Hand Percentages

All too often you see beginning poker players over value their face cards and then are completely stunned when they don't hold up. This ignorance is also seen in some intermediate players. Many books tell you never to fall in love with any hand and hands like TT, JJ, KJ, etc aren't as strong as they appear to be. These books might also include simple charts you can read to figure out the real value of your starting hand. In the attached picture I have conducted my own research and laid out the real values of these hands facing a variety of opponents.

The cart is simple to read. The first column states the hand that you are dealt. The next column indicates the starting strength of the hand. In the remaining columns named (10, 9, 8, 6, 5, and 2) are the win ratios of these hand's preflop against the listed amount of opponents.

For example, you are dealt AJ off suite in a 6 person table are are first to act. The starting strength of your hand is 90%, but against 6 opponents in a showdown you will win 26% of the time. This makes this hand an easy fold unless you have control over your table or facing a tight table in which a raise will chase most opponents out.

In the future I look to explore other starting hands such as small pairs and suited connectors. I hope you find this chart useful.