Preflop ranges
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Start from a preset or change the stack, player count, position and prior action. Color widths show reference action allocation, not win probability. The source and its limitations stay beside the chart.
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How to read AA, AKs, AKo and the matrix
A range describes a set of hands and actions for a situation. Position, player count, stack size and earlier actions matter as much as your own two cards.
- AA
- A pocket pair, for example A♠ A♥.
- AKs
- Suited: A♠ K♠.
- AKo
- Offsuit: A♠ K♥.
- T
- 10. ATs is an ace and ten of one suit.
The 13 × 13 matrix contains 169 hand classes: pairs on the diagonal, suited hands above it and offsuit hands below it. Each pair has 6 combinations, suited class 4 and offsuit class 12, for 1,326 distinct starting combinations.
Why the same hand can call for different actions
Early positions have more players left behind. Late positions such as the BTN have more information before entering. Shallow and deep stacks also leave different amounts available after a call.
Published charts are learning references. Always read their conditions, legend and source. Bet sizes, antes, opponent tendencies and ICM can change the decision; no chart here guarantees a win or an exact GTO solution for every spot.
12 guided practice examples
Choose an action and put your reason into words before opening the answer. These are reference exercises, not scored course attempts. Unless a question states otherwise, assume eight players, 100 BB starting stacks, a 1 BB BB ante and chip-EV practice without ICM. Pots include the ante; raise sizes are totals. These are educational examples, not independently solved results for each question.
1. Position: why is acting later an advantage?
Eight-handed. UTG opens to 2.5 BB and only BTN calls. These two players continue after the flop.
- UTG: Open to 2.5 BB
- BTN: Call
- The other six players: Fold
Who can see the opponent’s action before deciding after the flop? Describe UTG and BTN using early/late position and IP/OOP.
Reveal the answer and reasoning
BTN acts later. UTG is early position and OOP; BTN is late position and IP.
The later player sees whether the opponent checked and how much they bet before deciding. This difference in available information creates the positional advantage.
1. Seat categories: early and late
Early position means UTG and UTG+1 at this eight-player table. When UTG first acts, seven players remain behind, and it is unknown who will enter or raise. The chance of running into a strong hand is higher, so the opening range is tighter.
Late position means CO and BTN. If everyone folds to BTN, only SB and BB remain behind. Many actions are already known, and BTN acts last postflop even when called, allowing a wider opening range than UTG.
2. Action order relative to an opponent: IP and OOP
In position (IP): acting after an opponent postflop. Here BTN is IP against UTG.
Out of position (OOP): acting before an opponent postflop. Here UTG is OOP against BTN.
Early/late describes a seat; IP/OOP describes your relationship to the opponents still in the hand. CO is late position but OOP heads-up against BTN.
3. The same KQ can be easier or harder to play
Suppose the flop is and you hold . You have top pair, but do not yet know your opponent’s hand.
In position, after seeing a check you can bet for value or check back to see the next card without investing more this round. If the opponent bets, you can consider its size.
Out of position, you must choose a bet or check before seeing the opponent’s action. Checking may still lead to a bet that requires another decision. You cannot unilaterally decide to see the next card for free.
Position makes controlling the pot and extracting value easier. But a check does not necessarily mean weakness, and position does not guarantee a win.
4. The BB is not always advantaged by acting “last”
The initial preflop action runs from UTG to BB. After the flop, remaining players act clockwise starting to the left of BTN.
Against BTN, BB acts first postflop and BTN acts later. BB is OOP against BTN even if BB made the last preflop decision.
Heads-up between UTG and BB, BB acts first and UTG later. UTG is early position but IP against this opponent. BB is also IP heads-up against SB.
Change the conditions
If CO opens and only BTN calls, CO is late position but OOP, while BTN is IP. First establish who remains and who acts first postflop.
2. KTo under the gun: enter the pot?
Eight-handed, effective stacks 100 BB. You are UTG and act first.
Your hand:
- UTG (you): Not yet acted
According to the educational opening chart, do you open or fold?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
Fold as the baseline.
KTo is not in the early-position educational opening range. Seven players remain behind, making strong hands and reraises more likely.
Even if you pair your king, AK, KQ or KJ can beat your kicker.
Change the conditions
What if everyone folds to you on BTN with the same KTo? Compare the next example.
3. The same KTo on the button
Eight-handed, effective stacks 100 BB. Everyone before you folds; you are BTN.
Your hand:
- UTG through CO: Everyone folded
- BTN (you): Decision
Do you enter from this position? If so, is limping or opening the baseline?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
Open to 2.5 BB.
KTo is in BTN’s educational opening range. Only SB and BB remain behind, and you act later postflop if called.
In this guide, raising is the baseline when first entering from BTN.
Change the conditions
What if UTG had already opened? Compare the same KTo in the supplement below.
Supplement: BTN after an UTG raise
UTG opens to 2.5 BB and the intervening players fold. You are BTN with the same KTo.
Against a standard, fairly tight UTG range, folding is the baseline.
BTN’s opening chart applies when everyone earlier has folded. It is not a chart for calling an existing raise.
Consider UTG’s stronger candidates and possible reraises from SB or BB behind.
A king can still lose on the kicker to AK, KQ or KJ. Position does not make every hand playable.
Facing CO instead widens the continuing range, but does not justify calling KTo unconditionally.
Explore this range →4. K8o in the BB against UTG
UTG opens to 2.5 BB and everyone else folds. You are BB.
Your hand:
- UTG: Open to 2.5 BB
- UTG+1 through SB: Fold
- BB (you): Decision
Do you call UTG’s 2.5 BB open with K8o?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
Fold in this learning example.
UTG’s starting range is stronger than BTN’s, and K8o is outside this BB-versus-UTG range.
K8o can be a call against a wide BTN open but a fold against UTG. The opponent’s range matters, not just the additional cost.
Change the conditions
Changing K8o to K8s makes it a calling candidate in this educational chart. Distinguish suited from offsuit.
5. Mixing calls and 3-bets with 99
CO opens to 2.5 BB with no callers. You are BTN, and there is no observed tendency for the blinds to squeeze frequently.
Your hand:
- CO: Open to 2.5 BB
- BTN (you): Decision
How does 99 continue in this example? What should you check before calling?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
The published simplified chart uses call 50% / 3-bet 50%. The 3-bet is to 8.7 BB total.
Neither action is the sole correct choice for 99. Mix calls that use position with 3-bets that build the pot.
The provider rounds this frequency to 50%. Check the players behind and the opponent’s entering range.
Change the conditions
If CO opens very widely and calls 3-bets with weak hands, there is room to consider more value 3-betting with 99.
6. Value with AQs from the BB
BTN opens to 2.5 BB and SB folds. BTN enters widely and tends to call 3-bets with weaker aces and Broadway hands.
Your hand:
- BTN: Open to 2.5 BB
- SB: Fold
- BB (you): Decision
What action besides calling can seek value? Give the size as a total.
Reveal the answer and reasoning
3-bet to 11.2 BB total.
AQs is a 3-bet in this published BB-versus-BTN simplified chart. Calls from weaker aces or queens make value easier to obtain.
You already posted 1 BB, so add 10.2 BB.
Change the conditions
Against a very tight UTG opener, the same AQs will call more often.
7. No callers: is a 2× 3-bet enough?
Eight-handed, effective stacks 100 BB, BB ante 1 BB. CO opens to 2.5 BB, no one calls, and you are BTN.
Your hand:
- CO: Open to 2.5 BB
- BTN (you): Choose a 3-bet size with AKs
Compare 3-bets to 5 BB and 8.7 BB total. Which is the baseline, and why?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
The reference uses 8.7 BB total, about 3.5 times the open. Do not make exactly twice the open—5 BB—your automatic size.
With no callers and around 100 BB, an educational starting point is about 3–3.5 times the open in position and 4–4.5 times out of position. This reference uses 8.7 BB for BTN versus CO and 11.2 BB for BB versus BTN. These are starting points to adjust for players, opponents and stacks, not fixed rules.
Compare the caller’s conditions. Assuming SB and BB fold, a 3-bet to 5 BB costs CO another 2.5 BB. The final pot is 12.5 BB, giving a 20% pot-odds threshold. Many hands can more easily continue.
A 3-bet to 8.7 BB costs another 6.2 BB; the final pot is 19.9 BB and the threshold about 31.2%, creating a harder decision. This ignores future investment, so equity alone does not decide whether calling is correct.
AKs seeks more value from weaker aces or kings, or wins the current pot by making opponents fold. Too small a size builds a smaller value pot and makes it easier for opponents to see a flop.
Out of position, acting first postflop reveals information and makes equity harder to realize. A larger 3-bet than in position is a baseline way to reduce that disadvantage.
A 2× 3-bet is not necessarily negative EV. It can be profitable but less profitable than another size. Too large a size can also fold out too many weak hands or risk too many chips.
Change the conditions
Would the same size work with callers behind the opener? Next, consider two callers.
8. Two callers: is a 2× 3-bet still enough?
Eight-handed, effective stacks 100 BB, BB ante 1 BB. UTG opens to 2.5 BB, MP and CO call, and you are BTN.
Your hand:
- UTG: Open to 2.5 BB
- MP: Call 2.5 BB
- CO: Call 2.5 BB
- BTN (you): Choose a 3-bet size
How do 3-bets to 5 BB and 12.5 BB change how easily opponents can call?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
In this example, consider about 12.5 BB total. Do not mechanically double to 5 BB despite multiple callers.
A 3-bet after an open and calls is a squeeze. Seek value with strong hands and avoid making the flop too cheap. 12.5 BB illustrates the reasoning; it is not a solver-confirmed optimum.
A small 3-bet gives favorable pot odds. Assuming SB and BB fold, UTG can call a 5 BB 3-bet for another 2.5 BB. The resulting pot is 17.5 BB, a simple threshold of about 14.3%.
At 12.5 BB, UTG must add 10 BB. The resulting pot is 32.5 BB, giving about 30.8%. The callers behind make the actual decision more complex, but sizing clearly changes the conditions.
Once one player calls, later players pay the same difference into a larger pot, encouraging further calls. Even AKs wins less often as more players stay, and missed flops become harder to navigate.
A larger size can get more value from weaker hands or win the current pot through folds. Bigger is not always better: adjust for caller count, position, ranges and stacks.
A small 3-bet cannot automatically be called negative EV. It may be profitable yet leave value on the table compared with another size. The lesson is to recognize lost opportunity from small sizes that ignore the number of players.
Change the conditions
With no callers or shallower stacks, sizing changes. Check not just fold pressure but how much remains if called.
9. Should a 4-bet also be 3–4 times the previous raise?
Eight-handed, effective stacks 100 BB, BB ante 1 BB. You open AA on BTN to 2.5 BB. SB folds and BB 3-bets to 11.2 BB total.
Your hand:
- BTN (you): Open to 2.5 BB
- SB: Fold
- BB: 3-bet to 11.2 BB total
Should you automatically 4-bet to 3–4 times the 3-bet? How much must you add to make it 25.9 BB total?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
The reference 4-bet is 25.9 BB total, about 2.3 times the 3-bet. Add 23.4 BB.
A learning starting point for 4-bets is around 2–2.5 times the opponent’s total 3-bet. This example is BTN in position. Out of position, larger sizes such as 2.5–2.6 times may be used; 2.5 is not a universal ceiling.
A 3-betting opponent has a stronger range than an opening opponent. Calling conditions depend on that range and remaining stacks, not just the multiplier.
After a 4-bet to 25.9 BB, BB calls another 14.7 BB into a final pot of 53.3 BB: a simple threshold of about 27.6%. Acting first postflop means this number alone does not make calling easy.
Three times is 33.6 BB and four times is 44.8 BB—about one-third to almost half of the starting 100 BB invested preflop. A bluff that must fold to an all-in loses more. Even AA may lose value if too large a size drives out weaker hands.
If the 25.9 BB 4-bet is called, you retain 74.1 BB with 53.3 BB in the pot: SPR about 1.39. Even 2.3 times creates a large-pot situation. There is no need to carry the 3-bet multiplier straight over to 4-bets.
Using a small size only with AA and a large size only as a bluff becomes readable. In the same spot, generally use a common size across multiple hands and adjust for opponents and stacks.
Change the conditions
Shallower stacks or a larger opposing 3-bet may make a 4-bet shove appropriate. Do not memorize “always 2–2.5 times”; check the stack left after raising.
10. AQo facing a 3-bet
You open BTN to 2.5 BB, SB folds, and BB 3-bets to 11.2 BB. Use the eight-handed, 100 BB reference.
Your hand:
- BTN (you): Open to 2.5 BB
- SB: Fold
- BB: 3-bet to 11.2 BB total
Does AQo call or 4-bet? If 4-betting, what total size?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
The published simplified chart mixes call 50% / 4-bet 50%, with a 4-bet to 25.9 BB total.
AQo can call or use its blockers in a 4-bet.
The ace and queen reduce combinations of AA, QQ, AK and similar hands. Position and sizing still matter; the cards alone are not enough.
These frequencies simplify the source’s 4-bet response chart. Facing a further shove is a separate decision; do not call merely because of this frequency.
Change the conditions
KQo calls in this same reference spot. By contrast, KQo on BTN facing CO’s open can also 3-bet.
11. AQo 3-bets: call a strong 4-bet?
Eight-handed, effective stacks 100 BB, BB ante 1 BB. CO opens widely, but you have observed their 4-bets are almost exclusively QQ+ and AK. You are BB.
Your hand:
- CO: Open to 2.5 BB
- BB (you): 3-bet AQo to 11 BB total
- CO: 4-bet to 30 BB total
- BB (you): Decide whether to call another 19 BB
Can you justify calling because “AQ is strong” or “I already put in 11 BB”?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
Against this opponent and this 4-bet range, folding is the baseline. This is not a rule to always fold AQo to every 4-bet.
An opponent who opens widely can narrow to strong hands when 4-betting. A profitable 3-bet against their open does not imply a profitable call against their 4-bet.
The main problem is how AQo fares against AA, KK, QQ and AK. An ace can lose on the kicker to AK; a queen can still lose to an overpair. Making top pair can lead to further losses.
Unlike AQs, AQo cannot make a flush draw using both private cards. A flush requires at least four board cards of one suit. There are fewer routes to strength beyond one pair, and equity is harder to realize from the out-of-position BB.
Calling another 19 BB makes the pot 61.5 BB. Even ignoring future investment, required equity is about 30.9%. Further postflop decisions mean “probably enough raw equity” alone is insufficient.
The 11 BB already invested is not money you are obliged to recover through this decision. Compare calling, folding and 5-betting from this point forward. Sunk investment is not a reason to continue.
Extension: if there is concrete evidence that the opponent 4-bets enough bluffs and overfolds to 5-bets, a light 5-bet using blockers may be considered. AQo reduces AA, QQ and AK combinations, but a high entering frequency does not mean weak 4-bets.
A 5-bet risks much of a 100 BB stack. Bluffing can backfire against a loose player who only 4-bets strong hands, or who calls 5-bets widely. Beginners should not turn AQo into an all-in without sound evidence.
Change the conditions
A smaller 4-bet, appropriate bluff content or position can make calling AQo viable. Do not fold automatically because it is offsuit; first examine the opponent’s 4-bet range and size.
GTO Wizard: 4-bet pots out of position as the preflop caller ↗
12. 10 BB left: what do you do with A8o?
You are BTN with 10 BB. Everyone earlier folds; SB and BB both cover your 10 BB.
This exercise uses chip accumulation without special bubble or final-table considerations. To match its reference, it assumes a nine-player MT10 setup with a 1 BB BB ante.
Your hand:
- UTG through CO: Everyone folded
- BTN (you): 10 BB left, A8o
- SB / BB: Not yet acted
Choose between limping for 1 BB, opening to 2 BB, shoving 10 BB or folding.
Reveal the answer and reasoning
Push all-in for 10 BB. A8o is in the BTN reference range used here.
Push or fold limits entry decisions to an all-in or a fold. It is a useful simplifying starting point around 10 BB, not a claim that every call or normal raise at 10 BB is wrong.
A shove can win through folds or at showdown when called. Here, if SB and BB fold, you win 2.5 BB and grow from 10 BB to 12.5 BB. The benefit from making opponents fold is called fold equity.
A 1 BB limp lets BB see a flop for no more chips and leaves the possibility of a raise. Opening to 2 BB and folding to a reraise loses 20% of your starting 10 BB. Repeatedly entering small and then giving up erodes a short stack.
If you open to 2 BB and only BB calls, the flop pot is 5.5 BB and you have 8 BB left, giving SPR about 1.45. A large decision comes quickly even when you miss; entering small is not automatically safe. A shove prevents you from being forced to fold later and guarantees seeing all five board cards.
Calling an opponent’s open cannot make that opponent fold immediately and leaves the possibility of a reraise behind. It helps to consider folding or an all-in reraise first. But this particular chart is for open shoves with no prior entrant, not responses to an existing raise.
There are exceptions: BB can defend by calling, SB can limp, and strong hands can raise small to induce a shove. “Short-stacked” does not ban normal raises. Learn push-or-fold first, then add condition-specific exceptions.
Calling another player’s all-in is separate. Because a call has no fold equity against that player, a hand that can shove is not automatically a call. Do not panic-shove every hand merely because only 10 BB remains.
Change the conditions
The reference below is for open shoving at 10 BB, nine-handed, with a 1 BB BB ante and no prior entrant. It is not a complete GTO strategy including normal raises and limps, and it differs from the eight-handed 100 BB charts. Bubble pressure, payout gaps, bounties, opponent stacks and calling tendencies can change the range.
10 BB open-shove reference
UTG
33+, A7s+, A5s, ATo+, K9s+, KQo, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s
CO
22+, A2s+, A2o+, K4s+, K9o+, Q8s+, QTo+, J8s+, JTo, T7s+, 97s+, 86s+, 76s, 65s
BTN
22+, A2s+, A2o+, K2s+, K5o+, Q4s+, Q9o+, J7s+, J9o+, T6s+, T9o, 96s+, 86s+, 75s+, 65s, 54s
22+ means every pair. A2s+ and A2o+ include all suited and offsuit aces. K5o+ means K5o through KQo; 96s+ means 96s, 97s and 98s. In this example A8o is in BTN’s range but outside UTG’s. s means suited; o means offsuit.
Put the idea into practice
Use a lesson or AI hand to test the reason behind your next decision.
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