Poker Preflop Charts: Opening Ranges by Position

How to read a preflop chart

A preflop chart is a 13 by 13 grid of the 169 starting hands you can be dealt. Pairs run down the diagonal, suited hands sit above it and offsuit hands below. A highlighted square means play the hand; everything else is a fold. The share quoted with each chart counts combinations rather than squares, which is why UTG's 22 squares come to 9.8% of the hands you are actually dealt — a pocket pair is only 6 of the 1,326 possible holdings, a suited hand 4 and an offsuit hand 12.

Why the button plays 4.1 times as many hands as UTG

Under the gun, five players still act after you, so the chance one of them holds a better hand is high and you will act first on every later street. On the button only the blinds remain and you act last after the flop, which lets you win pots with weaker hands. That is the whole argument for position, and these charts put a number on it: 9.8% from UTG against 40.0% from the button.

The big blind chart is a different question

The five opening charts answer "it folds to me — do I raise?". The big blind chart answers "someone already raised — do I call?", which is why it is the widest of the six at 44.5%. You are getting a price no other seat gets, and you only have to beat one raiser rather than everybody left behind you. Facing a re-raise instead, see the 3-bet range charts.

6-max versus full ring

These are six-handed charts. At a nine-handed table the early seats have three more players behind them, so tighten UTG and the seat after it further; the cutoff and button barely change, because the number of players left to act from those seats is the same. They also assume deep stacks. With roughly 15 big blinds or fewer, as happens late in tournaments, the whole framework changes and you want the push/fold chart instead.

Where these ranges come from

They are the 6-max 100bb ranges from our range library, which is the same source behind the range equity calculator's library presets — so a range you read here is the range you get when you load it. They are opinionated rather than solver output: tuned for 6-max 100bb at micro and low stakes, where opponents call too much. Widen the late seats against passive tables and tighten everything against good ones.

Want one on paper? There is a free printable preflop chart PDF. For a single hand, every square above links to its own page with equity, position-by-position advice and exact flop odds.