Preflop Ranges: Building Your Opening Strategy

The One Leak That Costs You the Most Money

Here is a truth most poker players resist: your preflop decisions determine roughly 70% of your win rate. Not your river bluff-catching. Not your turn barrels. The hands you choose to play, from which positions, at which frequencies — that is where the real money lives.

I have coached hundreds of students at NL200+, and the pattern is always the same. They show me a database where they lose 8bb/100 from UTG and win 45bb/100 from the button. Their Range construction is inverted: opening 22% from UTG (solver says 15%) and only 32% from the button (solver says 42%).

If that sounds familiar, this article will fix it. We are building your opening strategy from the ground up using solver-derived ranges you can apply in your next session.

Why Position Dictates Everything

Position is not just "nice to have" — it is the single most powerful variable in poker. When you act last on every postflop street, you get to see your opponent's action before committing chips. You control the pot size. You realize more of your equity because you can take free cards when you want them and extract value when you have the goods.

This is why solver-approved Raise First In (RFI) ranges expand dramatically as you move from early to late position. The math is straightforward: acting last is worth roughly 15-20bb/100 of pure positional advantage. That edge lets you profitably play hands that would be losing propositions from earlier seats.

For a detailed breakdown of how preflop fundamentals connect to overall GTO strategy, read our guide on GTO Poker Fundamentals: What Every Player Should Know.

Your Position-by-Position RFI Blueprint (6-Max, 100bb)

The following ranges are derived from modern solver outputs for standard 6-max cash games at 100 big blinds. You can access these exact ranges with visual hand grids inside Preflop+, but here is the conceptual framework.

Under the Gun (UTG): ~15% of Hands

Five players remain behind you. Your range needs to withstand 3-bets and play well out of position. The solver's UTG range is tight and premium-heavy:

• All pocket pairs: 22-AA (small pairs are included because of their set-mining value and occasional 4-bet bluff utility)
• Strong broadways: AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, ATs, KQs, KJs, QJs
• Premium suited connectors: JTs, T9s, 98s (these provide board coverage on connected textures)
• Low suited aces: A5s-A2s (blockers to AA/AK, wheel straight potential, future 3-bet bluff candidates)

What is conspicuously absent: KTo, QJo, J9s, Q9s. These hands look playable but bleed money from UTG because they dominate poorly, make second-best hands frequently, and suffer badly when 3-bet.

Hijack (HJ): ~19% of Hands

One fewer player behind you means slightly more room to maneuver:

• The entire UTG range, plus
• Additional broadways: KTs, QTs, AJo, KQo
• Additional suited connectors: 87s, 76s

The HJ is where many players first start leaking. They feel the button is "close" and loosen up too much. Respect the gap — there are still three players to act after you.

Cutoff (CO): ~26% of Hands

The cutoff is where your range starts expanding aggressively:

• The entire HJ range, plus
• More broadways: KTo, QJo, QTo, JTo, ATo
• More suited hands: A9s-A7s, K9s, 65s, 54s

From the CO, you only need to get through two players (button and blinds) to secure position postflop against the blinds. This dramatically increases the profitability of marginal hands.

Button (BTN): ~40-45% of Hands

The button is the profit center of poker. You are guaranteed position on every postflop street against anyone who calls:

• The entire CO range, plus
• Most suited kings and queens: K8s-K2s, Q8s-Q2s
• All suited connectors and gappers: 43s, 53s, 64s, 75s, and up
• Offsuit broadways: K9o, Q9o, J9o, T9o
• All offsuit aces: A9o-A2o

If you are currently opening less than 40% from the button, you are leaving money on the table. Use the Stack to Blinds Calculator to understand how stack depth adjustments affect these frequencies in tournament play.

Small Blind (SB): ~40% (Raise or Fold, No Limping)

Modern solver strategy is unequivocal: the small blind should use a raise-or-fold strategy with zero limps. You are permanently out of position postflop, so you need to either build a pot with a raising range or surrender your half-blind investment.

Your SB opening range looks similar to the button range but removes the weakest suited trash that needs multiway pots to realize equity. Size up to 3x (compared to 2.5x from other positions) to compensate for the positional disadvantage.

Adjusting Ranges by Table Dynamics

Solver ranges assume competent opponents playing close to equilibrium. Real tables are messier, and that is where the money is. Here is how to adjust:

When Players Behind You 3-Bet Too Much

Tighten your opening range by 3-5% and weight it toward hands that play well against 3-bets (high-card hands that can call or 4-bet, like AQo, JJ, TT). Remove the bottom of your suited connector range, which folds to 3-bets and wastes a raise.

When Players Behind You Are Passive

Widen your opening range by 5-8%. If nobody is 3-betting you, marginal hands like K8o from the cutoff or Q7s from the hijack become profitable opens because you see more flops uncontested and in position. For a deep dive on 3-bet and 4-bet dynamics, check out 3-Bet and 4-Bet Ranges That Print Money in 2026.

When the Big Blind Defends Too Wide

This is actually good news. Open wider with hands that make strong top pairs (Ax, Kx broadways) because you will get paid off postflop. Reduce bluff-heavy suited connectors that need fold equity preflop to be profitable.

When the Big Blind Defends Too Tight

Open nearly any two cards from the button and cutoff. If the BB is folding 60%+ to opens, you profit from the steal alone regardless of your cards.

Common Range Construction Mistakes

The three most common leaks I see in student databases:

• Using the same range everywhere: If your UTG and CO ranges look similar, something is badly wrong. Your CO range should be nearly twice the size of your UTG range.
• Overvaluing offsuit hands: KTo and KTs are different hands entirely. The suited version makes flushes, has better equity realization, and plays profitably from two extra positions. Check Preflop+ hand grids to see exactly where each offsuit hand drops out.
• Ignoring rake: At lower stakes, rake eats into marginal opens. Hands that are barely profitable at zero rake become losers at 5bb/100 rake. Tighten by 2-3% at micro and small stakes.

Put It Into Practice

Reading about ranges is step one. Internalizing them is what actually moves your win rate. Here is your action plan:

• Week 1-2: Open Preflop+ and drill opening ranges from each position using the quiz mode. Aim for 90%+ accuracy before moving on.
• Week 3-4: Layer in 3-bet and cold-call ranges. The Preflop Strategy Masterclass walks through this progression step by step.
• Week 5+: Start tracking your positional stats in your database. Compare your actual opening percentages to the solver baselines above and fix any deviations.

Ready to make your preflop game airtight? Download Preflop+ on the App Store and start drilling solver-perfect ranges today. Your postflop game will thank you.