Poker has managed to grow from an entertainment and a game of chance to a business. It is often chosen by intellectuals, who know a variety of strategies and methods to win in it. However, it will have almost no sense for professionals if they would not know what are the best odds of winning poker.
Odds of winning poker — starting hands
As a rule, odds of winning poker depend on the starting hands. Traditionally, if an Ace comes to a player in the first round (street), he gets a high chance to beat his rivals and get a bank. Nevertheless, some professional gamblers, who play poker for years, get rid of Aces sometimes. It happens, for instance, when they have intention to collect a hand which does not need this card. For instance, senior unpaired cards like Ace+ King have good chances to win, however they are not a complete hand, therefore they lose to any weak pair. However, these connectors have good potential against multiple players. Meanwhile, any beginner that gets a starting hand, where an Ace is presented, should hold it for making best combinations.
Starting hands consisting of an Ace and one low-value card, for example, A+3, or A+7 are difficult to play. They are often overestimated by beginners. Despite the fact that A+2 has a 57% winning poker hands odds against K+Q type combinations, the probability of winning will remain the same against any other cards of medium strength. The chance of winning with an Ace+ a minor card is reduced to 30%. Meanwhile, when these Aces are suited, then the probability of winning increases slightly — by about 2% compared with different cards.
Best hands to win poker and odds to do it
Poker is the game that can be played with 2, 3, 4…9 opponents. Therefore, odds of winning World Series of Poker as well as in any other type of this game, for instance, in a 3 card poker depend on the number of players. Here are some of starting hands’ and the winning probabilities in comparison (the hand — the number of players — winning odds):
- AA — 1— 85.4%;
- AA — 2 — 73.4%;
- AA — 8 — 33.6%;
- KK (QQ) — 1 — 82 (80%);
- KK (QQ) — 2 — 69 (65%);
- JJ (10+10) — 1 — 77 (75%);
- JJ (10+10) — 5 — 33 — (27%);
- A pair of minor cards — 1 — 50-70%
- A pair of minor cards when poker is played by 9 players is under 10%, etc.
Some probabilities of getting certain starting hands are estimated by the following percent:
- Ace + any high non-suited card — 14%;
- Ace + any high suited cards — 3%;
- Queen +any high card — under 5%;
- Any 2 suited cards — approximately 23%, etc.
Sites devoted to gambling and card games, publish tables and graphs on different odds of winning poker and hands combinations. This stuff can be always found online. The information provided by different sources is almost the same as poker odds are calculated using mathematics.