Texas Hold’em Tips: Starting Hands You Shouldn’t Play
Unless you are trying to be a loose poker player that plays every single starting hand in order to make it harder for your opponents to read you, there is no need to play every starting hand at all. In fact, you should fold without hesitation if your starting hand is not good enough to play. Which starting hands you shouldn’t play? That is what we are going to discuss in this article.
At the top of our list, we have the legendary 2-7. Even when it is suited, your chances of winning the round are relatively slim. If you do start a round with suited 2-7, proceed with care and limit the stake properly. If it is off-suited 2-7, you should really consider folding before seeing the flop. The only time you can see the flop with a starting hand of 2-7 is when you can limp, meaning you are the big blind and no other opponents make a raise.
Off-suited 2-8 is another bad starting hand you shouldn’t play. There is no way you can make a Straight with this starting hand. Even if it’s suited, the Flush can be easily beaten by a higher Flush hands down. The same rules apply to starting hands of off-suited 3-8 and 2-9.
A rather tricky starting hand to play is off-suited 2-6. When suited, you can push forward and see the flop as long as the stake is not too high. When off-suited, however, you should only push forward if you can limp to see the flop.