AKs, AKo, and pairs

Hold'em deals two hole cards. Ranks run A, K, Q, J, T, 9 down to 2, and T is the ten. The counts below are the ways a 52-card deck deals those two cards.

1. 01Pair

   AA

   Two cards of the same rank. AA is two aces, and a 52-card deck can deal that pair 6 ways. 99–77 is not one hand. It is the three pairs 99, 88 and 77. 66–22 is read the same way.

2. 02Suited

   AKs

   The s does not mean strong. It means the same suit. AKs is an ace and a king of one suit, and there are 4 ways to deal it. In JTs, T9s and 98s, T is the ten. The ranks are next to each other.

3. 03Offsuit

   AKo

   The o means the suits differ. AKo is an ace and a king of different suits, and there are 12 ways to deal it. 72o is a seven and a two of different suits. It is not in this chart's open piles.

• Deck
• Starting-hand chart
• Pairs
• Hand rankings
• Betting rounds
• Short Deck
• Definitions