Winning Hands

This is quite an effective way for new and more advanced holdem players, to identify which starting hands are good and which are not.

STEP ONE
Add the value of your two cards using the scale below:

Ace= 16 pts. King= 14 pts. Queen= 13 pts. Jack= 12 pts. Ten= 11 pts. all other cards are worth their face value, e.g., a two is 2 pts., a nine is 9 pts.

STEP TWO
If your two cards are paired, add 10 points to the total.

STEP THREE
If your two cards are both of the same suit, add four points.

STEP FOUR
If your cards are connected (i.e., next to each other in rank, as with a Jack and Ten, a Jack and a Queen, etc.) add three points.

STEP FIVE
If your cards have a one card "gap" (e.g., a Queen and a Ten, a Jack and a Nine, or an Ace and a Queen, etc.) add two points.

STEP SIX
If your cards have a two-card "gap" (e.g., an Ace and a Jack, a Queen and a Nine, or a Jack and an Eight, etc.) add one point.

Now total up your score

Any hand which scores 30 pts or more is a premium hand and can be played from any position if there is no raise. In Middle Position you may choose to play unraised hands with 27pts, or more. In Late Position in unraised hands you may wish to play hands with 25 points, or more. To make a raise youself or to call you need to have a 34 point hand if you are in early position. 31 point hand in middle position and a 29 point hand when in a late position.

Summary

Premium Hand = 30pts ++ ( Can be played from any position if there is no raise)

Early Position ** - Call or Raise with 34 pts
Middle Position ** - 27pts for unraised hands / Call or Raise with 31 pts ++
Late Position ** - Play unraised with 25pts ++ / call or raise with 29pts ++



**What is meant by Early/Middle/Late Position?

For anyone who doesnt know what this terminalogy means, here is an explanation:

Say you are sitting at a holdem table with 10 players. Two people are on the blinds that leaves 8 players. The first three people are early position. The next three people are middle position. Late position consists of the dealer button and the person before him

Nice list. This is pretty good for new players. The only problem is that it might take a while to calculate your score in time to act (because most people who use this are probably playing online). Other than that, nice list.

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cky12 - PokerStars
cky12 - FullTilt

My Poker Journal

Actually kikolo it is similar to the ZAR point guide in bridge for the bidding. Most people play a simpler couting system in bridge (a=4, k=3 etc) but my father plays ZAR and finds it pretty easy - it just becomes automatic after a little while and the simple system most play and are comfortable with is only slightly simpler than Zaphors system. You would just need to persist and it would become second nature.

I also assume that this guide is meant to apply for limit as opposed to non limit. Implied odds make hands like suited connectors worth more - also I would take a pair of 3s over a pair of 8s no limit anyday (early in a tourney anyway)

My problem with it is that it overrates one or two hands such as KQos 29 points! and QJs 32!!! QJs is worse than KQos and KQ os isnt all that brilliant a hand - as Jones T says it is the Kornakova of the poker world. It is a good rough guide though.

My main problem with it is HOW TO ADAPT IT to take account of reads of players. All players are not the same. There are some players and if they bet early position and i hold AQ I am folding - others I will call or raise happily. This system doesnt adapt itself as it stands. Otherwise it is pretty good for limit. I am curious whether it is your own concoction Zaphor or is it from somewhere else? Also do you play it? And do you play it in No limit?

Also excellent post - Is everyone making special effort to get in to this tourney or something? lol

Thinking about it a little bit more I would consider changing the scoring so that 10 was worth 10 points, J worth 11, q worth 12

Also I would add an extra point for Axs (and possibly Kxs) and subtract a point (ie add 3 instead of 4 for Qx suited and lower suited cards as Axs is much stronger than Qxs.

Possibly doing this would mean lowering the premium hand requirement from 30 to 29 and similar changes but otherwise I think it would give a slightly truer score of certain hands.