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The best starting hands in poker, at every table size
Updated November 2026
Pocket aces are the best starting hand in Texas Hold'em, then kings, then queens. Below that the order depends on how many players see the hand: against one opponent, medium pairs come next, and against a full table, big suited cards move ahead of them.
Most charts rank hands against a single opponent and stop there. We dealt all 169 hands against one, two, three, five and eight opponents, 60,000 times each, so you can see what changes.
What are the ten best hands?
Here they are against one random hand, with the same hand against eight next to it.
The top ten against one opponent
Chance of winning against 1 and against 8 random hands
Against one opponent, pairs fill the top seven places. Against eight, ace-king suited jumps from eighth to fourth, and king-queen suited appears at seventh. Big pairs still lead, but a pair of eights needs a lot of help to beat a crowd.
What counts as a good number?
Compare it with a fair share. With two players each should win half the time, and with nine it's about one in nine.
So 34% doesn't sound like much for pocket aces at a full table, until you see that it's three times what everyone else is getting.
A fair share of the pot
Which hands get better when more players join?
Suited hands that connect. Five-four suited is 138th against one opponent and 67th against eight. Nothing about the hand changes, only the kind of win it needs.
The biggest climbers
Places gained going from 1 opponent to 8
Against a single hand, a pair of anything or a single ace is often enough. Against a crowd, someone almost always has a pair, so you need a hand that beats a pair, and straights and flushes do that. Ten-nine suited moves from 64th to 23rd.
Ten-nine suited
Which hands get worse?
High cards with nothing to help them, especially kings and aces with a low kicker in different suits.
The biggest fallers
Places lost going from 1 opponent to 8
How do players group starting hands?
Most players don't memorize 169 hands. They think in groups, and these are based on the rankings above.
- PremiumAces and kingsRaise, and raise again if you can. These are the hands you want all the chips in with.
- StrongQueens, ace-kingRaise. Think before you put in your whole stack against a player who only re-raises the very best.
- GoodJacks, tens and big suited acesRaise from most seats, and be ready to let them go if the action gets heavy.
- SituationalSmall pairs, suited connectorsThey want a late seat, a cheap price and deep stacks.
Every pocket pair
Chance of winning against 1 and against 8 random hands
An ace and every kicker, offsuit
Chance of winning against 1 and against 8 random hands
Which hands look better than they are?
- Ace-seven offsuit36th against one opponent, 86th against eight. When it pairs the ace, someone with a better kicker is often waiting.
- King-seven offsuit55th against one, 110th against eight. The biggest drop on the list.
- Queen-six offsuit81st against one, 134th against eight. It wins by being high card, and at a full table that almost never happens.
- Any two suitedFour-two suited climbs from 158th to 111th. That's a big move, and it's still a bad hand.
How good are small pairs?
Better against one player than against many. Fives are 29th heads-up and 58th against eight, because at a big table one pair rarely holds up.
They make three of a kind on the flop about 12 times in 100, and when they do they can win a very big pot. If you can get in cheaply with a lot behind, they're fine. If it costs a lot, they aren't. That's called set mining, and implied odds are the math behind it.
Pocket fives
How should you play the biggest hands?
- AcesRaise every time, and try to play against as few players as possible.
- KingsSame plan. An ace on the flop is a worry, but it's far from the end of the hand.
- Ace-kingYou've got the best high card and no pair yet. It will miss the flop about 2 times in 3, so plan for that.
How much does suited and connected really add?
Suited adds about 3 points against one opponent. Against a full table it adds more, since flushes are what win big pots there. Being connected adds a little too, because it opens up straights.
The table on the right shows jack-ten against jack-three, with and without a suit, facing eight opponents. Fair share at that table is 11.1%.
Against 8 random hands
Should I just play the top hands?
Not by this list alone. It assumes everyone stays until the river, and real hands aren't like that. Where you sit decides how many players you have to beat and whether you'll act last.
A ranking tells you what a hand is worth on its own. The preflop charts turn that into what to do from each seat.
The same hand, two seats
Which hand would you rather have?
Twelve spots in three rounds. The answer changes with the size of the table.
Questions players ask about starting hands
What is the best starting hand in poker?
Pocket aces. They beat one random hand about 85 times in 100.
What is the worst starting hand?
Seven-two offsuit has the reputation, and three-two offsuit is lower against one random hand: 32% against 34%.
Is ace-king better than a pair of queens?
Queens win about 57 times in 100 when the two meet. Against a full table, ace-king suited does better than queens against some hands and worse against others, and it's fourth on our list against eight opponents.
How many starting hands are there?
There are 1,326 two-card combinations, and they fall into 169 types once you ignore which suit is which.
Why are suited hands better?
They can make flushes. It adds about 3 percentage points, which is real and smaller than most people expect.
Should I always raise ace-king?
Before the flop, nearly always. Our trainer's charts raise it from every seat.
How should I play pocket jacks?
Raise them, and expect an overcard on the flop more than half the time. They're strong and hard to play, so don't get attached.
How the numbers on this page were worked out
For each of the 169 hands and each table size, we dealt 60,000 random deals of opponents' hands and boards, compared every hand at the showdown and shared ties. Results can move by about a fifth of a point between runs. Every opponent stays until the river, so this measures raw strength and leaves out betting and position.
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