A tight-aggressive baseline on one page: four hand tiers, what to do with each from every seat, and the folding discipline that separates beginners who last from beginners who rebuy.
| Tier | Hands | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | AA · KK · QQ · JJ · AKs · AKo | Raise from anywhere; re-raise a raiser |
| Strong | TT · 99 · AQs · AQo · AJs · KQs | Raise from any seat; call a single raise |
| Playable | 88–66 · ATs · KJs · QJs · JTs · AJo · KQo | Raise from middle or late; fold early to a raise |
| Speculative | 55–22 · A9s–A2s · T9s · 98s · 87s | Late position or cheap only — fold to big raises |
| Everything else | Fold. Especially offsuit junk that looks pretty — Q7o, J4o, K2o. | |
| Early (first seats) | Middle | Late (button, cutoff) | Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium + Strong only | Add the Playable tier | Add Speculative; steal with raises | Defend selectively — you act first all hand |
Before the flop, find your hand's tier, check your seat, and do what the row says. That's the entire method. It will fold a lot — that's not a flaw. Most money lost at low stakes is lost before the flop, with hands that looked too pretty to throw away.
Everyone gets two cards. The two players left of the dealer button post blinds, and action moves clockwise: fold, call the big blind, or raise. Position matters because the button acts last on every later street — information the early seats never get. That's why the same hand is a raise on the button and a fold under the gun.
The baseline plays few hands and plays them with raises rather than calls. Raising wins pots two ways — better hand, or everyone folds — while calling wins only one. When a hand isn't strong enough to raise, it's usually not strong enough to play.
Suited cards are worth one tier, not three — a flush arrives about 6% of the time you start suited. Small pairs are set-mining hands: cheap flop, hit trips or get out. And the Playable tier is playable because of position — the same cards from the first seat are a leak.
One honest caveat: no static chart is optimal poker. Real play adjusts to stack sizes, opponents and table dynamics. This baseline is deliberately tight so its mistakes are cheap ones; it's a floor to stand on, not a ceiling.
What are the best starting hands? Aces, kings, queens, jacks, and ace-king — the premium tier, raised from any seat.
Should I always fold everything else early? From early position, close to it. The chart's discipline is the point.