Chances Of AA Pre-Flop In Texas Holdem?

Looks At The Chances Of Being Dealt Any Pair Plus Other Starting Hand Combinations In Texas Holdem Poker – And How This Can Affect Your Play.

With 52 unseen cards in the deck and a random deal we can work out the probability of being dealt ace-ace, ace-king or any other combination before the flop. This article not only gives you the basic probabilities, but show some situations in which you can use the relative probabilities of dealt cards to increase your profits.

Pre-Flop Probability In Texas Holdem – Aces, Pairs And Ace-King

First, let us show you how to work out the probability of being dealt those aces. There are 4 in the 52 card deck for your first card, and 3 out of 51 remaining unseen cards for the 2nd. (4/52)*(3/51) this leads to odds of 121-to-1, so for every time you are dealt pocket rockets you will not be dealt this combination 221 times.

We should note that this is the same for any pair preflop in Texas Holdem, since the combinations of cards are exactly the same.

Unpaired cards such as Ace-King have a greater probability pre-flop, since there are more combinations of cards which make this hand. For the first card you have 8 out of 52 (any king or any ace) and for the 2nd card you have 4 cards of 51 to complete the combination (one of either the 4 remaining aces or 4 remaining kings, depending on which was your first card). This gives a probability of approximately 82-to-1

Pre-Flop Probability In Texas Holdem – Combinations And Their Uses

Going one step further we can note that there are actually 1326 possible combinations of 2 cards pre-flop in Texas Holdem poker – taking away suits there are 169 distinct starting hands.

When assessing what cards your opponent may hold it can sometimes be worthwhile noting the chances of each holding based on probability of the deal. An example would be where an opponent would push all-in only with the following hands: AA, KK or AK if you have a marginal decision (say a lot of money is already in the pot) you can work out the relative probability of each holding.

Ace-Ace: 6 Combinations Of 2 Cards Make This Hand

King-King: 6 Combinations Of 2 Cards Make This Hand

Ace-King: 12 Combinations Of 2 Cards Make This Hand

In our simplified example you can see that half of the time our opponent has Ace-King and the other half the KK or AA hands. If we were to add Queens and Ace-Queen to this players range then the proportion of unpaired hands would significantly grow. By comparing your chances against each hand and the odds on offer to call you can decide whether you call would have a positive return over time.

Of course, we would not expect a player to make complex calculations at the table – the time to do this is between sessions. Working on your game, including understanding Texas Holdem pre-flop probability, will give you a significant edge over your competitors when you get back to the table.

Check out our reviews of the best online poker sites today, these are all focused from a Texas Holdem player’s perspective.