Worst Starting hand in THNL?

It is well known in poker that 72 offsuit is the worst starting hand. I'm not sure actually who said this originally. Before I get into why that hand sucks so much, let me say a few points about starting hands. When you first get into poker, you'll see all kinds of charts on what are the best hands. No one states though that the best hands -- defined by how often they win and how much -- depends on what type of game it is and how many players are in. For example, a hand like 55 isn't that strong in a low limit holdem game, but in a no limit game it is far stronger (also in upper limits where the action is going to be likely heads up). This is why at upper stakes limit games you'll routinely see players reraise with little pocket pairs preflop. If you were to try that in a low limit game against a preflop raiser, you would be giving up money because there will be too many people calling to make the play worth while. Obviously, AA is the best starting hand and the 72, 82, etc are the lowest, but the hands in the middle vary greatly in strength based on the texture of the game. It is important to make this distinction early on and base the power of your hand on variables other than how it ranks in a chart. If you have AA in a low limit game and there are 6 callers, good luck winning. So what is the worst hand then? Is it 72? Well again, that depends on the context. If you are going heads up to the river, would you prefer 32, 72, or 82? Even though 32 might make a straight, you would prefer the power of the 82 since you may actually have an overcard if the other guy has 44, 55, 66, etc. 92 is better than 72 for this reason, the 9 is higher than the 7. Neither 72 or 92 can make a straight using both cards. They make "one card" straights, like this:

72 Flop/Turn/River: 6 - 5 - 4 - 8 - 3


Notice that the straight only needs one of the cards to be completed.

I would say that for regular ring play, 72, 82 and 92 are the worst hands. In heads up confrontations to the river though, 32 has to be the worst hand since you will always be the underdog. Even if you have a piece of cheese like 92, the guy may have 65 or 54 or 87 against you. With the 32 you only tie for the worst hand. You have the "nut low."

As always, i welcome your comments/feedback.


PKRBABY

Well, these are all crappy hands, but they are all eqally bad, since no one would play them.

If you are on the BB and dont get raised, then you would only stay in after flop if there is no bet or you hit trips or make 2 pair. All of them really have the same odds for that.

Gutshot draws just arent worth chasing most of the time, so the straight chance in 72o will just lose you more money if you play it (you HAVE to chase nothing to straight possibility to made straight on the river which costs a lot of chips). I wouldn't consider a straight possiblity better odds in this case. God forbid your opponent have a 78 when you have 72o and hit a straight

The 92o at least has a higher card for when the board shows a 9 as the top pair. 7 is hardly ever top pair on the board. But the kickers are still horrible.

Conclusion - These cards suck lol

The 72o is the worst as you can get your runners to hit that straght or just a measly pair of sevens as your best hands. the 32o isnt as bad sice those connectors can make you a 5-high or 6-high straight. The 82o can get the the 8's instead of the 7's which makes it better. Like Cowboy said the 92o does have a higher cards.

Only play these when your drunk!

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72o has been said to be the worst starting hand and it absolutely is. With 72o, you have to lowest two cards without have connected cards to possibly make a straight. 82o is better than 72o because of course the 8 beats the 7. It is a higher card and if both hands hit their top pair, 82o would win. Along the same lines, 92o is better than both 72o and 82o because the nine is higher than the other two high cards. Now with 23o, I don't know where I would place them in the rank among 82o and 92o. I would definitely not place them lower than 72o because with 23, you at least have a straight draw, and actually a fairly decent draw since these cards are connected, though there are still only two possibilities or straights (A2345 or 23456). Of course all hands have their own posibilities of making the best hand, but with all 4 hands, those posibilities are slim to none. Among the mentioned hands, 72o has the least chances of winning. Anyways, these hands are all horrible and you should only play them when you are in the Big Blind and there is no raise you you can see the flop for free. In any other situation, please fold these.

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cky12 - PokerStars
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the 7 2 is the worst at a full table, but I think statistically the worst heads-up is 3 2. Anyone know if I'm right on this?

Sounds like a play money heads up clash 7,2 vs 3,2 offsuit.

I think 7,2 and 8,2 are probably very close to being the worst hands in holdem. i muck these hands 99 times out of 100 except when im on the big blind and i can check, i would never call with any of these hands pre-flop.

It depends on the number of people at the table. If it's a full table then 7-2 is the worst, but the less people that are in the game, the more that shifts to 3-2. Remember in short handed games connecting cards and suited cards have less value, while high cards have more value.

Well top best answer this question I will have to use a quote from my man Jules " Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but I would never know cause I would never eat the filthy M#therF#cker"


same with all these hands. You should never play them until your skill level is high enough that you are just making a play in the player, regardless of the cards you are holding. So, like cowboy said, they are all equally bad. But yes, heads up 32 is worse than 72...it would be the same thing as A9 vs 9T. I believe 72 would be about a 3 to 2 favorite against 32.

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Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.