Poker can be a difficult game to learn when you’re just starting out. Memorising key concepts about the game is crucial to build a platform for learning more advanced strategies. These cheat sheets will help you remember which hands beat what, the positions at the poker table, and show you what hands should be folded before the flop when playing cash games.
Using these essential poker cheat sheets, you can keep the basics in mind when you’re at the table, and remain focused on playing your hands to the best of your ability. Good luck!
Poker Hands Cheat Sheet
The graphic below shows you the ranking of all hands in Texas Hold’Em Poker, starting from the strongest, a Royal Flush, down to the weakest, a high card. Hand rankings are the most important of all of the basic rules of poker, so it’s important to memorise them.
Royal Flush – The strongest hand in poker. An Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten, all in the same suit.
Straight Flush – A run of any five consecutive cards, all in the same suit. Remember that, just like straights, an Ace-to-five straight flush is a five-high straight flush, not ace-high.
Four of a Kind – Also known as Quads, four cards all of the same rank. If both players have four of a kind, then the player with the highest kicker will win the hand.
Full House – Three cards all of the same rank, with another two cards of the same, different rank. If both players have a full house, the player with the highest three card portion of the full house will win.
Flush – Five cards, all of the same suit. If both players have a flush, the player with the highest card in their flush wins.
Straight – Five connected cards. An ace-to-five straight is the lowest possible straight, and the ten-to-ace straight is the highest. A ‘wraparound’, for example Q-K-A-2-3, is not a legal straight. If both players have a straight, the player who has the highest card in the straight will win.
Three of a Kind – Three cards, all of the same rank. Often called a set when made with a pocket pair, and trips when made with one hole card. If both players have three of a kind, the hand with the highest kicker will win.
Two Pair – Two pairs. This can be made either with both hole cards, or with a pair on the board. If both players have two pair, the higher of the highest pair wins the hand.
One Pair – Any two cards paired of the same rank. If both players have the same pair, the kicker decides who wins the hand.
High Card – The highest card wins if neither player has one pair or better. If both players have the same highest card, the second highest card will decide who wins the hand.
Poker Positions Cheat Sheet
This graphic shows all the names of the positions in a full ring game. Each position has a name to assist with describing hand histories and discussing strategic concepts.
Before the flop, action starts with the Under the Gun player, and moves clockwise around the table, ending with the Big Blind. Once the flop is dealt, the first player to act will be the first player seated to the left of the Button. The player on the Button will always be in position after the flop, while the player on the Small Blind will always be out of position.
Preflop Poker Hands Chart
This poker cheat sheet shows you the hands you should open from each position if it’s folded around to you in cash games. The hands in the bottom left half of the grid are offsuit hands, while the hands in the top right are suited hands. The diagonal row in between contains the pocket pairs.
When playing these hands, you should always come in for a raise, and the ranges have been solved for 2.5bb from all positions except the small blind, where we should raise to 3bb. The ranges also assume 100bb starting stacks.
Playing where a player has already raised, you should be considerably tighter than these ranges, and mix in calling and reraising with a much tighter range of good pairs, suited broadways, suited connectors, and strong ace-high hands like AQ.
Facing a raise and a reraise, you should be extremely tight and only play the very best hands in your range, and always come in for another raise. A common mistake made by players is to call after this action, which opens up the possibility for the initial raiser to put in another raise. You should fold more speculative hands such as JTs and 88, and come in for another raise with hands such as QQ.
Poker can be an extremely complex game, and is very difficult to master, but these tips should get you playing a solid range of hands which will do well in most games. For further useful tips, you can also take a look at our poker strategy guide.
Using Poker Cheat Sheets Online
If you’re playing online, be aware that some sites do not allow the use of cheat sheets of any kind. Some will allow preflop charts, like the one above, but nothing further. Some are very loose on restrictions, and some will allow no outside help of any kind.
It’s important to check the rules of any site you play at, to ensure you don’t risk your account being permanently banned from the network. With recent crackdowns on bot rings and cheaters, sites can be very strict about enforcing their policies around cheat sheets. However, most of the online cardrooms we recommend will allow simple poker cheat sheets like the ones in this article.
FAQs
What is the strongest hand in poker?
With standard hand rankings, a Royal Flush – an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten all in the same suit – is the strongest possible hand in poker.
What is the best starting hand in poker?
In Texas Hold’em, a pair of Aces is the strongest possible starting hand in poker, and is around an 80% favorite to win an all-in.
What is the weakest starting hand in poker?
In an all-in situation, an offsuit 3 and 2 is the worst starting hand in poker. However, many players consider an offsuit 7 and 2 worse, as it has less playability since it cannot make a straight using two cards.
What is the best position in poker?
The strongest position to be in in poker is on the button, also known as the dealer position. This position means the player will act last after the flop, giving them a crucial advantage over other players. However, they will still require a solid hand to come into the pot.
