Preflop Charts — How to Read Them Without Playing Like a Robot

What a preflop chart is — and what it is not

A preflop chart is a 13×13 grid showing which starting hands to play from a given position, in a given situation, at a given stack depth. It is a compression of thousands of solver outputs into something a human can memorise. What it is not: a rulebook that is correct everywhere. A chart is valid only for the exact conditions it was solved for — table size, stack depth, ante structure and the assumption that opponents respond reasonably. Change any of those and the chart drifts. This page explains how to read and apply one; the chart itself lives on our preflop chart page.

Reading the 13×13 grid

The grid contains 169 hand types, which together represent all 1,326 possible starting combinations. The diagonal holds the 13 pocket pairs. Each pair has 6 combinations. Above the diagonal are suited hands, written with an "s" (A5s). Each suited hand has 4 combinations. Below the diagonal are offsuit hands, written with an "o" (A5o). Each offsuit hand has 12 combinations. That asymmetry is why offsuit hands dominate a range by volume: there are 78 offsuit hand types worth 936 combinations, against 78 suited types worth only 312. A range that "looks" balanced on the grid can be far more offsuit-heavy than it appears.

RFI: the chart you should learn first

RFI stands for Raise First In — you are the first player to voluntarily put money in, everyone before you folded. It is the most common preflop decision and the easiest to standardise, because you are not yet reacting to anyone. An RFI chart answers one question: from this seat, with everyone folded to me, which hands do I open? The core logic is simple. The more players still to act behind you, the more likely someone holds a strong hand, so the tighter your opening range must be. From under the gun at a nine-handed table, eight players can wake up behind you. On the button, only two.

How position changes the range

Position is the primary variable in every preflop chart. The pattern below is the qualitative structure every reasonable RFI chart shares — exact percentages depend on the solve, the table size and the rake.

Why stack depth changes everything

Charts are labelled with an effective stack — usually 100 big blinds for cash games. That label is not decoration. Deep stacks (150bb+) reward hands with postflop playability: suited connectors, suited aces, pairs that can flop sets and win a large pot. Implied odds are large because there is money left to win. Short stacks (20–40bb) reward raw card strength. There is no room for a multi-street plan, so a hand like 76s loses much of its value while A-J gains. Below roughly 15bb the correct framework stops being a raise/call/fold chart at all and becomes a push-fold chart, where the only question is whether to shove or fold. Using a 100bb chart with 25 big blinds in front of you is one of the most expensive chart errors there is.

• 150bb+: playability and implied odds dominate — suited and connected gains value
• 100bb: the standard chart depth for cash games
• 40bb: tighten speculative hands, prefer high-card strength
• 20bb: 3-bet shoving replaces 3-bet raising for much of the range
• Under 15bb: use a push-fold chart, not an RFI chart

Table size and the ante structure

A 9-handed chart and a 6-handed chart are different documents. At a full ring table there are three extra players behind every early-position decision, and the correct UTG range is meaningfully tighter than a 6-max UTG range even though the seat has the same name. Antes push the other way. When every player antes, the pot is larger before the first action, so stealing is more profitable and every position opens wider. Tournament charts almost always assume antes from a certain level onward; cash-game charts usually do not. Match the chart to the structure you are actually sitting in.

Raise, call, fold — and what the mixed colours mean

Simple charts show three actions: raise, call, fold. Solver-derived charts often show a hand as a mix — for example "raise 70% / fold 30%". That does not mean the hand is a coin flip; it means the solver is indifferent between the two options at equilibrium, so both are approximately break-even against a perfect opponent. Against real opponents, indifference is your permission to choose. If the players behind you fold too much, take the raise side of every mixed hand. If they defend aggressively and play well postflop, take the fold side. Mixed frequencies are the least important part of a chart to memorise and the most useful part to understand.

3-betting: the second layer

Once you can open correctly, the next chart answers what to do facing a raise. Two shapes exist and the difference is worth knowing. A linear (merged) 3-bet range takes the strongest hands: big pairs, A-K, A-Q, strong broadways. It is the right shape against opponents who call too much, because you want to be value-heavy against a station. A polarised 3-bet range takes the strongest hands plus some hands that are too weak to call profitably but block strong holdings — small suited aces, for instance, where holding an ace reduces the combinations of A-A and A-K your opponent can have. It is the right shape against opponents who fold too much to 3-bets. The key point: which shape is correct depends on the opponent, so a single 3-bet chart is inherently a compromise.

How charts get misused

The chart is a starting point that removes preflop guesswork so your attention can go to the streets that actually decide pots.

• Using a cash-game 100bb chart in a tournament at 30bb with antes
• Using a 6-max chart at a 9-handed table, or the reverse
• Memorising the grid but ignoring who is sitting behind you — a chart assumes reasonable opponents
• Treating a mixed-frequency hand as a rule instead of as permission to exploit
• Following the chart preflop and then playing the flop without a plan — preflop accuracy is worth little on its own
• Never deviating against an obviously weak player, which is where most of your win rate actually comes from
• Assuming one published chart is universally optimal. Different solves, rake models and opponent assumptions produce different, equally defensible charts

A practical way to learn one

Do not memorise six charts at once. Take the button RFI range first, because it is the position where you play the most hands and where mistakes are cheapest to correct. Play a few hundred hands using only that one range, then add the cutoff, then the blinds' defending ranges, then 3-betting. After each session, review only the preflop decisions that fell outside your chart and ask whether the deviation had a reason. If it did — a very weak player in the blinds, an unusual stack depth — that is good poker. If it did not, that is the leak worth fixing this week.