The Best Texas Hold’em Hands by Winning Percentage

If you’ve ever played Texas Hold’em you already know how important starting hand selection is.

I’ve found that lack of hand strength knowledge is the #1 reason that beginning poker players lose.

The problem is that most starting hand guidelines are all based on opinion and there certainly isn’t a shortage of those.

What if there was a way to rank Texas Hold’em hands simply by strength and winning percentage? What if you could take opinion out of the equation?

That’s what I developed in these charts and what you can use to make better decisions at the tables. Each one is based on simulations of at least 10 million hands.

These numbers tell you the exact long-term winning percentage of every hand in Hold’em against specific numbers of opponents holding random cards.

Here’s the bottom line:

I believe that long-term average winning percentage is the perfect way to rank starting hands in Texas Hold’em. No arbitrary bias, no adjustable strategy; simply the raw metrics of the game.

Why random cards?

One interesting key you should keep in mind is the simulations I ran to get these numbers are based on opponents holding random cards.

Why random cards? Because that’s the only way to run a fair simulation without bias.

Here’s the deal:

You and I might realistically know that pocket Aces are almost never going to play to a showdown against 7-2 offsuit, but if you try to limit simulations to hands that are likely to meet you’ve introduced opinion to data.

If I’m just giving opinions I can make an opinion-based starting Hold’em hand chart and be done with it. That’s been done to death and I’m not terribly interested in repeating it.

These charts won’t tell you, “Play this hand and not this one,” but they’ll rank which hands win more than others statistically. You’ll learn why hands are as strong as they are.

That’s pretty powerful, right?

Printable PDF of all my hand rankings

This is an 8.5 x 11-inch PDF of every Hold’em hand strength chart I’ve calculated. I’ve also formatted it as a color-coded “heat map” so you can easily see which class any given hand is in by its cell color.

It is sized to print perfectly on one sheet of paper, making it handy to live in front of your monitor and serve as a non-verbal guilt-maker for playing that 4♣-3♥ with a black rating.

Note: If sitting in front of your monitor and next to you mouse it can also serve as a dried hummus catcher, coaster, and scrap paper for writing random phone numbers down when your phone won’t let you switch to Notes during a voicemail. I know it happens to you, too.

Click the image below to view/download the PDF.

Hold’em Starting Cards

The following chart contains every 2-card possible combination you can be dealt in Texas Hold’em. The hands are arranged by largest hole card with a separate section for pocket pairs.

Each hand will be followed by its long-term winning percentage (out of 100) against a specific number of opponents holding random cards. I believe that is the most logical way to rank overall poker hand strength.

It may be obvious, but look at how every starting hand wins less against more opponents. Statistics are telling you why you need to isolate with premium hands.

Every Texas Hold’em Poker Hand by Winning Percentage

These charts show the average winning percentage (its equity) of every Hold’em hand at showdown. To find a specific hand’s ranking look it up by its largest card. Unless noted, unpaired cards are unsuited. Suited cards add an average winning percentage of 3-4%.

Average Winning Percentage (out of 100) with Pairs

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
AA	85	73	64	56	49	43	39	35
KK	82	69	58	50	43	38	33	29
QQ	80	65	54	45	38	33	28	25
JJ	78	61	49	40	34	29	25	22
1010	75	58	45	36	30	25	22	19
99	72	54	41	33	26	22	19	17
88	69	50	38	29	24	20	18	16
77	66	46	34	26	21	19	16	15
66	63	43	32	25	20	17	15	14
55	60	40	29	22	19	16	14	13
44	57	37	25	21	17	15	14	13
33	54	34	24	19	16	15	14	13
22	50	31	22	18	16	14	13	13

Winning Percentage with Ace-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
AK (suited)	67	51	41	35	31	28	25	23
AK	65	48	39	32	28	24	22	19
AQ	64	47	37	30	26	23	20	18
AJ	64	46	35	29	24	21	18	16
A10	63	44	34	28	23	20	17	15
A9	61	42	31	25	20	17	15	13
A8	60	41	30	24	19	16	14	12
A7	59	39	28	22	18	15	13	11
A6	58	38	28	21	17	14	12	11
A5	58	38	28	21	17	14	12	11
A4	56	37	27	21	17	14	12	11
A3	56	36	26	20	17	14	12	10
A2	55	35	25	20	16	14	12	10

Winning Percentage with King-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
KQ (suited)	63	47	38	33	28	25	23	20
KQ	61	44	35	29	25	21	19	17
KJ	61	43	34	28	24	20	18	16
K10	60	42	33	27	22	19	17	15
K9	58	40	30	24	20	17	14	12
K8	56	37	27	21	17	15	13	11
K7	55	36	26	21	17	14	12	10
K6	54	35	25	20	16	13	11	10
K5	53	34	25	19	15	13	11	10
K4	52	33	23	18	15	12	11	9
K3	51	32	23	18	14	12	10	9
K2	50	31	22	17	14	12	10	9

Winning Percentage with Q-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
QJ (suited)	60	44	36	30	26	23	21	19
QJ	58	41	33	27	23	20	17	15
Q10	57	40	31	26	22	19	16	14
Q9	56	38	29	23	19	16	14	12
Q8	54	35	26	21	17	14	12	11
Q7	52	33	24	19	15	13	11	9
Q6	51	32	23	18	14	12	10	9
Q5	50	31	20	17	14	12	10	9
Q4	49	30	21	16	13	11	9	8
Q3	48	29	21	16	13	11	9	8
Q2	47	28	20	15	12	10	9	8

Winning Percentage with J-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
J10 (suited)	58	42	34	29	25	22	20	18
J10	55	39	31	25	22	19	16	15
J9	53	37	28	23	19	16	14	12
J8	52	34	26	20	17	14	12	11
J7	50	32	24	18	15	12	11	9
J6	48	30	21	17	13	11	9	8
J5	47	29	21	16	13	11	9	8
J4	46	28	20	15	12	10	9	8
J3	45	27	19	15	12	10	8	7
J2	44	26	18	14	11	9	8	7

Winning Percentage with 10-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
T9 (suited)	54	39	31	26	23	20	18	16
T9	52	32	28	23	19	16	14	13
T8	50	34	25	20	17	14	13	11
T7	48	31	23	18	15	13	11	10
T6	46	29	21	17	13	11	10	8
T5	44	27	19	15	12	10	8	7
T4	43	26	19	14	12	10	8	7
T3	42	26	18	14	11	9	8	7
T2	42	25	17	13	11	9	8	7

Winning Percentage with 9-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
98 (suited)	51	36	29	24	20	18	16	15
98	48	33	25	20	17	14	12	11
97	47	31	23	18	16	13	11	10
96	45	29	21	17	14	11	10	9
95	43	27	19	15	12	10	9	7
94	41	25	17	13	11	9	7	6
93	40	24	17	13	10	8	7	6
92	39	23	16	12	10	8	7	6

Winning Percentage with 8-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
87 (suited)	48	34	27	22	19	17	15	14
87	46	31	23	19	15	13	12	10
86	44	29	21	17	14	12	10	9
85	42	27	19	15	12	11	9	8
84	40	24	18	13	11	9	8	7
83	38	22	16	12	10	8	7	6
82	37	22	15	11	9	8	6	6

Winning Percentage with 7-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
76 (suited)	46	32	25	21	18	16	14	13
76	43	29	22	17	14	12	11	10
75	41	27	20	16	13	11	10	9
74	38	25	18	14	11	10	9	8
73	37	22	16	12	10	8	7	6
72	35	20	14	11	9	7	6	5

Winning Percentage with 6-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
65 (suited)	43	30	24	20	17	15	14	13
65	40	27	20	16	13	12	10	9
64	38	25	18	14	12	10	9	8
63	36	23	16	13	11	9	8	7
62	34	21	15	11	9	8	7	6

Winning Percentage with 5-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
54 (suited)	41	29	23	19	17	15	14	13
54	38	25	19	15	13	11	10	9
53	36	23	17	14	11	10	9	8
52	34	21	15	12	10	9	8	7

Winning Percentage with 4-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
43 (suited)	38	26	20	17	15	13	12	11
43	34	22	16	13	11	9	8	8
42	33	21	15	12	10	8	7	7

Winning Percentage with 3-x

CARDS	# of Opponents
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
32 (suited)	35	24	18	15	13	12	11	10
32	31	20	14	11	9	8	7	6

 

How I calculated these hand strength numbers

The incomparable PokerStove desktop application may look like a relic from the Windows 95 days, but it’s actually invaluable for running large-scale Texas Hold’em calculations. It still works on Windows 10 and it’s quite easy to use once your eyes recover from the last-millennium GUI.

I manually set each Hold’em hand to player 1 and run separate Monte Carlo calculations of at least 10 million hands for each one against 1-8 opponents.

The results look like this for each hand, which shows how often the hand won the simulation:

I then rounded each result to the nearest percentage point and put them into a table, which is what you see above and in the PDF.

Texas Hold’em starting hands best to worst

This chart will give you the rank of Texas Hold’em hands from best to worst.

This can serve as an easy list of all hands sorted by strength rather than separated by biggest starting card.

I am including all 13 pocket pairs and 78 unique non-paired starting hands for a total of 91 hands.

Those 78 hands could be counted a second time as suited starting hands win slightly more often, but I’m omitting suited cards to be more concise.

Keep in mind that these are not recommendations or rankings for playing starting hands in real-life scenarios. This is simply ranked raw data of which Texas Hold’em hands win most against random opponent cards.

Poker Hand Strength Chart

Poker Ranking	Starting hand	# of opponents
		1	2	3
		Texas Hold'em Winning Percentage at Showdown
1	A-A	85	73	64
2	K-K	82	69	58
3	Q-Q	80	65	54
4	J-J	78	61	49
5	10-10	75	58	45
6	9-9	72	54	41
7	8-8	69	50	38
8	7-7	66	46	34
9	A-K	65	48	39
10	A-Q	64	47	37
11	A-J	64	46	35
12	6-6	63	43	32
13	A-10	63	44	34
14	A-9	61	42	31
15	K-Q	61	44	35
16	K-J	61	43	34
17	5-5	60	40	29
18	A-8	60	41	30
19	K-10	60	42	33
20	A-7	59	39	28
21	A-6	58	38	28
22	A-5	58	38	28
23	K-9	58	40	30
24	Q-J	58	41	33
25	4-4	57	37	25
26	Q-10	57	40	31
27	A-4	56	37	27
28	A-3	56	36	26
29	K-8	56	37	27
30	Q-9	56	38	29
31	A-2	55	35	25
32	K-7	55	36	26
33	J-10	55	39	31
34	3-3	54	34	24
35	K-6	54	35	25
36	Q-8	54	35	26
37	K-5	53	34	25
38	J-9	53	37	28
39	K-4	52	33	23
40	Q-7	52	33	24
41	J-8	52	34	26
42	10-9	52	32	28
43	K-3	51	32	23
44	Q-6	51	32	23
45	2-2	50	31	22
46	K-2	50	31	22
47	Q-5	50	31	20
48	J-7	50	32	24
49	10-8	50	34	25
50	Q-4	49	30	21
51	Q-3	48	29	21
52	J-6	48	30	21
53	10-7	48	31	23
54	9-8	48	33	25
55	Q-2	47	28	20
56	J-5	47	29	21
57	9-7	47	31	23
58	J-4	46	28	20
59	10-6	46	29	21
60	8-7	46	31	23
61	J-3	45	27	19
62	9-6	45	29	21
63	J-2	44	26	18
64	10-5	44	27	19
65	8-6	44	29	21
66	10-4	43	26	19
67	9-5	43	27	19
68	7-6	43	29	22
69	10-3	42	26	18
70	10-2	42	25	17
71	8-5	42	27	19
72	9-4	41	25	17
73	7-5	41	27	20
74	9-3	40	24	17
75	8-4	40	24	18
76	6-5	40	27	20
77	9-2	39	23	16
78	8-3	38	22	16
79	7-4	38	25	18
80	6-4	38	25	18
81	5-4	38	25	19
82	8-2	37	22	15
83	7-3	37	22	16
84	6-3	36	23	16
85	5-3	36	23	17
86	7-2	35	20	14
87	6-2	34	21	15
88	5-2	34	21	15
89	4-3	34	22	16
90	4-2	33	21	15
91	3-2	31	20	14

Why is poker hand strength important?

Understanding poker hand strength is one of the first key concepts new players should learn and veterans should never forget.

Recreational players (often called simply recs these days) miss this basic building block of Texas Hold’em, playing starting hands based on hunches, tilt, intoxication level, or personal grudges. If you’re playing online without the aid of a HUD (as I always do), this concept becomes even more essential to keep in mind. Be better than that. I’ll help you with these Hold’em hand charts.

You cannot be a winning Texas Hold’em player without knowing the value of starting hands relative to each other

3 observations on Texas Hold’em hand strength

• Every hand in Hold’em wins less often when played against more players.

That sounds obvious, right?

Yet players routinely slowplay their top starting hands pre-flop like pocket Aces and Kings. By doing this you’re literally inviting your winning percentage to go down.

• Mediocre hands are all a jumble of mediocre winning percentages.

Some of the most common hands that many Hold’em players stick with like KQ, J-10, or Q-J all have similar middling winning percentages.

They all have similar unremarkable hand strength, meaning that unless you have position, lots of experience, or a good read you’re probably better off not playing them at all.

• Winning poker hands are more about how you play them than the numbers.

Take, for example, the poker percentages of AK, one of the few extremely powerful hands in Texas Hold’em. Technically, it wins less than a middle pocket pair like 7-7.

Aside from all-in heads-up tournament situations A-K is a much stronger hand in real-life scenarios because real-life hands aren’t random hands staying in to showdown. Big Slick would have (should have) eliminated those weaker random hands pre-flop.

Poker winning percentages aren’t everything

Average poker winning percentages, which is what hand strength is based on, certainly aren’t everything, but it’s half of the pre-flop puzzle.

If you can have a general set of starting hand guidelines (i.e. what you’ll play from what position) that are rooted in hand strength you can make more automatic pre-flop decisions.

That will free your mind up to actually start playing your opponents and the specific table situation. Once you’ve mastered starting hand discipline you can make deviations to your rules and play a wider range of hands.

Hold’em hand rankings reinforce essential concepts, even if you don’t pay careful attention to the numbers. Limit the number of opponents with your strongest hands and realize just how few starting hands are dominant by the numbers.

If only one thing sticks with you from these charts make it that even the best hands in Hold’em have pathetic value against several opponents. Still want to slowplay those Aces pre-flop?

How many starting hands are there in Texas Hold’em?

Strangely, the number of starting hands in Texas Hold’em is somewhat subjective and the answer depends on how broad you want define the results. The commonly accepted number is 169. Here are some key numbers on starting hands:

• There are 13 pocket pairs you can be dealt as starting hands: 2-2 through A-A.
• There are 78 unpaired hands that you can be dealt in Texas Hold’em, ignoring suit (e.g. A-2, K-10, 6-2).
• Those same hands make up another set of 78 when suited (e.g. 9♥-8♥, A♣-8♣, Q♦-J♦)
• The above 3 sets of hands add up to form the common answer of 169 Texas Hold’em starting hands
• There are actually 1,326 combinations of starting hands if you count suits (e.g. A♣-A♦ and A♠-A♥ are different hands), but that is more of a “just for fun” number as suits have no value over each other in Texas Hold’em.
• As suited cards slightly increase the value of a starting hand due to their higher flush capabilities (you can see this illustrated in the poker hand strength charts) those 78 suited non-paired starting hands are counted separately from unpaired starting hands.
• However, since the increase in hand strength is minimal (never more than 3-4%) I often simplify the starting hand number down to 91 when teaching beginners the game of Texas Hold’em. It sounds a bit less daunting to spin it as, “less than 100 hands”.

What are good Texas Hold’em hands?

Look at these hand charts and notice the average winning percentages. Any hand that has a score over 80 is a premium hand and anything over about 65 are very strong hands.

That’s what these poker hand percentages are all about: telling you which hands to play pre-flop before you have any other information.

The numbers tell you they’re good hands because they simple win more often than others on average.

What to take away from hand strength rankings

Essentially, the lesson here is to hold strong starting cards and thin the field when you play a hand likely to be the favorite.

You can see the extremely low average winning poker hand percentages for commonly played hands like Q-10 or J-9 so my advice would have to be to stick to the premium hands as you learn the game.

As you gain more experience you can experiment with those lower percentage starting cards, but you’ll need to be disciplined enough to learn when to continue beyond the flop.

Every poker hand’s strength decreases against more players

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, every hand wins dramatically less when it is played against more opponents. Even the top two Hold’em hands of A-A and K-K win, on average, less than half of the pots when 4 or 5 players stay in.

Those community flops are a realistic scenario at looser USA-facing sites like Ignition Poker and Bovada Poker. Your goal should be to thin the field preflop and increase your odds of that premium hand holding up.

The hands that you want to encourage opponents with, such as low suited connectors, have such low winning expectations anyway that you’ll need huge pot odds from the extra callers to make them worthwhile.

These are essential Texas Hold’em concepts.

Poker hand strength fundamentals

Of course, the fundamentals of poker are based on proper starting hand selection so take a look at the above charts and see how the cards you play rank.

If you’re looking for more poker strategy you can check out our extensive poker strategy section or my latest mega-guide on how to stop losing at online poker.

More Resources

• Wikipedia’s statistics about Texas Hold’em starting hands
• About’s overview on starting hand strength
• PokerDope developed an amazing poker variance calculator

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