The Best Hands to Play in Poker
The game of poker is played with one or more cards dealt to each player, face up or face down, depending on the variant being played. Players place bets (chips representing money, for which poker is invariably played) into a pot before each deal.
Once the ante and blind bets have been made, the dealer shuffles the cards and deals them to the players one at a time, starting with the player on their left. After each player receives their cards, they may choose to bet in any order. Then the first of what will be many betting rounds begins.
Generally speaking, the best hands to play in poker are those with high card strength and low kickers. However, if you have a bad kicker it can be very difficult to make your hand better by bluffing. This is especially true if you are short-stacked (i.e., your stack is small compared to the bet size).
Another important factor to consider when deciding which hands to play is position. Position gives you “bluff equity,” which means that it is more cost-effective to bluff when you are in late position than when you are early. Furthermore, acting last allows you to have the most information on your opponents’ ranges and helps you to identify aggressive players and conservative players more easily.