Starting Hand Quality
A friend asked me how my poker playing was going. I replied that I had a chance to win the low-level SnG’s “when I got the cards”. It sounds like a silly thing to say, but my theory is that you need skill to legitimately compete in a tournament, but you need luck to actually win.
Below is my first attempt to quantify the quality of my starting hands for a given tournament. Try to guess which one I actually won:
Summary for: HH20051214 T16317616 No Limit Hold'em $2 + $0.20.txt
Total number of hands: 113
11% Starving: 8 ( 7.08)
20% Tight: 7 (13.27)
24% Pro: 8 (20.35)
33% Savvy: 9 (28.32)
44% Gambler: 11 (38.05)
Summary for: HH20051214 T16517624 No Limit Hold'em $1.50 + $0.25.txt
Total number of hands: 44
11% Starving: 4 ( 9.09)
20% Tight: 5 (20.45)
24% Pro: 2 (25.00)
33% Savvy: 5 (36.36)
44% Gambler: 3 (43.18)
Summary for: HH20051214 T16519815 No Limit Hold'em $1.50 + $0.25.txt
Total number of hands: 56
11% Starving: 5 ( 8.93)
20% Tight: 4 (16.07)
24% Pro: 3 (21.43)
33% Savvy: 7 (33.93)
44% Gambler: 5 (42.86)
Summary for: HH20051214 T16522165 No Limit Hold'em $1.50 + $0.25.txt
Total number of hands: 78
11% Starving: 11 (14.10)
20% Tight: 4 (19.23)
24% Pro: 3 (23.08)
33% Savvy: 9 (34.62)
44% Gambler: 12 (50.00)
I think it’s clear that my best hands came in the last tournament. And that’s the one I won! The top one was a 1574 player tournament. My 222nd place finish was good for $3.46!
I’ve been using the “New Guide to the Starting Hands in Texas Hold’em Poker” as a reference guide. The percentages on the left are the expected chances of receiving a hand in that group or better. The numbers on the right are the actual cumulative percentages.
Last Updated: Fri, 16 Dec 2005
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