Power Ratings for Starting Hands
wc...@my-deja.com
This idea came up after talking with Kevan Garett (sp?) at Lucky Chances
about Lou Krieger's recent CP column on starting hands. The question is
whether we can limit the amount of memorization needed, and maybe even
give some intuition about the game. Here are four easy rules to follow
which give you the "power rating" of a starting hand in a full-handed
hold'em game. I came up with the rules on the fly but they do seem to
work out. Of course there are refinements possible--I know A9 is better
than A2--but the point is to keep it simple.
RULES FOR POWER RATINGS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) HIGHEST CARD: You get these points for your highest card.
A 10pts
K 8
Q 7
J 6
T to 2 (face value)/2 (T = 5 pts, 9 = 4.5 pts, 8 = 4 pts, ...)
(2) PAIRS:
a) Double the points for the highest card. TT = 10 pts, 99 = 9 pts.
b) Extra point for PRESTO! 55 = 6 pts.
c) Minimum points for a pair is 5 pts (44, 33, 22).
(3) SUITED: Add 2 points for suited.
(4) CLOSENESS:
a) Subtract 1 point for 1 gappers (AQ, J9).
2 points for 2 gappers (J8, AJ).
4 points for 3 gappers (J7, 73).
5 points for larger gappers, including A2 A3 A4
b) Extra point if you are connected or 1-gap and your highest
card is lower than Q (since you then can make all higher str8's).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
Examples:
1) AA
2 (pair) * 10 (high card) = 20 pts.
2) AKs
10 (high card) + 2 (suited) - 0 (closeness) = 12 pts.
3) J9
6 (high card) - 1 (one gapper) + 1 (str8 bonus) = 6 pts.
4) 72s
3.5 (high card) + 2 (suited) - 5 (4 gapper) = 0.5 pts.
Here's my list of "power ratings." It looks a lot like Mike Caro's,
S&M, Lee Jones's, etc. The only major difference I
see with S&M for the first 7 categories in a cursory glance is is that
ATs is moved down a notch, and Ax actually shows
up. This actually matches my intuition, for what it's worth.
20 AA
16 KK
14 QQ
12 JJ, AKs
11 AQs
10 TT, AK, AJs, KQs
9 99, AQ, KJs, QJs, JTs
8 88, AJ, ATs, KQ, KTs, QTs, J9s, T9s
7.5 98s
7 77, KJ, QJ, JT, Axs, Q9s, T8s, 87s
6.5 97s, 76s
6 66, 55, AT, KT, QT, J9, T9, K9s, J8s, 86s, 65s
5.5 98, 75s, 54s
5 44, 33, 22, Kxs, Ax, Q9, T8, 87, Q8s, T7s, 64s, 43s
I only claim the hand ratings tell you which hands to play, not whether
to come in for a raise nor any other aspect of
how to play the hand (I mean after all it's only one parameter!) You
gotta still rely on your intuition about what a
raise will accomplish and whether the hand will play better multiway or
with few opponents.
In an unraised pot, I would play hands UTG at 8 pts, 7 for middle
position, 6 in late position, and around 5.5 at the
button. You should always use your poker intuition, of course. For
example 54s plays well multiway so if there are a
lot of callers, you should certainly play it. Similarly, AT plays well
against few opponents so if nobody is in, you
can come in with a raise in late-middle position even though it's a 6.
Also, open raising with Ax (5 pts) on the button
if everyone else folds is fine. Along the same theme, 66 is a weak hand
in a 4-way pot so if there are 1 or 2 limpers
who are good players, throw it away late. If there's a live button
charge or only one blind, then tighten up,
especially early. Finally if it's a soft game with not too much
raising, or if you expect lots of callers behind you
can loosen up a little especially with good multiway hands--like opening
early with 7 pts or late with 5 points.
To come in cold after an early raise, generally have 10 pts agianst a
solid player, or 9 points against a typical
player. I'll repeat the ratings don't tell you how to play the hand,
but you do generally want to isolate (3-bet) with
the pocket pairs you play. I think it's a good rule that each raise
pushes up the requirements by at least 2 points or
so. To come in cold after a re-raise, it does depends very much on the
players but in most cases I'd say you have at
least 12 points.
In defending the BB--from my computations, I would defend with anything
that shows up on the scale as 5.5 or higher but
I've been told I defend too liberally. If the SB is less than 1/2 of
the BB, I'd still use the guidelines for a raise,
and treat it as late position if there's no raise. If the SB is 1/2 the
BB or more I'd loosen the raise calling
requirements by a point or so. If no raise, I'd call 1/2 the BB with
anything 5 or higher and 1/3 the BB with anything,
well certainly anything that's 3.5 or higher.
Bill
Under the Gun
"Hey babe! Let's go!"
piped the Jack of Diamonds
to the Queen of Hearts in the hole
"Nay, knave! It shan't be so!"
quoth the Queen as the mason
tosses the cards into the muck.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
SteadyEd O
>16 KK
>14 QQ
>12 JJ, AKs
>11 AQs
>10 TT, AK, AJs, KQs
>9 99, AQ, KJs, QJs, JTs
>8 88, AJ, ATs, KQ, KTs, QTs, J9s, T9s
>7.5 98s
>7 77, KJ, QJ, JT, Axs, Q9s, T8s, 87s
>6.5 97s, 76s
>6 66, 55, AT, KT, QT, J9, T9, K9s, J8s, 86s, 65s
>5.5 98, 75s, 54s
>5 44, 33, 22, Kxs, Ax, Q9, T8, 87, Q8s, T7s, 64s, 43s
A few changes if you don't mind based on computer stats for earning power
TT and AK mixed should be ahead of AQs.
J9 suited should be MUCH lower Here is the Computer stats in order...
AA KK QQ JJ AKs TT AK AQs KQs AJs A10s AQ 99 KJs KQ KTs
A9s AJ 88 QJs KJ A8s A10 Q10s K9s and in 26th place is the famous J10s
... top 25
Money travels to those who mostly play these hands..
Steady
Steven Eisenstein
>(2) PAIRS:
> a) Double the points for the highest card. TT = 10 pts, 99 = 9 pts.
> b) Extra point for PRESTO! 55 = 6 pts.
> c) Minimum points for a pair is 5 pts (44, 33, 22).
Ahem, double the points for the highest card? Aren't both cards the same in
a pair?
Playr in
He means, double the points you would earn for one of those cards from
from the first power rank grouping, "(1) HIGHEST CARD"
Patri Forwalter-Friedman
: OK! No more rote memorization of what hands belong in which category!
: This idea came up after talking with Kevan Garett (sp?) at Lucky Chances
I understand the desire for simplicity, but aren't you trying to use one
variable to approximate a fundamentally multidimensional phenomenon? How
about we try to find a relatively simple set of rules that approximate
that?
As a first step, my combination of intuition & what I've read of strategy
is that there are sort of two factors - the money you are getting on the
preflop call, and how the hand plays postflop. The former is positive for
big cards & pairs, but negative for implied odds hands. The latter is the
reverse, and the number of bets preflop & number of callers should give
a decent way to combine them, maybe with some adjustments for table
aggro/passiveness.