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Part
IIIA: Rule of 26: A Quick Guide to Hand Selection
This quick guide will
give you a more comprehensive view of which starting hands that its
acceptable to play from which positions. This is a general rule
of thumb, which will be modified by your own perception of what the
in-game environment is like, but its an excellent tool to get you
started.
2=2, 3=3, 4=4, 5=5, 6=6, 7=7, 8=8, 9=9, 10=10,
Jack=11, Queen=12, King=13, Ace=14
If suited:+1, If paired: +5
From Early position, SB, BB, P7, if you add the value of your two
hole cards together, plus any suited or pair bonus, you need at least
a total of 26 to play the hand.
Example1: You have KQ suited.
K=13, + Q=12, + suited bonus=1, =total of 26. You have the
minimum acceptable hand to play from one of these positions.
Example2: You have A10 off suit. A=14, 10=10, total=24
This hand is too weak to be played from the early positions.
Example 3: You have a pair of Jacks. Jack=11, + Jack=11, + pair
bonus=5, total = 27 You can play this hand from an early
position.
From the middle positions you need 22, 23 area.
From the late positions you need 18, 19 in tournament play, if you
plan on raising from a good position with some of the weaker hands
that might be included in the 18, or 19 zone. For cash games I
would raise this number to 21, especially in Limit play, simply
because the value of back position is too often diminished by the
aggressive play that you see online. You can't be calling pre-flop
raises with 8,10 off suit in a Limit cash game from any position at
all and expect to see a profit.
Again this is an
excellent tool for beginners to help keep them in the correct general
zone for pre-flop decision making. Over time you will refine
your own selections based on different elements of play which come to
you with experience.
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