How to Calculate Pre-Flop Texas Hold'em Odds

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When it comes to poker games that are heads-up, the strength or rank of the starting hands will change when you compare it to a higher table games. This is because of the lower chances of you facing opponents with hands that will dominate yours. Here, you can find out how to calculate the pre-flop odds in heads-up poker games, as well as get a list of common odds at the pre-flop that each player needs to know.

In total, there are 1326 Texas Hold’em starting hands, which can be calculated by taking a card from the original card deck of 52 and one of the other 51 cards. That refers to combinations of (1/52)*(1/51) = 1326.

By leaving various suit combinations aside, they can get reduced to 169 starting hands that are distinct: 13 of which are pairs, 78 of which are unpaired and suited, and the rest of which are unpaired and unsuited.

Whatever cards you get dealt with will affect the overall chance of your opponents getting the same hands. For instance, if you get an Ace dealt prior to the flop, only 3 more Aces will be left inside the deck. The probability of opponents holding an Ace will get lower by 25%.

Dealt odds of certain strength holds prior to the flop

 •    A-A = 220/1 = 0.45%

 •    A-K = 81.9/1 = 1.1%

 •    A-A, K-K, Q-Q = 10-10 = 54.3/1 = 1.8%

 •    Pocket pairs = 16:1 = 6.25%

 •    2 cards of Jack and higher = 10.1/1 = 9.05%

 The overall relative strength with pre-flop heads-up poker hands can get calculated through assuming that opponents have random hands. This means that the probability of your hand winning a showdown if every chip went into the pot right away could get ranked by your hand compared to the entire range of the potential cards of your opponents.

Pre-flop odds from selected hands of heads-up poker

 •    A-A will win 85% of the time

 •    K-K will wins 82% of the time

 •    Q-Q will win 80% of the time

 •    J-J will win 77% of the time

 •    Suited A-K will win 64 % of the time

 •    Unsuited K-Q will win 60% of the time

 •    Suited J-10 will wins 56% of the time

 •    Unsuited K-4 will win 50% of the time

 •    Any off-suit hands under K-4 will not be favored prior to the flop, while the worst hand possible would be unsuited 2-3, which will only win 29% of the time