Colours show the earliest seat a hand opens from. Ranges are for raising when everyone before you has folded, at a 6-handed table with about 100 big blinds. Suited hands are above the diagonal, offsuit below.
This poker starting hands chart puts all 169 Texas Hold’em hands on one grid and shows which to raise from each seat when everyone before you has folded. From under the gun you open 18.6% of hands. On the button, it’s nearly half: 49.3%. Tap a seat to switch, or tap a hand to see every seat it opens from. It’s free, and it works on a phone at the table.
How to read a preflop chart
The grid is 13 × 13. Pairs run down the diagonal from AA to 22. Above the diagonal are suited hands, such as AKs. Below it are offsuit hands, such as AKo. That’s 13 pairs, 78 suited and 78 offsuit hands: 169 in total.
They aren’t equally common. A pair can be dealt 6 ways, a suited hand 4 ways and an offsuit hand 12 ways, out of 1,326 possible two-card hands. So a range that “looks” small on the grid can be bigger than you think if it’s full of offsuit hands.
Starting hands by position
| Seat | Opens | Typical worst hands in the range |
|---|---|---|
| UTG (first to act) | 18.6% | 22, A2s, K9s, T9s, 87s, ATo, KJo |
| MP (hijack) | 22.8% | K7s, T8s, 97s, 76s, KTo, QTo |
| CO (cutoff) | 32.1% | K4s, Q7s, 75s, 54s, A7o, A5o, K9o, JTo |
| BTN (button) | 49.3% | K2s, Q2s, 63s, 43s, A2o, K8o, J8o, 87o |
| SB (folded to you) | 42.1% | Q4s, J6s, 64s, A2o, K8o, T9o |
The later you act, the wider you can open, because fewer players are left to wake up with a big hand and you’ll play the rest of the hand in position. That’s why 87s is a raise under the gun but 87o only becomes one on the button.
What the chart doesn’t cover
- Facing a raise. Once someone has opened, you need a tighter range to call or re-raise. These charts are for raising first in.
- Full ring. With nine players, the first three seats should be tighter than the UTG range here.
- Short stacks. Under about 25 big blinds, small pairs and suited connectors lose value and big aces gain.
- The big blind. You defend there with a much wider range, because you already have a bet in.
To check how a hand does against another, use the poker odds calculator. If you’re new, start with the poker hand rankings.