Why the first seat opens tighter
With five players behind you, there are more chances to face a strong hand or a three-bet. Start by comparing suited broadways such as KQs with weaker offsuit hands such as K9o. The suited hand can make strong flushes and is easier to continue with across different boards.
Learn the boundary hands
AA is an easy raise, but the edge of the range needs more attention. Compare K5s with K4s and 55 with 44 in this chart. Split colours mean the strategy mixes raising and folding; they do not mean the hand should always be played.
UTG and LJ mean the same seat here
The first seat in this six-max chart is called the lojack (LJ) in the drill. At an eight- or nine-handed table, UTG is an earlier position with more players behind. This chart is for six-max and should not be relabelled as a full-ring UTG range.
How to read a poker range chart
The 13×13 grid contains all 169 starting-hand classes in No-Limit Texas Hold’em. Pairs run down the diagonal, from AA to 22. Suited hands sit above it (AKs), and offsuit hands below it (AKo). T means ten.
The legend gives the action and total range percentage. A split cell means the hand mixes actions: 75% raise and 25% fold means raising three quarters of the time. It does not describe the hand’s chance of winning. Raise sizes are the total bet in big blinds, not the extra amount added.
Overall percentages count card combinations: each pair has 6, each suited hand 4, and each offsuit hand 12, for 1,326 combinations in total. Simply counting coloured squares would give a different, misleading percentage.
Can I use this range after somebody limps?
This is a raise-first-in chart: everyone before you has folded. Facing limpers changes the pot and the opponents involved, so an isolation-raise decision needs a different range and sizing.
Using these charts
Changing stack depth, rake, opening size, or the number of players changes the situation. Study the assumptions alongside the hands.
Put the range into practice
Make decisions, get feedback, and track your accuracy in the preflop drill.
Practise this range