Only ever consider calling a raise with 10 points or more.Therefore, I have done a little bit of work and created a starting hand strategy using the Chen formula.

That's all well and good for helping you to compare the strength of different starting hand in Hold'em, but it doesn't really do much in the way of strategy for starting hand selection. The main reason behind using the Chen formula for different starting hands was so that you can categorize them based on the Sklansky and Malmuth hand groups table. So now we know how to work out how many points different hands are worth, what can we do with the numbers to help us with starting hand selection? Using Chen formula hand points.

0 - 1 card gap, both cards under Q = +1 point.

Subtracting 1 point for 1 gap and then adding it back again for lower cards seems a bit awkward I know, but that’s the way it works. 7.5 rounds up to 8)įor step 5, it’s easier to refer to this extra 1 point as a 'straight bonus' to save confusion between steps 4 and 5. JT, 75, 32 etc, this bonus point does not apply to pocket pairs)

Add 1 point if there is a 0 or 1 card gap and both cards are lower than a Q.

(Aces are high this step, so hands like A2, A3 etc.

Subtract points if their is a gap between the two cards.

KK = 16 points, 77 = 7 points, 22 = 5 points)

Multiply pairs by 2 of one card’s value.

Do not add any points for your lower card.

The process looks a little tricky at first, but it’s really quite straightforward and logical after you have worked through a handful of examples. Bill Chen is also the guy that wrote The Mathematics of Poker. It was created by Bill Chen for use in the book Hold’em Excellence by Lou Krieger. The Chen formula is a system for scoring different starting hands in Texas Hold’em.

Starting Hand Selection: Chen Formula : Sklansky Starting Hand Groups

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