Preflop play is an essential part of any poker strategy. Being able to make good preflop decisions is essential, and our poker preflop charts are designed to simplify these decisions and make them as automatic as possible.
On this page, you will find detailed preflop charts for tournament and cash game play, detailing the hand ranges you should play from each position and on every stack depth in any game you find yourself playing.
Comprehensive Guide to Preflop Charts
Preflop charts are one of the essential tools for studying poker. The are especially useful for new poker players, but can still help advanced players. They are designed to help you make the first and most important decision whether or not to play a particular combination of cards.
Our preflop charts offer a detailed rundown of optimal preflop ranges for different positions, stack sizes, and game formats.
Whether you are playing in a short-handed cash game with a deep stack or the final stages of a 9-handed tournament table with just a few big blinds, the charts offer the optimal actual ranges you should be opening, calling, and 3-betting with.
Note that the use of these poker charts is allowed only for educational purposes, while using them in-game is considered cheating.
You are not allowed to have the charts open while playing the game, whether you play at a live poker table or online poker. However, you can spend any amount of time studying the charts outside of the game.
Learning the preflop hand charts will not only help you memorize the hands you should be playing in each situation but also teach you the logic that goes into creating such preflop hand ranges.
How to Read Poker Charts
Good preflop charts contain all the information you need to be a tight player without second-guessing yourself. Our charts are designed in such a way and will always give you the answer to any question you have at a simple glance.
Before you can start using them to study the game, you will need to learn how to read our poker charts and every element they contain.
Key Elements of a Preflop Chart
Each poker chart we offer is made up of a few simple elements. The poker hands grid is the most important one, as it displays all the hands you can possibly be dealt and tells you which hands to play and which ones to fold.
Except for the poker hand grid, each poker chart displays the position and stack depth it is designed for, as well as the raise size you should be making it with the hands that fall into the raising category.
So, for each situation in poker, you will need to look up the chart for the table position and stack size you want and then take a look at the grid. The poker hands that you should open will be highlighted, while all the others that are grayed out should be folded.
Understanding Hand Ranges
If you want to play poker like the advanced players do, you need to start thinking in terms of hand ranges. A hand range is a collection of poker hands that you should play in a given situation.
Our preflop hand charts display different hand ranges to play from different positions and at different stack depths.
Each time you look at a poker chart, you are looking at a hand range. The range is made up of a variety of hands, some of which are a part of the range as value hands and others as bluffs.
For example, hands like AA, KK, and AK are found in all preflop ranges, as they are strong enough to play from any position. Other hands, like A2s or 87s, are bluffing hands added to the ranges for balance.
Typically speaking, you will be playing wider hand ranges from later positions, as fewer players means you can open more hands and steal the blinds more often without any resistance.
When you do get called, being in a late position means you will be playing last on each subsequent street, still allowing you to play a wider range and win chips post flop.
Common Starting Hands
The range of hands you should play changes as stack depth and position do. However, some poker hands are present on every starting hand chart, and these are the best poker hands like AA, KK, QQ, AK, and AQ.
The poker hand grid can be split into several distinct hand categories, such as:
● Pocket pairs
● Suited Broadways
● Suited aces
● Suited connectors
● Offsuit hands and aces
Looking from the top left to the bottom right, you will see all the pocket pairs lined up on a diagonal line. These hands are played from most positions, barring the smallest pairs, which can be folded in early positions.
Hands like suited Broadways and suited aces are also great opening candidates in all positions, while poker ranges are expanded with hands like suited connectors, offsuit aces, and suited gappers as you get into the later positions.
How to Use Preflop Charts
The preflop poker strategy is a foundation for everything you do in a poker hand. Starting with the appropriate hand ranges means putting yourself in a position to succeed across the board.
There are a few basic preflop decisions you need to make:
● Which hands to raise first in
● Which hands to call a raise with
● Which hands to 3-bet with
Our preflop charts define the appropriate hand range for each of these plays. Whether you are raising first in, thinking about calling a raise, or deciding on a 3-bet, you will find the right range to do it with in our hand charts.
Applying Charts in Tournaments
Tournament poker strategy is a bit simpler than cash game strategy, as stacks are generally shallower, and there are fewer tough decisions to make.
That said, the preflop game is very important in tournaments, which is why poker hand charts are such a big part of learning tournament poker.
In tournament poker, you will need to know the preflop charts at all times, including opening, 3-betting, and all in charts. Since the stacks get very short quite often, knowing which hands you can profitably shove all in with can make all the difference in your bottom line.
Applying Charts in Cash Games
Cash game poker is more complicated than tournament poker, as deep stacks mean more postflop decisions and wider preflop ranges.
When playing in cash games preflop hand charts can be a great tool to ensure you are playing profitable and optimal ranges from every position. However, more deviations can be made depending on the table dynamics, types of opponent tendencies, and more.
The 3-betting charts are very helpful in cash game poker, as 3-betting is such a big part of cash games. If you want to play well in cash games, mastering both the opening and 3-betting charts is essential.
Specialized GTO Preflop Charts
Game theory optimal (GTO) poker strategy, as opposed to exploitative strategy, has become an essential part of the poker world today. If you want to be an elite player, mastering optimal strategy is a must, and our specialized GTO preflop charts are the first step in that direction.
Tournament GTO Preflop Charts
Out tournament GTO charts are based on GTO solutions and solver outputs, and they offer a full rundown of key preflop decisions.
These charts can differ slightly from other preflop charts, as solver solutions take into account various elements that human players don’t always consider.
The tournament GTO charts provide the most optimal and balanced hand ranges for preflop raises, calls, and 3-bets in tournament poker. If you want your ranges to be truly balanced, these charts are your go-to.
6-Max GTO Preflop Charts
6-max is the most common format in cash games these days. In 6-max cash games, being balanced is even more important than it is in tournaments, which is why our 6-max GTO charts are some of the best cash game resources out there.
Learn which hands you should raise, 3-bet, and 4-bet from each position in a cash game and build a hand range that cannot be exploited even by elite poker tournament players.
With the help of these charts, you will be able to crush low-stakes and mid-stakes games and hold your own even against the best players out there, as your preflop decisions will be next to perfect.
Live Poker GTO Preflop Charts
Live poker is a significantly different game from online poker. If you play live often, the live poker GTO charts are a tool you need to use to your advantage.
These charts take into consideration the somewhat expanded hand ranges live players often use, as well as the very deep stacks that are in play.
Designed specifically for live cash game players, the live poker GTO preflop charts provide different ranges and solutions that work well in a live setting and allow you to demolish live games time and time again.
Practical Tips for Using Preflop Charts
If you are just starting with our preflop charts, you may need some help getting started. We have some tips that will help you make the most of each poker chart offered and get optimal results with these resources.
Remember Your Hand Ranges
The key advantage you will gain from our preflop range charts is the ability to know which hands you should play in each preflop situation. In order to acquire this knowledge, you will need to memorize each chart, which is not an easy task.
The trick to memorizing charts is to remember the cutoff hands. These are the weakest hands in each hand category that are included in the chart.
For example, if a poker chart includes 65s as an open, you can remember that hand and know that 87s, 98s, and T9s are all also included, as these are all suited connectors superior to 65s.
While there can be some exceptions to this rule in some charts, remembering the cutoff hands in each hand range will typically allow you to see the entire range in your head immediately.
Adjusting to Opponent Tendencies
Our preflop ranges are optimal and balanced, but there are times when you can change them based on opponent tendencies and allow yourself to win even more chips.
For example, if you are playing from a late position and the two players in the blinds are extremely tight, you can easily expand your range and play even more hands than the charts suggest. Since the players will fold more than they should, you can get away with raising even wider.
Similarly, if you have extremely loose and aggressive players behind you, you can adjust by playing a tighter range than the poker chart suggests. This way, you will lose fewer chips to 3-bets and be able to 4-bet for value more often.
Why You Should Use Preflop Charts
Preflop hand charts in poker are among the strongest resources you can use when studying poker, regardless of your level of experience. No other resource will improve your fundamental poker strategy as quickly and as profoundly as our charts, which is why we strongly suggest using them.
Once you have mastered the preflop charts, you can expand on that knowledge by running simulations of your own in poker solvers and looking into how to play postflop after making the optimal preflop plays.
Get started by learning the preflop charts for the most common stack sizes and applying the knowledge in your games. The more experience you get, the more correctly you will be able to apply the charts, and the higher your win rates will get.
Use the preflop charts to study the game before your next session, and your confidence and results will both improve dramatically within a very short time.
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