SPECIAL ODDS TABLES
PERCENTAGES AT HOLDEM FOR TWO HANDS BEFORE THE FLOP
The third column shows the percentage of the time poker hand A gets the money over Hand B when they are all-in before the flop.
| HAND A | HAND B | WINS FOR HAND A |
| Q♣-Q♥ | 5♦-5♠ | 81% |
| 5♦-5♠ | A♠-K♠ | 51% |
| 2♥-2♠ | A♥-K♠ | 52% |
| K♦-Q♦ | 2♥-2♠ | 51% |
| J♣-J♠ | A♥-10♥ | 67% |
| A♥-A♠ | K♦-Q♦ | 82% |
| A♥-A♠ | 7♥-2♠ | 88% |
| A♥-K♠ | 9♦-8♦ | 58% |
| A♥-2♥ | 10♠-9♠ | 54% |
| A♥-10♠ | A♦-9♦ | 67% |
All-in coups before the flop, especially at no-limit, are quite common in holdem. The above table demonstrates unequivocally, in nearly all circumstances, the winning hand before the flop is a favorite over the drawing hand.
Amarillo Slim’s hustling proposition has something to teach us. He will offer to wager you $1000 about the following three hands. Pair of deuces, A-K offsuit, J-10 suited. You can choose whichever hand you like first. He chooses second. Amarillo deuces, he goes for J-10 suited; if you choose J-10 suited, then he’ll opt for A-K offsuit; if you go for A-K offsuit, he’ll take the deuces.
We all know there is no absolute sanctuary in holdem before the flop. Even aces against the lowly 7-2 offsuit is less than a 15-2 favorite. Our objective, when calling a raise with low cards (such as 9♦-8♦) before the flop, is that we hope to hit the flop and then win money, having made the out-draw. The low hand can walk away from the flop with no regrets; the high hand has greater difficulties.
One hand we don’t want to get heavily involved with is the low pair. Either we are a tiny favorite or a massive dog. Such situations are common in poker; avoid them like the plague!
AVERAGE QUALITY OF HAND TABLE
It is helpful to know the value of hand you need for it to win the average number of hands for that number of players. This has been worked out assuming the money is all-in before the flop.
| PLAYERS | % | UNSUITED CARDS | SUITED CARDS |
| 2 | 50% | Q-2, J-6, 10-8 | J-3, 10-6, 9-7 |
| 4 | 25% | 3-3, K-5, Q-6, J-7 | Q-3, J-5, 10-6, 9-7 |
| 7 | 14% | 2-2, a-3, K-5, Q-7 | Q-5, J-6, 10-6, 9-7, 8-7 |
| 10 | 10% | 3-3, a-4, K-10, Q-J | Q-3, J-4, 10-5, 9-6, 8-6 |
This table is of limited value. In a ten-handed poker game, you are not going to win any medals calling with 10-5 suited before the flop in an unraised pot, unless you are solely up against the blinds. Even then, you need it to be all-in. The problems if there is betting after the flop are insuperable.
The later your position, the more information you have about the actions of the players before you. If there are two blinds and you are in Position 9, then you are in a four-handed game. Now a call with somewhat better than 10-8 is justified according to the table. Since the first six people have all passed, the three remaining hands on which you have no information yet will have a somewhat larger proportion of high cards than the average.
PERCENTAGES IN FOUR-WAY HANDS
Again we assume the hand will be all-in
| Holecards | A♣-5♥ | K♦Q♥ | J♦-10♦ | 8♠-7♠ |
| Winning % | 29% | 28% | 25% | 18% |
| Holecards | A♣-A♦ | K♥-9♥ | Q♣-J♣ | A♠-4♠ |
| Winning % | 68% | 12% | 13% | 7% |
| Holecards | 8♦-8♥ | A♣-J♣ | K♥-Q♦ | Q♣-9♠ |
| Winning % | 29% | 33% | 25% | 13% |
| Holecards | 2♥-2♠ | A♣-K♦ | Q♠-8♠ | 10♥-7♥ |
| Winning % | 23% | 34% | 23% | 20% |
| Holecards | A♥-Q♣ | A♣-10♦ | K♣-J♥ | 6♠-5♠ |
| Winning % | 28% | 16% | 30% | 26% |
Naturally, when any of out above poker hands are strong, we can increase their likelihood of standing up by betting, thus driving out weak hands which would have outdrawn us. Hitting a flop of 6♥-4♣-4♦ when holding 6♣-6♦ is a monster. It wins 92% if slowplayed. But the losing 8% is a disaster. Not only will you lose the pot, but also a bet and raise. At big-bet poker this is many times the original pot size.
We all fall in love with drawing hands. The tables show how unwise this is except when the hand holds premium overcards.