There are 1 326 different starting hands in Texas hold'em, but if you leave out the different color constellations there are totally 169.
Which starting hands a player should play is something that has been discussed in many books about poker. By dividing different hands into categories could be helpful for the ranking. This gives an oversight and that method are going to be used here also.
The categories below are only based on the objective strength of the starting hands; therefore, it's not sure that a specific play should be applied on all starting hands in the same category. A-A (two aces) are clearly the best starting hand and there are never an option to fold with it, which may be the case for other hands in 'Category 1'. In the choice of starting hands, you must also consider how many players there are on the table, which structure you are playing in and your own playing style (other articles on this site focus on these subjects).
Abbreviations used: A (Ace), K(King), Q (Queen), J, (Jack), T (Ten), s (suited)

In Texas Holdem the expected value of your first two cards depend on the cards you have, your position on the table, and the number of players at the table. In other words you will be happy to know that in the dealer position (on the button) pocket aces yield an EV of 2.96 when there are ten players at the table. Here are the Expected Value hand charts for 2 Players, 6 Players, 10 Players. Group/Rank: This is another way to describe your hole cards' strength. In the book of Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky, he divides the starting hands into 9 groups. Our Texas Hold'em Starting Hands guide is a great follow up to this article and has more specific information on which hands to play. It also has charts that you can use when learning to play. Jul 23, 2019 Below is a chart of the Top 10 Starting Hands in Texas Hold’em: Starting Hands: The Power of High Cards. You’ll notice as a common thread in this chart, virtually all these combinations of hands contain various mixes of face cards, which just go to show the power that high cards hold in poker. Expected value: This is how many units the player can expected to win (positive) or lose (negative) with this hand. For example if the player had a pair of aces and contibuted $1 to the pot then the player could expect to have a net win of $1.20. Probability: Probability of getting this hand to begin with.

Category 1

A-A
K-K
Q-Q
J-J
A-Ks
General playing instructions: Play in almost all situations and normally raise, re-raise or 4-bet.

Category 2

A-Qs
K-Qs
A-Js
T-T
A-K
A-Ts
General playing instructions: Play in almost all situations and normally raise or re-raise.

Category 3

A-Q
9-9
K-Js
8-8
A-J
K-Ts
Q-Js
K-Q
General playing instructions: Play in most situations and normally raise and sometimes re-raise.

Category 4

A9s
QTs
77
JTs
A8s
A-T
K9s
A7s
KJ
6-6
T-9s
General playing instructions: Play in late positions and sometimes in midle positions depending on the circumstances.
The list will not necessarily correspond to which starting hands that win most in practical play – a good term for this is ”equity-realization”, which is more about the effective odds than general playability. Which hand that works in practical play depends on different factors. One is that it's very easy to overplay some cards, like A-K. Another kind of 'problem hands' is J-J and T-T. These are big hands, but the value of them decreases when a queen, a king or an ace hits the table.

Number of combinations for different hand categories

The most common hands are offsuited hands. Each offsuited hand have twelve possible combinations.
For example A-Ko: A♥-K♦, A♥-K♣ ,A♥-K♠, A♦-K♥, A♦-K♣, A♦-K♠, A♣-K♦, A♣-K♣, A♣-K♠, A♠-K♦, A♠-K, A♠-K♣.
The next most common hands are the pairs. Each pocket pair have six possible combinations.
For example A-A: A♥-A♦, A♥-A♣, A♥-A♠, A♦-A♣, A♦-A♠, A♣-A♠.
The least common hands are the suited hands. Each suited hand have four possible combinations.
For example A-Ks: A♥-K♥, A♦-K♦ ,A♣-K♣, A♠-K♠.

Starting hands charts

All starting hands in Texas hold'em can be displayed shematically in a chart:
All hands, both with suited and offsuited versions are included. The real benefit of these charts appear when they display ranges, as we will se below.
The green color marks which cards to play. It tells, for example, that if your hole cards are QT (queen-ten) you should probably play, but if your hole cards are Q5 (queen-five) you should fold. In the chart, only about 10% av the hands get a green light, which is a rather tight pre flop disposition. There are many ideas and theories about how many hands should you play in poker; see starting hands ranges for more examples and information about this.

Poker Hand Rankings - Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart

Texas Holdem Payout Chart

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