The Hutchison Point System for Texas Holdem is an excellent beginners guide to starting hand selection. While learning this system will not make you a favorite at next year's World Series of Poker, it will most definitely give the new Texas Holdem player an idea of the value of the pocket cards he or she is holding.
Why is this important? The main reason players lose money in poker is because they play too many cards. This system limits the number of starting hands to cards that have a much better than average chance of winning. While this guide will not help you with many aspects of Holdem, including flop, turn and river play, it will simplify the process of which cards to hang onto and which to dump before the flop. This, in my opinion is the biggest challenge for players new to the game, and thusly a good edition for the general strategy section.
~ STEP ONE: Add the value of your two cards using the scale below:
(A) Ace=16 pts | (K) King=14 pts | (Q) Queen=13 pts | (J) Jack=12 pts | (10) Ten=11 pts
All other cards are worth their face value, e.g., a (2)two is 2 pts., a (9)nine is 9 pts.
~ STEP TWO: If your two cards are paired, add 10 points to the total.
~ STEP THREE: If your two cards are both of the same suit, add four points.
~ STEP FOUR: If your cards are connected (i.e., next to each other in rank, as with a Jack and Ten, a Jack and a Queen, etc.) add three points.
~ STEP FIVE: If your cards have a one card "gap" (e.g., a Queen and a Ten, a Jack and a Nine, or an Ace and a Queen, etc.) add two points.
~ STEP SIX: If your cards have a two-card "gap" (e.g., an Ace and a Jack, a Queen and a Nine, or a Jack and an Eight, etc.) add one point.
~ STEP SEVEN: If you are in middle position add three points, and if you are in late position or on the button, add five points.
~ STEP EIGHT: Call a bet with 30 points or more, and raise or call a raise with 34 points or more.
By limiting yourself to these hands you will always be playing premium cards.
Monte-Carlo type simulations prove that any hand that earns 30 or more points under the first six steps of this system will win at least 17% of the hands in a ten-handed game. A random hand, of course, will win 10% of the time under Monte-Carlo conditions where every hand is played to the finish. Thus, a 30 point hand will win at a rate about 70% above chance expectations and this should provide beginning Hold 'em players a margin of safety as they progress in developing the other skills necessary for greater success in this interesting and complex game.
Slone
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