So as you can see from these basic starting hand combinations in poker, you’re almost 3 times as likely to be dealt a non-paired hand like AK than a paired hand. See all 6 JJ pocket pair hand combinations: J J, J J, J J etc.), you would find that there are just 6 possible combinations. Similarly, if you wrote down all the possible combinations of a pocket pair like JJ (e.g. A K, A K, A K etc.), you would find that there are 16 possible combinations. If you were take a hand like AK and write down all the possible ways you could be dealt this hand from a deck of cards (e.g. Using combinatorics, you will be able to quickly work these numbers out and use them to help you make better decisions based on the probability of certain hands showing up.

How many straight draw combinations are there on a flop of AT7?.

How combinations of T9 are there on a flop of T32?.

Poker combinatorics involves working out how many different combinations of a hand exists in a certain situation.

Don’t get confused if I use them interchangeably, which I probably will.

Oh, and as you’ve probably noticed, 'combinatorics', 'hand combinations' and 'combos' refer to the same thing in poker. In this article, I will go through the basics of working out hand combinations or 'combos' in poker and give a few examples to help show you why it is useful. 'Combinatorics' is a big word for something that isn’t all that difficult to understand. For a great training video on poker combinatorics, check out this poker combos video.

Texas holdem poker hand probabilities