<p>It depends on how you define &quot;starting hand.&quot;</p>
<p>There are 52*51=2652 <strong>permutations</strong> of any two cards.</p>
<p>There are (52*51)/2 <strong>combinations</strong> of two cards, if you treat (Card A, Card B) as being equal to (Card B, Card A), e.g. ace of spades, king of hearts as being equal to king of hearts, ace of spades). the total is 1326.</p>
<p>There are 169 <strong>different hands</strong> consisting of the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>13 pairs (one for each of 13 denominations from A to 2.
78 combinations of (X, Y) of the same suit. That is (Ace of spades, king of spades) is considered equivalent to (ace of hearts, king of hearts).
78 combinations of (x,Y) of two different suits. That is (ace of spades, king of hearts) is considered equivalent to (ace of clubs, king of diamonds).</p>
<p>13+78+78=169 different two card hands.</p>
<p>Reconciling different hand combinations:</p>
<p>13 pairs times 6 combinations= 78 pair combinations.
78 suited combinations times 4 (suits)= 312 suited combinations.
78 unsuited combinations times 12 =936 unsuited combinations.</p>
<p>78+312+936= 1326 hand combinations.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-10-19T23:03:19.357Z
2011-10-19T23:03:19.357Z
2020-06-17T09:01:24.697Z
Tom Au
<p><strong>1326</strong></p>

<p>According to Wikipedia,  using the formula (52 * 51) / 2.</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_probability_%28Texas_hold_%27em%29" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_probability_%28Texas_hold_%27em%29</a></p>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-11-15T18:33:23.457Z
2010-11-15T18:33:23.457Z
Chris Persichetti
<p><strong>169</strong></p>

<p>While Chris is technically correct, as far as strategy is concerned, there is no difference between having an Ace &amp; King of spades vs. Ace &amp; King of hearts. There is however a difference between having a suited Ace &amp; King vs. a non-suited Ace &amp; King. Looking at it that way, there are 169 possible starting hands.</p>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-11-15T19:30:19.467Z
I was thinking of looking up that number.  Guess it's farther down in the wiki article.
Chris Persichetti
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-11-15T21:05:35.903Z
@Chris TL;DR? ;)
Jon Hadley
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-11-15T22:19:52.220Z
@John Exactly :).
Chris Persichetti
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-10-20T16:02:01.593Z
This is a very useful link.  It shows the starting hands in a nice grid format:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_hold_'em_starting_hands
Neal Tibrewala
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-11-15T18:41:04.467Z
2010-11-15T18:41:04.467Z
GSto
<p>How many possible starting hands are there in Texas Hold'em?</p>

<poker-texas-holdem>
Starting Hands in Texas Hold'em
Tyler Carter
# Starting Hands in Texas Hold'em

(Asked by: username_0 on 2010-11-15)

How many possible starting hands are there in Texas Hold'em?

**Tags:** poker-texas-holdem


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2010-11-15. Score: 14 | Accepted answer

**169**

While Chris is technically correct, as far as strategy is concerned, there is no difference between having an Ace & King of spades vs. Ace & King of hearts. There is however a difference between having a suited Ace & King vs. a non-suited Ace & King. Looking at it that way, there are 169 possible starting hands.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I was thinking of looking up that number.  Guess it's farther down in the wiki article.  
> **username_4**: @Chris TL;DR? ;)  
> **username_2**: @John Exactly :).  
> **username_5**: This is a very useful link.  It shows the starting hands in a nice grid format:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_hold_'em_starting_hands  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2011-10-19. Score: 6

It depends on how you define "starting hand."

There are 52\*51=2652 **permutations** of any two cards.

There are (52\*51)/2 **combinations** of two cards, if you treat (Card A, Card B) as being equal to (Card B, Card A), e.g. ace of spades, king of hearts as being equal to king of hearts, ace of spades). the total is 1326.

There are 169 **different hands** consisting of the following:

> 13 pairs (one for each of 13 denominations from A to 2.
> 78 combinations of (X, Y) of the same suit. That is (Ace of spades, king of spades) is considered equivalent to (ace of hearts, king of hearts).
> 78 combinations of (x,Y) of two different suits. That is (ace of spades, king of hearts) is considered equivalent to (ace of clubs, king of diamonds).
>
> 13+78+78=169 different two card hands.
>
> Reconciling different hand combinations:
>
> 13 pairs times 6 combinations= 78 pair combinations.
> 78 suited combinations times 4 (suits)= 312 suited combinations.
> 78 unsuited combinations times 12 =936 unsuited combinations.
>
> 78+312+936= 1326 hand combinations.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2010-11-15. Score: 4

**1326**

According to Wikipedia, using the formula (52 \* 51) / 2.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_probability_%28Texas_hold_%27em%29>


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