How to read a poker range chart
A range chart puts every starting hand in hold'em on one grid and shows what to do with each. This guide covers how the grid is laid out, what the colours mean, and how to read the shorthand written under it.
Updated
The grid holds all 169 hands
Each row and each column is a rank, from the ace down to the two. Where a row and a column meet is one starting hand.
- Pairs run down the diagonal, from AA in the top left corner to 22 in the bottom right.
- Suited hands sit above the diagonal. AKs is the second cell of the top row.
- Offsuit hands sit below it. AKo is the first cell of the second row.
That makes 13 pairs, 78 suited hands and 78 offsuit hands: 169 cells.
A share of hands is not a share of cells
The cells are the same size, but the hands in them are not equally likely. There are 6 ways to be dealt a given pair, 4 ways to be dealt a given suited hand and 12 ways to be dealt a given offsuit hand: 1,326 combinations in all.
When a chart says a seat opens 37% of hands, it means 37% of those 1,326 combinations. The cutoff chart above colours 80 of its 169 cells, which is 47% of the grid and 37% of hands.
What the colours mean
On these charts amber is a raise, red is all-in, teal is a call, violet is a limp and grey is a fold. Other sites choose other colours, so read the legend under a chart before you read the chart.
A cell in two colours is a hand the solver plays more than one way, and the width of each colour is how often. In the chart below, the big blind against a button open, KQo is call 56%, 3-bet 44%.
Plays that share a cell earn almost the same, so choosing one of them costs next to nothing. The written range under a chart lists a split hand under the play it makes most often.
One chart answers one spot
A chart is for one seat, one stack size and one history of the hand so far. Change any of the three and the chart changes.
With 40 big blinds the cutoff raises 37% and folds 63% when it is folded to. When under the gun has already raised, the cutoff 3-bets 5%, calls 13% and folds 81%.
So the first thing to read on any chart is its label: which seat, how deep, and what happened before the seat acts.
How to read the shorthand
Ranges are written in a short notation so that a whole chart fits on a line or two. The cutoff's opening range above is written:
33+, A2s+, K2s+, Q4s+, J6s+, T6s+, 96s+, 86s+, 75s+, 65s, 54s, A5o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o
| Written | Means |
|---|---|
| 77+ | Every pair from sevens up to aces |
| 99-55 | The pairs from nines down to fives, and no others |
| A2s+ | Every suited ace |
| K9s+ | Suited kings from K9s up to KQs |
| ATo+ | Offsuit aces from ATo up to AKo |
| T9s | That one hand |
An s after a hand is suited and an o is offsuit. A plus sign means that hand and every better hand of the same kind: for a pair, every higher pair, and otherwise the same high card with a higher second card.
What a chart leaves out
A chart is a baseline for one exact game. The charts here are for eight players with a big blind ante, and they maximise chips. They take no account of prize jumps near the bubble or at a final table, and they assume the other seats play their own charts well.
Start from the chart, and move away from it when you have a reason to.
How to memorize poker ranges10bb vs 15bb: when to shove in pokerWhat does 20bb mean in poker? Stacks explainedHow stack depth changes preflop play in pokerPreflop charts by positionPush/fold chartsPush or fold? lookup
Now play it
The trainer deals you these spots one hand at a time until reading the chart becomes reflex, and shows how many big blinds each answer gains or loses.
Drill the 40bb chartsFree. No account needed.