Reading 6-Max Preflop Charts, Seat by Seat

A preflop chart can look like a wall of coloured squares. The trick is to read how it changes from seat to seat. Here are the opening ranges from our preflop charts, in order.

How much each seat opens

Seat	Share of hands	Combos
Under the gun (UTG)	12.4%	164
Hijack (HJ)	16.7%	222
Cutoff (CO)	24.0%	318
Button (BTN)	35.1%	466
Small blind (SB)	27.6%	366

These are opening ranges when everyone before you has folded.

Seat by seat

UTG — tight and strong. Five players are still to act behind you, so one of them will often have a big hand. The range is pairs 55+, strong suited aces and broadways, a few suited connectors and only AJo+ and KQo offsuit.

Hijack — a little wider. Add the smaller pairs down to 44, more suited aces and kings, 98s, and ATo and KJo.

Cutoff — the big jump. With just the button and blinds left, every pair and every suited ace comes in, along with more suited connectors (87s, 76s) and offsuit hands like A9o, KTo, QTo and JTo.

Button — widest of all. You’re guaranteed position for the whole hand, so you can open over a third of hands, including weaker suited kings, most suited connectors down to 54s, and offsuit hands like A5o, K9o and T9o.

Small blind — a special case. Only the big blind is left, but you’ll be out of position after the flop. The range is narrower than the button’s, even though fewer players are behind you.

What to take away

• Position drives everything. The fewer players behind you — and the more often you’ll act last — the wider you open.
• Suited hands come first. At each step, suited versions arrive well before offsuit ones.
• Learn the shape, not every cell. Know the UTG and button ranges well; the seats in between fall roughly between them.

Load each preset in the preflop charts and flick between them to see the range grow, then test yourself in the preflop trainer. The theory is in Starting Hands and Position in Poker.

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