In the Formula 1 championship the second place wins a silver medal and a cash prize, while in No-Limit Texas Holdem, second player loses a lot of money.

Many Limit Texas Holdem players, who change to No-Limit Texas Holdem have a really hard time realizing this rather simple and very important concept. For example, if you have AK and flop a Top Pair in Limit Texas Holdem, then you will usually play this hand and won’t lose a lot, if you end up placing second. The same situation in No-Limit Texas Holdem can lead you to terrible losses within several hands of that sort.

Generally all starting hands in No-Limit Texas Holdem can be divided in six groups:

•  Poor hands that have no value and cannot even beat a bluff.

•  Average hands that can beat bluffs, but aren’t of sufficient value (middle pairs, etc).

•  Top pairs.

•  Overpairs.

•  Worthy hands, but not yet quite the nuts.

•  The best hands – the nuts, or near-nuts.

The strength of these hands is directly related to the size of a pot that they can win. That means that hands of lesser value can only pretend for smaller pots, because the hands they can compete won’t call huge bets. For instance, say you have AK, while the flop is A, J and 4. In this case no one holding something like KJ will pay you off that much.

On the other hand, in very same situation, if you have AK and the board is A, 9, 6, 5 and 2 – you will likely contribute money to one of your opponents holding 8 and 7, which proves the rule stating that the stronger is your hand, the more likely that one of your opponents will pay you off.

While it is obvious that any starting hand can possibly be the nuts (for example 7 and 2 with a 7, 7, 7, 5 and 3 board), you must realize that certain starting hands lend themselves more to certain groups.

High Pocket Pairs are usually overpairs (pairs that are higher than anything on the board; for example when you hold KK and the board is Q, J and 3). If you are lucky to hit a set with an overpair, then it’s unlikely that you’ll be paid off, because if you hold AA and the board is A, 8 and 7, then it’s unlikely that one of your opponents has a top pair too, since there is only one other Ace left. Therefore you’re left with comparatively few strong hands that you can beat, except possible draws to a hand that can beat you.

Big Unpaired Cards are likely to become top pairs or even straights, but the probability that you will hit a top pair holding big unpaired cards (AK, AQ, KQ, AJ) is much higher.

Small Pocket Pairs generally fall into second, fifth or sixth group of hands. For instance if you hold 66, then you have impressive chances to flop a set. It’s only a matter of luck, whether you’ll get a weak, or an extremely strong hand on the flop.

Suited Connectors tend to fall into first, second, fifth or sixth group of hands. Obvious advantage of such hands (10 and 9, 6 and 4, etc) is that they show your exact place in the pot, since they are either weak, or very strong.

In No-Limit Texas Holdem the potential risks and rewards of a particular hand change according to the rank of hands: higher rank – more risks and bigger rewards and vice versa. It is obvious that a poor hand won’t win a pot (except winning it through a bluff), but it won’t pay off much as well.

Nevertheless, the game gets quite tricky, when you play top pairs or overpairs. Although they seem to be strong, they cannot beat a lot of hands, because while someone holding middle pair won’t call you down for big bets (except they think you’re bluffing), you can possibly lose to players holding stronger hands.

That’s why top pairs and overpairs are much less valued in No-Limit Texas Holdem then they are in the Limit Texas Holdem. That is because in Limit Texas Holdem the bets are rather small related to the pot, which makes players holding group 2 hands pay off, since they are risking small amounts of money and there are good chances that their opponents are bluffing.

This situation is quite different in No-Limit Texas Holdem, where the bets are way larger related to the size of the pot. Hence, there are way fewer hands that’ll pay off to top pairs, since players will risk larger money calling the same hands down and hoping that you bluff. In fact, the hands paying off top pair aren’t worth pot-sized bets. Nevertheless, for many players these hands (top pairs and overpairs) are worth paying off other players with pot-sized bets.

Well, I’m not trying to assure you that top pairs and overpairs are trashy hands in No-Limit Texas Holdem, I just try to explain that they’re generally unable to win huge pots related to the blinds. That is exactly why top pair works better if a player has a short stack rather than a large stack.

The size of your bankroll is also a very important aspect of successful play in No-Limit Texas Holdem, which is why this question is covered in a separate article - “Stack Sizes and Implied Odds in No Limit Texas Holdem”.