Hold’em poker starting hands

All poker players want to know what are the “best” starting hands to play at Texas Hold’em. My answer is whose book are you reading? Everyone knows pocket aces is the number one hand in a standard ten-player game. What are the other hands? The first half-dozen hands are almost standard regardless of whose book you read. From the seventh to tenth hand you might find some deviations depending on whom you talk to or read about. Here is my list of the 10 “best” starting hands:

            A-A - “pocket aces”

            K-K - “cowboys”

            Q-Q - “ladies”

            A-K - (suited) “big slick”

            A-Q - (suited) “little slick”

            J-J - “fishhooks”

            K-Q - (suited) “royal couple”

            A-J - (suited) “blackjack”

            A-K - also called “big slick”

            10-10 - “dimes”