What are poker starting hands?
In Texas Hold'em, the two cards you're first dealt are your starting hand. Ignoring suits there are exactly 169 of them (13 pocket pairs, 78 suited, 78 offsuit). Memorizing the strength — the equity — of these 169 hands is what sharpens your most frequent decision: preflop.
Every equity here is the expected win rate of that hand taken to showdown against one random opponent (ties count as half a win). Each of the 169 hands was simulated 400,000 times, and the hand evaluator is verified by full board enumeration.
Strongest, weakest and the middle
- Strongest: AA (85.2%), then KK, QQ, AKs.
- Middle: around 50% is the median — hands like J6s, K2s, A2o.
- Weakest: 32o (32.3%); 72o, 42o, 52o are also bottom-tier.
Top 20 strongest starting hands
- AA — 85.2%
- KK — 82.5%
- QQ — 79.9%
- JJ — 77.5%
- TT — 75.1%
- 99 — 72.2%
- 88 — 69.2%
- AKs — 67.2%
- 77 — 66.3%
- AQs — 66.2%
- AJs — 65.4%
- AKo — 65.4%
- ATs — 64.6%
- AQo — 64.4%
- AJo — 63.6%
- KQs — 63.4%
- 66 — 63.3%
- A9s — 62.8%
- ATo — 62.6%
- KJs — 62.5%
8 weakest starting hands
- 63o — 36.1%
- 32s — 35.9%
- 43o — 35.2%
- 72o — 34.4%
- 52o — 34.3%
- 62o — 34.1%
- 42o — 33.3%
- 32o — 32.3%
Full 169-hand equity chart
Rows and columns are card ranks. Diagonal = pocket pairs, top-right = suited, bottom-left = offsuit. The interactive 169 chart above is this table shown as colors (blue = weak, red = strong).
Open the full 169-hand chart
| A | K | Q | J | T | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AA 85.2% | AKs 67.2% | AQs 66.2% | AJs 65.4% | ATs 64.6% | A9s 62.8% | A8s 61.9% | A7s 60.9% | A6s 59.9% | A5s 59.8% | A4s 59.0% | A3s 58.2% | A2s 57.6% |
| K | AKo 65.4% | KK 82.5% | KQs 63.4% | KJs 62.5% | KTs 61.8% | K9s 59.9% | K8s 58.3% | K7s 57.6% | K6s 56.8% | K5s 55.7% | K4s 54.9% | K3s 54.0% | K2s 53.2% |
| Q | AQo 64.4% | KQo 61.5% | QQ 79.9% | QJs 60.0% | QTs 59.5% | Q9s 57.7% | Q8s 56.0% | Q7s 54.4% | Q6s 53.6% | Q5s 52.8% | Q4s 51.8% | Q3s 51.0% | Q2s 50.1% |
| J | AJo 63.6% | KJo 60.5% | QJo 58.0% | JJ 77.5% | JTs 57.5% | J9s 55.7% | J8s 54.0% | J7s 52.4% | J6s 50.5% | J5s 50.0% | J4s 49.2% | J3s 48.3% | J2s 47.3% |
| T | ATo 62.6% | KTo 59.8% | QTo 57.1% | JTo 55.3% | TT 75.1% | T9s 54.0% | T8s 52.3% | T7s 50.7% | T6s 48.8% | T5s 47.1% | T4s 46.7% | T3s 45.7% | T2s 44.8% |
| 9 | A9o 60.8% | K9o 57.8% | Q9o 55.4% | J9o 53.2% | T9o 51.4% | 99 72.2% | 98s 50.8% | 97s 49.2% | 96s 47.3% | 95s 45.7% | 94s 43.8% | 93s 43.2% | 92s 42.5% |
| 8 | A8o 59.9% | K8o 56.0% | Q8o 53.7% | J8o 51.6% | T8o 49.8% | 98o 48.1% | 88 69.2% | 87s 47.9% | 86s 46.3% | 85s 44.6% | 84s 42.7% | 83s 40.7% | 82s 40.3% |
| 7 | A7o 58.7% | K7o 55.3% | Q7o 51.9% | J7o 49.7% | T7o 48.1% | 97o 46.4% | 87o 45.1% | 77 66.3% | 76s 45.5% | 75s 43.7% | 74s 41.8% | 73s 40.1% | 72s 38.0% |
| 6 | A6o 57.6% | K6o 54.2% | Q6o 51.0% | J6o 47.8% | T6o 46.0% | 96o 44.6% | 86o 43.2% | 76o 42.3% | 66 63.3% | 65s 43.0% | 64s 41.4% | 63s 39.5% | 62s 37.6% |
| 5 | A5o 57.7% | K5o 53.2% | Q5o 50.2% | J5o 47.2% | T5o 44.4% | 95o 42.8% | 85o 41.4% | 75o 40.5% | 65o 39.9% | 55 60.3% | 54s 41.4% | 53s 39.6% | 52s 37.9% |
| 4 | A4o 56.8% | K4o 52.2% | Q4o 49.1% | J4o 46.1% | T4o 43.4% | 94o 40.7% | 84o 39.4% | 74o 38.6% | 64o 37.9% | 54o 38.1% | 44 57.0% | 43s 38.7% | 42s 36.9% |
| 3 | A3o 55.9% | K3o 51.3% | Q3o 48.1% | J3o 45.3% | T3o 42.6% | 93o 39.9% | 83o 37.3% | 73o 36.6% | 63o 36.1% | 53o 36.3% | 43o 35.2% | 33 53.7% | 32s 35.9% |
| 2 | A2o 54.9% | K2o 50.4% | Q2o 47.3% | J2o 44.4% | T2o 41.7% | 92o 39.2% | 82o 36.8% | 72o 34.4% | 62o 34.1% | 52o 34.3% | 42o 33.3% | 32o 32.3% | 22 50.2% |
How to memorize them
You don't have to brute-force all 169. Four rules help: (1) pairs are always decent (even 22 is ~50%). (2) suited beats offsuit by a few % (flush potential). (3) ace-high loses to kickers. (4) connectors make straights. Learn these, then drill with the quizzes above until the numbers stick.
How to use this trainer
- Guess equity: pick the win-rate range. The core mode for the numbers.
- Which is stronger: compare two hands. Burn in the relative order.
- Chart: all hands colored by equity + your personal weakness map.