Practical Poker Math

3. Odds in Texas Hold’em
In a full 10-handed Hold’em game, some reasonable expectations
about starting hands and some derived points of
inference from those expectations are as follows:
♦ Once in an average of approximately every 55
hands (5.5 rounds) seen by you or by any one of
your opponents, you or that specific opponent will
receive a pair of Jacks or better in the hole. The
corollary follows.
♦ Once in roughly every 5.5 hands (slightly less often
than twice every round) someone — anyone at the
table — will receive a pair of Jacks or better in the
hole.
♦ Playing online at 4 tables simultaneously with an
average of 60 hands per hour per table, someone at
one of the 4 tables will have a pair of Jacks or
better in the hole roughly every 80 seconds.
♦ Slightly more often than once every other round (1
in 17 hands) you or any specific one of your opponents
will receive a Pocket Pair.
♦ On average, for every 17 sets of hole cards dealt,
which is slightly more than once every other hand,
someone at the table will hold a Pocket Pair.
♦ With over 80% of possible starting hands designated
as rags, with not every non-rag hand
playable in every situation, and with the exception
of blinds and special situations, UPWARDS OF
90% OF ANY PLAYER’S STARTING HANDS
SHOULD BE DEEMED UNPLAYABLE.
♦ On average there will be almost 2 non-rag hands
dealt per round. If 3 or more non-blind players pay
50