How to read a preflop range chart

A preflop chart is a map of every starting hand in Texas Hold'em. There are 169 of them. Thirteen are pairs. Seventy-eight are suited. Seventy-eight are offsuit. One cell is a hand type, not one exact suit: AKs means any of the four ways to hold ace-king in the same suit.

The diagonal

Pairs run down the diagonal, from AA in the corner to 22 at the far end. Above that line the two cards share a suit. Below it they do not. If you can find AA, AKs, and AKo, you can read the rest of the grid.

The colors

On Open Preflop a blue cell is an open-raise. A cell that sinks into the background is a fold. This chart does not show calls, and it does not show mixed frequencies. It answers one question: if everyone folds to you, do you raise or do you fold?

Position

UTG acts first, so the blue region is the smallest. The hijack and the cutoff open more. The button opens the most, because only the blinds are left and you will have position if they call. The small blind opens less than the button. You will play the rest of the hand out of position, so the chart tightens. The big blind does not open at all. If the action folds around, the hand is over and you take the blinds.

What this chart is not

These ranges were written for this site as a study baseline. They are not a solver run. They are not copied from a paid library. A real table asks you to leave the chart when the players, the stack, or the rake change. Learn the shape first. Adjust second.

Open the button chart and find a hand you actually play.