Poker hand range chart

A range is a set of hands, not a prediction that one particular hand must be present. The chart below provides four illustrative open-raising baselines for an unopened pot. Later positions contain more highlighted hands because fewer players remain to act. These are study examples rather than universal instructions: stack depth, table format, earlier action, and the tendencies assigned to other players can all change a reasonable model.

How to read the 13 by 13 matrix

The diagonal contains the 13 pocket pairs from aces through deuces. Hands above the diagonal are suited: AKs means ace-king of the same suit. Hands below the diagonal are offsuit: AKo means two different suits. Each cell groups several physical holdings, so the grid has 169 classes but the complete deck contains 1,326 distinct two-card combinations.

A pair represents six combinations, a suited class represents four, and an offsuit class represents twelve. That difference is why counting colored cells does not measure the percentage of all possible hands. The total above the chart weights every highlighted cell by its correct physical combination count.

Why position changes a range

An early-position player acts with many opponents still waiting. A later-position player has observed more folds and faces fewer unknown holdings behind. The presets express that structural difference by expanding gradually from stronger pairs and broadway cards toward smaller pairs, suited aces, suited connectors, and selected offsuit hands. They do not claim that a specific percentage is optimal for every table.

Adjust for the actual action

An opening chart answers only one question: which hands are included when nobody has entered the pot? Once a player limps or raises, the decision tree changes. A range for calling a raise is not the same as an opening range, and a reraising range may contain a different balance of pairs, suited hands, and blockers. Record the seat, stack size, prior actions, and raise size before using any range in a completed-hand review.

Card removal changes the available combinations

The matrix describes hand classes before known cards are removed. If you hold an ace, an opponent has fewer combinations of pocket aces and every ace-x holding. Board cards remove combinations as well during postflop analysis. Apply card removal first, then assign any behavioral weight. The combinations and blockers lesson demonstrates the exact counting method.

1. Press Clear, then select AA, KK, AKs, and AKo. The counter reads 28 combinations: 6 + 6 + 4 + 12.
2. Press Practice this range in the simulator. It starts a heads-up example with Q♠ Q♥, an empty board, and your selected opponent range.
3. Wait for the server result. Record the win, tie, and loss percentages, the trial count, and the four hand classes.
4. Open Hand range chart in the simulator. Add JJ, TT, AQs, and AQo, then press Apply to first active opponent.
5. Close the chart and compare the new result with your recorded baseline. Keep the same hole cards, board, precision, and opponent count.

The expanded selection contains 56 combinations before blockers. Your two queens remove two suited AQ combinations and six offsuit AQ combinations, leaving 48 available holdings: the original 28, twelve lower pocket pairs, and eight AQ holdings. Queens is ahead of those added hands preflop, so the wider model should usually improve its winning frequency. Small differences between repeated runs are sampling noise; this exercise does not establish what a particular player would actually hold.

The selected range belongs to the first active opponent listed at the table. Folding that opponent transfers the model to the next active opponent; adding more opponents gives the additional players random available cards. For a clean range comparison, use one active opponent. Remove range restores the random baseline; Reset round clears the range and cards. Editing cells is a draft until you press Apply.

Tutorial 2: prove that the range reaches the calculation

1. Use Q♠ Q♥ against one active opponent. In the chart, Clear and select only AA, then Apply.
2. Enter flop 2♣ 3♦ 7♥, turn 8♠, and river 9♣. Wait until all five board cards are complete.
3. The result must be 100% loss: every available AA holding beats your pair of queens on this board.
4. Remove the river card and replace it with Q♣. The result must now be 100% win: three queens beat every available pair of aces.

These are exact completed-board checks, so increasing precision should not change their outcomes. If the opponent model says random cards, the AA range was not applied. If there are additional active opponents, the second check no longer guarantees a win, because another player could hold a straight. Check the model label above the table before interpreting the percentages.

Tutorial 3: understand blockers without changing the range

Start with AA, KK, AKs, and AKo selected. Before cards are known there are 28 holdings. Change your cards to A♠ K♥ and leave the board empty. Three aces remain, giving 3 possible AA pairs; three kings remain, giving 3 KK pairs. Ace-king has 3 × 3 = 9 combinations remaining: 2 suited and 7 offsuit. The chart therefore shows 15 available combinations, while its deck-wide selection percentage remains 28 / 1,326 = 2.1%. Those two numbers answer different questions: original range coverage and availability in this scenario.

A fully blocked range cannot be simulated. For example, if your hand and board already contain three aces, there is no possible AA holding for an opponent. Choose a different model or correct the known cards. The calculator reports this explicitly instead of silently replacing your range with random cards.

What to record, and what the result cannot tell you

Keep a study note with your exact cards, opponent count, selected class list, trial count, and results for each hypothesis. Every surviving physical holding in the range has equal weight. The editor does not support mixed frequencies such as playing AKs half the time, and it cannot assign separate ranges to several players. Win means a sole win; tie means sharing first place. Tie frequency is not your share of the pot in a multiway split. These outputs describe showdown outcomes, not the expected profit of calling or raising.

A practical review method

1. Identify the position and confirm whether the pot was unopened.
2. Choose a baseline, then document every hand class added or removed.
3. Convert the remaining classes into physical combinations.
4. Remove combinations blocked by known hole cards and board cards.
5. Compare several plausible ranges instead of reporting one estimate as certainty.

A useful range model is explicit enough for another person to reproduce. Save the exact included hands beside the calculator result, and test how the result changes under a tighter and wider alternative. That sensitivity check is more informative than attaching false precision to one static chart.