As much as poker is like a sport, it is quite different from most individual and team sports when it comes to setting records. The truth is that the best poker players, and the best poker hands ever played, are not necessarily a matter of a record, nor can they be defined statistically.
There are numerous experts who provide an enormous amount of statistics related to the results of poker tournaments and the players' winnings, although how that information is interpreted generates much debate. Therefore, creating a list of the best 10, 15 or 20 poker hands in history is an impossible task if the list maker wants to adhere strictly to 'objective' criteria. There is too much ambiguity both in how to make those ratings and in the history of the game itself, especially if we go back to before there was widespread coverage of poker news and televised poker, when you have to rely on uncertain (and often exaggerated) stories about poker hands.
Even with all these considerations in mind, we still dare to list the 5 most memorable poker hands. No doubt, many of them would enter most 'best poker hand ever' lists because of their historical significance, the impressive winnings associated with them and their value as pure entertainment.
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We order these hands chronologically (most recent to oldest) and, before starting, we add that we have not wanted to include hands made in online poker tournaments. You may remember other better hands, but we have already said that this list is made in a subjective way.
Adrian Mateos' big bluff to Johnny Lodden – May 2015
At the top of the list, we have chosen a mythical hand, which was played at the Main Event of the EPT 2015 Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Yes, it is the tremendous bluff that Adrian Mateos placed on the Norwegian Johnny Lodden, which may have been the best hand of 2015. This is one of the most outstanding players in live tournaments and online poker in Spanish.
Two of the best players at the table face to face, Mateos had a J-10 hand and Lodden 5-5. The cards on the flop were A-3-9, the next card would be a 4 and, despite having no hands of value, Adrian decided to bet 650,000 and the Norwegian decided to call the bet. Far from collapsing, Adrian decided to go all in despite clearly losing to his rival's hand. Lodden decided to fold and the Spanish player showed his cards to create despair in the Norwegian.
Duhamel beats Matt Affleck – July 2010
With only 15 players left in the WSOP Main Event, Matt Affleck was eliminated in a huge hand against Jonathan Duhamel, who would end up winning. Duhamel was all in on the turn with Affleck's ace pair against his Js partner and an unfinished project. Duhamel gets the ladder at the river. A moment that all poker fans could experience and that will surely remain in the retina of many for years to come.
Ernest Wiggins wins in four rounds to eliminate Hellmuth – June 2010
Heads-up Tournament Poker Hand-by-hand
While there are certainly a few crazy straight flush hands on poker that we could have included, when it comes to going against the odds it's hard to beat this one from the first chapter of PokerStars Big Game, in which Phil Hellmuth stood up to the 'unpredictable' amateur Ernest Wiggins. Hellmuth had A-9, Wiggins K-K, and on the flop had come 9-10-9. 'Okay, I'm going all in,' said Hellmuth, and Wiggins called him instantly.
At Hellmuth's request, they decide to go four rounds, using one of their favourite poker strategies to minimise variance. Wiggins agrees, and, well, the title can give you an idea of what happened. After Hellmuth wins in the first round, Wiggins takes out a king and wins the second, gets a project colour and takes the third, and then the king appears in the fourth round.
Battle between Hansen and Negreanu for over half a million – August 2006
It was the first hand with a jackpot over half a million in High Stakes Poker, the famous TV show with high stakes cash games involving most professional poker players and some amateurs. If you watched this program, you will remember this. Gus Hansen went up with a 5-5, Daniel Negreanu bet with 6-6, Hansen called it and, on the flop, came 9-6-5-, which gave both players three of a kind. More was bet in that round, and then a 5 appeared in the turn that gave poker to Hansen. Hansen bet, Negreanu called, and finally went all in after the 8, which gave Hansen the $575,700 jackpot.
Scotty Nguyen celebrates his victory before seeing his rival's cards – May 1998
Head to head for the title of the WSOP Main Event, and Scotty Nguyen goes all in with a 8-8-9-9-8 on the flop, putting Kevin McBride in a tight spot for the rest of his stack. McBride had a Q-10, which meant that if he called the bet, he would play with the full house on the community cards. While he was thinking on it, Nguyen stood up and raised his beer saying 'If you see the bet, it ends here, baby! In the end McBride called it, fulfilling Nguyen's prediction, who showed a J-9 that formed a better full house.
To many, heads up is the purest form of poker. Playing heads up forces players to utilize many different skills in order to be successful. Some of the many skills include the ability to read hands, bluff (in correct situations), adjust constantly to your opponents playing styles, and value bet thin.
Another important skill that heads up players must develop is hand selection. When first starting out, some players will play nearly every hand (even out of position). They seem to think that they need to over compensate for heads up play. Other players will not play nearly enough hands causing them to lose money due to the blinds and/or their opponent's steals.
But just like anything else in poker (some will say life too), balance is important. In regards to heads up poker hand selection, you must find a middle ground between playing too many hands and not playing enough. And to help with that, I have created a basic starting hand guide below.
HU Poker Starting Hands - On the Button (In Position)
The button in heads up poker is no different then the button in a 6-max or full ring game - you will have position throughout the entire hand.
Because of the positional advantage, the button is where you should have the widest hand range. Many players will start by opening 100% of their hands and slowly shave their range back to adjust to how often they're being played back at by their opponent.
At the bare minimum, I will open up every suited connector, 1 and 2-gapper, broadways and pairs. I will also open any ace, king and most of my queen and jack hands with a kicker of 5 and above (all queens and jacks if suited). Any suited ten-x hand is good enough for me to open as well. If you were to look at all of these hands in Poker Stove, my range would be in the neighborhood of 70% at minimum.
Keep in mind that your range should fluctuate somewhat depending mostly on your opponent, game flow and at times even your image. If your opponent is 3-betting you relentlessly, you should open less, folding out hands you can't defend to 3-bets with. A majority of the hands you open you should be able to defend or 4-bet. On the other hand, if your opponent folds a lot pre or plays fit or fold on the flop, you can widen your hand range, sometimes playing as much as 100% of hands dealt.
When facing a 3-bet, I will have a slightly smaller range. I will generally defend versus 3-bets with any pair, any broadway, any suited ace and about half of my suited kings and queens (like K9/Q8 suited and above). I also defend with some suited connectors and one gappers like J8s or T9s. It's really villain dependent, but this should give you an idea of where I start at least.
HU Poker Starting Hands - In the Big Blind (Out of Position)
Heads Up Tournament Poker Hand By Hand Printable
When playing heads up poker, the player in the big blind will be the player who is out of position for the entire hand. This is a huge disadvantage and because of this, you should tighten up the range of hands that you defend with.
When facing a 3-bet, I will have a slightly smaller range. I will generally defend versus 3-bets with any pair, any broadway, any suited ace and about half of my suited kings and queens (like K9/Q8 suited and above). I also defend with some suited connectors and one gappers like J8s or T9s. It's really villain dependent, but this should give you an idea of where I start at least.
HU Poker Starting Hands - In the Big Blind (Out of Position)
Heads Up Tournament Poker Hand By Hand Printable
When playing heads up poker, the player in the big blind will be the player who is out of position for the entire hand. This is a huge disadvantage and because of this, you should tighten up the range of hands that you defend with.
As a rule of thumb, I will defend any pair, any suited ace, A9 off-suit and up, almost all of my broadways and suited connectors/1-gappers like J8s and maybe T9s. Looking at Poker Stove, my hand range will be close to 35% or 40% out of position. About 10% of these hands (suited connectors, suited kings, some suited queens) I will 3-bet with preflop.
Again, it's important to realize that this is more or less a default hand range. You should be adjusting the hands you're defending with according to how tight/loose your opponent is. The tighter your opponent, the tighter the hand range you should be defending with. The looser your opponent, the wider you can defend.
HU Poker Starting Hands - Summary
It should be painfully obvious that your opening hand range in a heads up game is much wider than what it would be in a 6-max or full ring game. If your preflop hand range isn't this wide (or close), you're too tight and you should widen up as it is likely costing you money.
At the same time, I hope that you noticed that none of my preflop ranges outlined above are set in stone. Starting hand ranges in any poker game shouldn't be. You should be basing your preflop hand ranges based on your opponents, game flow and image. Your exact hand range will always be fluctuating.
So while a guide like the one I posted above will definitely help you in becoming a better heads up player, knowing how to adjust for the different in-game variables will help you in becoming not only a profitable heads up player, but a profitable poker player overall.