The first thing you must understand when you play Texas Hold'em is which starting hands are good and which ones should be folded. Though it depends on the number of people in the game and the type of game, this is a general guide to use when you are just starting out.

# AA, KK
These Big Pairs are by far the strongest hands that you can get and have the best odds of beating any other hand. You should always raise and re-raise whenever possible.

# QQ, JJ, AKs
These are some of the strongest starting hands, you should feel confident to raise and re-raise with these. AKs is the weakest of this set of hands but still a good pre-flop hand.

# TT, AK, AQs, AJs, KQs
Weaker than the Big Pair hands, these are still good starting hands. You should call and raise, but be wary of re-raising though.

# 99, AQ, ATs, KJs, KTs, QJs
Even though these are strong hands it is best not to automatically raise. You should raise with 99 or AQ from any position if there have not been any raises and shouldn't re-raise unless playing a particularly weak player.
Next strongest are ATs and KJs, you should also raise with these hands but avoid re-raising.
Faced with a raise it would be best to call when there are only one or two raises in the pot but you should fold if the betting is heavy, you should certainly fold if you hold less then 99 or AQ.

# 88, AJ, KQ, QTs, A9s, JTs, AT, A8s
Only be tempted to raise with 88, AJ or KQ, as the other hands are not strong enough. Call only one or two raises otherwise it would be best to fold.

# KJ, 77, QJ, KT, QT, JT, A7s, K9s, Q9s, T9s, J9s
These are weaker hands but can still be playable. It is best not to raise and to only call a raise if you have 77. Fold if faced with a raise with anything less than 77.

# 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, A5s, A6s, A4s, A3s, A2s
These are the weakest hands that you should even think of playing, generally you would only call with these hands if the previous players also called. Faced with a raise it would be advisable to fold.
