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Traffic Lights System for Ranking & Weighting Poker Hands for Bets

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Traffic Lights: Green, Amber and Red are used to rank and weight 2-card hands based on probabilities of winning games. The system gives each card a score. Extra points are given for: Pairs, Suited and Connected cards. This is justified because it increases the Ways-of-Winning and the number of outs. A pair-in-the-hand often wins the game. Having Suited Cards increases the chances of a Flush. Connected Cards increase the chances of a straight. Having two Court Cards increases the chances of getting a high pair.

Generally any pair with one card <7, except A & K is a poor bet , with Q & J combinations only worthy for 2-3 players. Number of Ways of winning is an extra consideration which is incorporated into the bonus scores system for pairs connected and suited and all A cards. The scoring system is based on the probabilities of winning with a hand of two cards.
See Resources for analysis of how the hand scores relate to the probabilities.

These Traffic Lights Rules is related to the Thrice is Nice Rule-of-Thumb. NOTE: There are 169 possible two-card combos that can be dealt. Of these about 30 meet the criteria below (>7) => about 1:5 deals.

RULES OF THUMB for Starting Pairs || RED shows extra options-few players

No Card < 7 EXCEPT A & K Combos SUITED
All => AA AK AQ AJ A10 A9 A8 A7 |+| SUITED A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 early
All => KK KQ KJ K10 K9 K8, K7      |+| SUITED K6 K5 K4 K3 K2 early few players
All => QQ QJ Q10                            |+| SUITED Q9 Q8 Q7 early few players
All => JJ                                           |+| SUITED J10
PAIRS > 7                                         (others early for Triples)
Adjacent and Adjoining Cards >6 & SUITED

• Aim to play fewer players with weaker cards => play in late position or natural low numbers. ONLY PLAY VERY GOOD CARDS AT ALL TIMES => random hits are rare and expensive.
• On the button or one before can play weaker hands mostly A => 2, K => 2 (unsuited) in shoot-out, Q => 7 (suited), but BOTH > 6 is safer. Expect weaker opponents, bet to steal the blinds when you can, reduced competition. Can try suited connectors as well.
• ACE with kicker hands <7 are problematic as more A's out there => only play with 3-4 players and LATE in hand. Except very late in the 'game shoot' out, when few players remain
• Playout flop overcards, with A & K combinations => worth the ride with small bets or checks, watch for small card matches in betting
• Ride with a best, or second best, pair match, 'bird in the hand', but watch the betting as what you probably have is obvious, and look at what others may have. Early small bet is good for testing waters. You don't have to have a pair to bet and win with one or two overcards - the higher the better - shoot out! you may get lucky or win by having the highest card.
• Pre-bet Early for AA, KK, QQ, (2-3 BB) only when playing early, rarely call other weaker hands pre-bet unless have gun hand. Range of card strength of opponents varies, but generally they will have good cards => need to be sure you can beat them. Reason to Pre-Bet before BB gets to 100 is to (1) Collect blinds (2) Reduce the number of players, (3) Eliminating poor hands that can jag a win, so cream of the pot will be left. Prebet early works better as once bet made many will double up (4) Increase pot size. (5)Be aggreesive. BUT reduces hamds you can play later if you lose. => Better to use position as the driver. Raise from late position as often as possible, but those in will continue with bad hands. Raise to steal the blinds. If few in hand already or late when BBs are >100, prebet raise not needed.
• Early => Look-see with weaker hands (PLUS Suited Connectors => no order required cf straight) and low value pairs <7, cost is low for blinds lees than 100
• Middle => Play tight with Premium Hands
• Late => Higher Cards are better A K Q J its a shoot out! Straights and flushes are less important. Low pairs come back to the fore, Play weaker cards, try for Both Cards >7
• Key error=> Don't continue with good (winning?) hand when high bet against you !! especially caused by set and triple => full house from a pair in hand => key way of losing => Double check any raise for last card, especially when what you have is obvious!!! Read the signs in ways of losing + beware of triples. Your opponent can guess your hand especially with single high pair. High bluff is rare.
• Don't Look-See with moderate hands except very late as you will be killed of by pre-flop bets. Stick to premier set of hands,'guns' early => Pre-bet more often to reduce competition if betting early
• Playing Late with few players (Blinds are likely to be weak) => Extra Cards – A6, A5, A4, A3, A2; K10-K5, Q9, Q8, Q7; J10, J9. Adjacent cards unsuited greater than 7. More of a Shoot Out as weaker hands less likely. The better your position, including 1 BB the more speculative hands you can play. Consider a raise to 2BB to steal the blinds.
• Play ALL formula/position starting hands as being too conservative means you do not see enough flops and cancel too much luck!!.
• 3 is the magic player number for weaker hands=> Kx and Qx are good options for 2-3 players (shoot-outs)
• Adjust bet size as a strategy => big with winning hand to kill off opponents straight etc. Small to test waters and suck in opponents when you have a winner. Moderate to reduce opponents. Late disclosure wins more chips.
• Straights and flushes are not afected by number of players like pairs (play anytime) => strong look-see potential early especially suited connectors >7. But late it is too costly to chase completions
• Beware 3 cards in flop (not necesarily in sequence) could make a straight PLUS three suites cards => flush
• For large Pre-Bet style games => Play very tight, wait for the end-game. Only play gun hands. Only play VERY LATE to avoid being swamped. Early on there are too many players with miracle hands. Pre-betting stops when blinds are > 200.

The System

Card Scores

• A => 6
• K => 5
• Q => 4
• J,T(10) => 3
• 9,8,7 => 2
• 6,5,4,3,2 => 1

Extra Scores

• Pair => extra 4
• Suited => extra 2
• Connected => extra 1
• Suited & Connected => extra 3

Traffic Lights Ranking

Simplified Traffic Lights Ranking Rules

Traffic Lights Ranking - Full Details & Hand Listings

Note: Pairs with more than two ways of winning are shown in RED

Lime Green - Best Bets Rules

• Pairs AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT
• AK, KQ, AQ, AJ, A10 suited and unsuited
• KJ, K10 suited
• A9, A8, A7 Suited
• A6, A5, A4, A3, A2 Suited [Less than Four Players]

Lime Green Hand Rank Scores

• AA => 16
• AKsc => 14
• KK => 14
• AQs => 13
• AKoc => 12
• KQsc => 12
• QQ => 12
• AQo => 11
• AJs => 11
• ATs => 11
• KJs => 11
• KTs => 11
• A9,8,7s => 10
• KQoc => 10
• QJsc => 10
• JJ => 10
• TT => 10
• AJo => 9
• ATo => 9
• A6,5,4,3,2 suited => 9

Green - Good Bets Rules

• QT, JT suited
• KJ, KT unsuited
• A9, A8, A7 suited and unsuited
• A6, A5, A4, A3, A2 suited
• K9, K8, K7, K6, K5, K4, K3, K2 suited

Green Hand Rank Scores

• K9,8,7s => 9
• QTs => 9
• JTsc => 9
• A9,8,7o => 8
• KJo => 8
• KTo => 8
• K6,5,4,3,2s => 8
• QJoc => 8

Orange - Cautious Bet Rules

• Pairs: 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
• Any hands with BOTH cards 7 or higher
• A6, A5, A4, A3, A2 unsuited
• Q6, Q5, Q4, Q3, Q2 suited

Orange Hand Rank Scores

• Q9,8,7s => 8
• Q6,5,4,3,2s => 8
• T9sc => 8
• 99 => 8
• 88 => 8
• 77 => 8
• A6,5,4,3,2o => 7
• K9,8,7o => 7
• QTo => 7
• JToc => 7
• J9,8,7s => 7
• T8,7s => 7
• 98sc => 7
• 87sc => 7
• 98sc => 7
• Q9,8,7o => 6
• J9,8,7o => 5
• T8,7o => 5
• T9oc => 6
• 97s => 6
• 98oc => 5
• 87oc => 5
• 97o => 4

Red - Rare Bet Rules

No bets when one card is < 7

EXCEPT

Cards BOTH suited & connected

Q6, Q5, Q4, Q3, Q2 suited

J6, J5, J4, J3, J2 suited

T6, T5, T4, T3, T2 suited

Red Hand Rank Scores

• K6,5,4,3,2o => 6
• J6,5,4,3,2s => 6
• T6,5,4,3,2s => 6
• 76sc => 6
• 75,4,3,2o => 6
• 66 => 6
• 55 => 6
• 44 => 6
• 33 => 6
• 22 => 6
• Q6,5,4,3,2o => 5
• 96,5,4,3,2s => 5
• 86,5,4,3,2s => 5
• 76oc => 5
• J6,5,4,3,2o => 4
• T6,5,4,3,2o => 4
• 65sc => 4
• 64,3,2s => 4
• 54sc => 4
• 53,2s => 4
• 43sc => 4
• 42s => 4
• 32sc => 4
• 96,5,4,3,2o => 3
• 86,5,4,3,2o => 3
• 75,4,3,2s => 3
• 65oc => 3
• 54oc => 3
• 43oc => 3
• 32oc => 3
• 64,3,2o => 2
• 53,2o => 2
• 42o => 2

Two card Selection for the System

Counts

Poker Truisms

• Position,
• Patience
• Confidence
• Be the aggressor, not the victim, nor the limper
• What matters more than what you have is what your opponents think you have - foundation of bluffing.
• Seldom call an all-in (pre-flop) with less than AA or KK.
• 80% of the time, a large bet/raise means 2 pair or a set.
• Start with a pair, End with a pair.
• The Average Winning Hand in hold’em is 2 pair.
• Remember, AK and AQ are just drawing hands - You will miss the flop 73% of the time.
• The good stuff is generally in the small-medium pots.
• Take as much chance out of the game as you can. Read the signs in the flop and bets and the table mood.
• It’s often the good hands or failed big cards that you that get you into trouble.
• A good player knows when to fold a good hand.
• The other players miss the flop as often as you do and get a full house with cards you fold as often as you do.
• Suited cards are better than non-suited, but not by as much as you might think (+5%).
• Having both start > 6 gives two ways of getting a pair and they provide a kicker for each other => increases the odds for a winning pair.
• Ace Rag (unsuited) Ace with a low kicker A9, A8, A7, A6, A5, A4, A3, A2 are danger cards, generally fold unless few players remain in the hand. Same applies for K
• Small to medium pairs unsuited are of low value => position and number of players is the pkey. Your pair will hit a set about 10% of the time
• Push for a win when you are in control. Let go the risky races with uncertainty, fold.
• The probability of complete a straight with 2 connected cards is about 2.6%
• The probability of completing a flush with 2 suited cards is about 2.4% (so flush is harder).
• Tthe probability of completing either a straight or flush with a 2 suited connected cards is about 2.8% + 2.4% = 5.2%.
• The probability of completing a straight with 3 connected cards is about 13.1%.
• The probability of completing a flush with 3 suited cards is about 25.2%. (double that for completing a straight).
• Two Times Rule: After the flop, multiplying the number of outs by 2 gives an estimate of the probability of hitting your outs by the next card.
• Four Times Rule: After the flop, multiplying the number of outs by 4 gives an estimate of the probability of hitting your outs by the river.
• EXTRA
• Only go all in in desperation with few players and seldom as a call - too risky. Better when you see the flop cards
• Play with 1-2 overcards after the flop if cost is small
• Keep late position plays with weaker cards to A and K, best >7 and Suited
• 2 cards >7 works because have 2 pairing options, both supported by good kicker
• Play from gun and single bind as single pair shoot-out => expect weaker hands with 1 to 3 players only involved - A & K are best
• Use Natural low player numbers early, by playing late, otherwise too many options for other players and also gets swamped by larhe pre-flops
• Avoid Calling All-ins - high risk especially with more than one other player