0.07 348,590 T9 -0.07 1,045,306 86 s -0.07 348,374 A8 -0.07 1,042,209 J7 s -0.07 345,009 33 -0.07 522,632 54 s -0.08 348,260 Q6 s -0.08 349,068 K3 s -0.08 348,865 Q9 -0.08 1,049,468 75 s -0.09 349,781 22 -0.09 524,131 J9 -0.09 1,044,150 64 s -0.09 349,689 Q5 s -0.09 350,110 K2 s -0.09 349,276 96 s -0.09 349,514 Q3 s -0.10 348,009 J8 -0.10 1,046,506 98 -0.10 1,044,759 T8 -0.10 1,048,779 97 -0.10 1,046,152 A7 -0.10 1,046,587 T7 -0.10 1,044,950 Q4 s -0.10 348,979 Q8 -0.11 1,048,251 J5 s -0.11 348,923 T6 -0.11 1,043,014 75 -0.11 1,047,447 J4 s -0.11 347,508 74 s -0.11 350,325 K8 -0.11 1,048,167 86 -0.11 1,047,524 53 s -0.11 346,930 K7 -0.11 1,043,698 63 s -0.11 346,449 J6 s -0.11 347,570 85 -0.11 1,048,159 T6 s -0.11 348,875 76 -0.11 1,046,722 A6 -0.12 1,046,762 T2 -0.12 1,047,032 95 s -0.12 348,477 84 -0.12 1,046,266 62 -0.12 1,049,495 T5 s -0.12 348,928 95 -0.12 1,044,601 A5 -0.12 1,046,285 Q7 -0.12 1,046,099 T5 -0.12 1,048,428 87 -0.12 1,044,635 83 -0.12 1,048,550 65 -0.12 1,045,971 Q2 s -0.12 348,912 94 -0.12 1,047,422

Cards EV Count 74 -0.12 1,043,278 54 -0.12 1,046,435 A4 -0.12 1,046,931 T4 -0.12 1,047,976 82 -0.12 1,043,638 64 -0.12 1,043,079 42 -0.12 1,043,357 J7 -0.12 1,046,565 93 -0.12 1,045,989 85 s -0.12 347,928 73 -0.12 1,047,020 53 -0.12 1,047,022 T3 -0.12 1,043,908 63 -0.12 1,044,818 K6 -0.12 1,045,039 J6 -0.12 1,045,991 96 -0.12 1,047,156 92 -0.12 1,049,342 72 -0.12 1,046,167 52 -0.12 1,049,213 Q4 -0.13 1,045,087 K5 -0.13 1,047,359 J5 -0.13 1,047,697 43 s -0.13 348,802 Q3 -0.13 1,047,649 43 -0.13 1,047,900 K4 -0.13 1,046,562 J4 -0.13 1,048,129 T4 s -0.13 350,639 Q6 -0.13 1,046,958 Q2 -0.13 1,046,353 J3 s -0.13 349,254 J3 -0.13 1,046,204 T3 s -0.13 349,673 A3 -0.13 1,046,970 Q5 -0.13 1,047,946 J2 -0.13 1,045,715 84 s -0.13 349,390 82 s -0.14 348,622 42 s -0.14 350,591 93 s -0.14 348,835 73 s -0.14 349,007 K3 -0.14 1,045,968 J2 s -0.14 348,259 92 s -0.14 347,868 52 s -0.14 348,401 K2 -0.14 1,048,521 T2 s -0.14 349,612 62 s -0.14 348,033 32 -0.14 1,044,956 A2 -0.15 1,047,979 83 s -0.15 349,355 94 s -0.15 348,259 72 s -0.15 348,368 32 s -0.15 349,794

The statistics are based on 115,591,080 pair of pocket cards dealt at the real money tables. The unit for EV is average profit in big bets.