Suited and offsuit hands

A suited hand shares a suit. An offsuit hand does not. Ace-king suited and ace-king offsuit are not the same starting hand, and they do not take the same number of combinations.

Where they sit

There are 169 hand types. Thirteen are pairs, on the diagonal from AA to 22. Seventy-eight are suited, above that line. Seventy-eight are offsuit, below it. AKs is the cell next to AA. AKo is the cell under AA. If you can find those three, you can find the rest.

Why the chart treats them apart

AKs can make the nut flush. AKo cannot. AKs is also rarer: four combinations, against twelve for AKo. On this study chart the suited open is the brighter blue and the offsuit open is the deeper blue. A fold is the quiet charcoal cell.

From UTG the chart opens both AKs and AKo. It does not open every offsuit broadway. KJo opens. KTo does not. Later seats add the offsuit hands that UTG folds, because fewer players remain behind you.

Open the button chart and compare A5s with A5o. Same ranks, different row, different colour when the action is different. This is a study chart for 100bb 6-max cash, written for this site. It is not a solver run.