What are the 19 starting hands?

I've read about people talking about them, but I have no idea what the "19 starting hands" are. People talk about playing them and such? Help is appreciated

Run a search.

22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99, TT, JJ, QQ, KK, AA, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, and QJ

All pockets pairs 22-AA (=13)

All court card combinations. AK/AQ/AJ/KQ/KJ/QJ (=6)

Those are the only 13+6=19 hands you'll play with preflop, toss the rest.

Is this a good strategy to use or what? Which hands are "raising" hands and how much is a good raise?

I'll stand by what I said earlier in another thread, it's mostly for beginners, unless you know the "why's" and know how to play the different hands etc. Even then you'll probably want to add suited connectors too. And for 6max, which I play, it's too tight.

So, 22-88/99 you play for set-hunting (limp and call), 99/TT-AA and the court hands you play for "TP value"; ie you raise with. A good raise is whatever is enough on this table to get 1-2 people involved.

FWIW, I would rather no one mention "19 starting hands" outside of the beginners circle. There is really no place for it in a realistic Holdem strategy beyond the micro stakes.

are you sure? I remember Aok saying that he only used 19 starting hands and he doesn't play microstakes

Originally Posted by Demiparadigm

FWIW, I would rather no one mention "19 starting hands" outside of the beginners circle. There is really no place for it in a realistic Holdem strategy beyond the micro stakes.

i agree with you. its a beginner concept to only play those hands.

Originally Posted by midas06

are you sure? I remember Aok saying that he only used 19 starting hands and he doesn't play microstakes

is this a joke?

AOK uses this strategy on 200NL

adaptability is one of the most important characteristics of a good poker player.

but i don't know enough about this 19 starting hands thing to judge aok or his play.

I imagine that at any stakes, if you can find players that are un-aware enough, nut-camping will always be profitable in the long run, though I don't think it would EVER been the most profitable way to play.

This is the post : http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...oker-26429.htm

I don't think anyone is suggesting that playing only 19 hands is optimal, but rather it is a good place to start. As AOK says - It'll keep you out of trouble.

It'll also keep you out of a lot of hands you could have made a profit from.

there aren't that many other hands worth playing at microstakes.

There are tons, but they depend on the circumstances. If someone doesn't know how to play em, then yes, stick to these 19 til you do. Hence why it's mostly for beginners. No idea how Aok manages to play with only those 19 in 200NL without being read like a book. I suspect he either makes exceptions or is a genius at reading people or something.

You can get away with only playing those hands at mid stakes, as long as you are playing on semi-loose tables and you know how to use your tight image to take down a large % the pots you play, regardless of whether you hit or missed. Also you have to have good enough reads to know how to extract alot of value out of marginal hands like AA or TPTK.