Texas Hold'em Starting Hand Chart

By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · March 22, 2026

Starting Hand Chart

The chart below shows all 169 unique starting hands in Texas Hold'em. Rows and columns represent card ranks from Ace to Deuce. Hands above the diagonal are suited (s), below are offsuit (o), and the diagonal contains pairs.

How to Read the Chart

Find your first card along the left column and your second card along the top row. If your first card is the higher rank, the cell is above the diagonal (suited) or on the diagonal (pair). If it is the lower rank, look below the diagonal (offsuit). The color tells you the general strength category.

Position-Based Adjustments

Early Position (Under the Gun, UTG+1)

Play only the green (premium) hands from early position. You have the most players left to act behind you, and any hand you play will frequently be out of position post-flop. Stick to big pairs (AA through JJ), ace-king, and ace-queen suited. Fold everything else.

Middle Position

Add the light green (strong) hands to your opening range. Pairs down to 99, ace-jack suited, king-queen suited, and ace-queen offsuit become profitable opens from middle seats. You still face several players behind you, so keep the range controlled.

Late Position (Cutoff and Button)

The yellow (playable) hands become opens from the cutoff and especially the button. Suited connectors, smaller pairs, and suited aces all work well from late position because you will act last on every post-flop street. On the button, you can open around 40% of hands against passive blinds.

Blinds

From the blinds, you are already invested in the pot, so you defend wider against raises. However, you will be out of position for the rest of the hand, so your defense range should lean toward hands that play well post-flop: suited hands, connected cards, and pairs. Avoid defending with weak offsuit hands like K3o or Q5o even though the pot odds seem right.

Common Mistakes

The biggest preflop mistake is playing too many hands from early and middle position. If you find yourself playing more than 20% of hands from UTG, you are almost certainly losing money on those extra hands over time. The second most common mistake is not opening wide enough from the button when the blinds are passive. Leaving money on the table by folding playable button hands is a missed opportunity.

Another frequent error is overvaluing suited cards. Being suited adds about 3-4% equity compared to the offsuit version. That matters at the margins, but K7 suited is not a fundamentally different hand from K7 offsuit. Do not open bad hands just because they are suited.

Frequently Asked Questions