Poker Starting Hand Charts
Professional starting hand charts from Poker University: preflop ranges for all formats—tournaments, cash games, Omaha, and Spin & Go. Suitable for both beginners and experienced players. A 4-level system tailored to different stakes and skill levels.
A 4-Level System
A step-by-step structure: Level 1—for beginners, Level 2—for micro stakes, Level 3—for mid stakes, Level 4—for high stakes. Each step includes up-to-date charts built on a real hand-history database.
Preflop Charts for Real Player Pools
Unlike solver solutions, our charts are based on the analysis of millions of hands played online. They are adapted to common player-pool mistakes, tilt, stake-specific tendencies, and real metagames. Optimized for use in online poker rooms.
List of current charts
Staring hand
Note
About Charts.
- About the Charts
- Advantages
- Advice
- FAQ
A Professional Approach to Preflop Strategy
A professional approach to playing poker consists in making profitable decisions in any situation that arises at the table.
It is no surprise that the foundation of profitable poker is formed at the earliest stage of the game — preflop. This is precisely where a large number of players make many mistakes, and beginners are not the only ones affected. Beginners (as well as recreational players who do not pay sufficient attention to improving their strategy) have a poor understanding of which hands are genuinely profitable to enter the pot with, and they also fail to consider the various factors that influence this: table position, the presence of strong opponents, the impact of players’ stacks, the tournament stage, and so on. Most importantly, the game limit can have a dramatic effect on preflop hand ranges.
A clear understanding of which starting hands should be used to enter a pot in a particular situation makes it possible to create the basic conditions for winning poker and frees the player from many difficult decisions both preflop and on later streets. This is why ready-made and proven solutions exist — poker starting-hand charts. Poker starting-hand charts are tables of specific starting-card combinations recommended for entering the pot depending on our position at the table, stack depth, and the actions of the players before us.
Our team of coaches did a tremendous amount of work to create a step-by-step system of preflop charts:
Each chart table is tailored to a specific limit and to the player’s level of preparation for mastering the material. At the initial levels, the chart structure is simplified to speed up memorization of the key principles of the game. As the level increases, the system of preflop situations becomes more complex and detailed, allowing players to improve their preflop strategy established during the previous stages of training.
Ways of Creating Poker Starting-Hand Charts
Solver Charts
University Charts
The main advantage of this method is that it takes several critical factors into account:
- the actual strategies commonly used by opponents at a specific limit;
- the average skill level of the player using the charts, adjusted for inevitable tactical mistakes and deviations from the optimal playing model;
- the likelihood of destructive psychological states occurring, including a certain degree of tilt;
- potential hidden algorithmic characteristics of random-number generators in poker rooms, since they are automatically reflected in the body of practical statistics.
How Cash Game and MTT Starting-Hand Charts Differ
- Cash games have rake — it narrows opening ranges and makes calls less profitable.
- In MTTs — the value of chips changes depending on the tournament stage.
- In cash games — stack depth is stable, while in MTTs it is constantly changing.
- MTTs have more situational factors: the bubble, ICM, the stage, and knockouts.
Advantages of Professional Preflop Charts from Our Coaching Team
The preflop charts offered and recommended by our educational platform were created by the Poker University coaching team.
Thanks to many years of coaching experience and active cooperation with both poker staking funds and various professional players, as well as their own tournament experience, the team was able to collect and carefully analyze large volumes of poker statistics obtained from practical play. A detailed study (research) of these large databases of hands played by players at different limits made it possible to identify various patterns and draw valuable conclusions about current field tendencies, the profitability of playing particular starting hands preflop, and their connection with overall game profitability.
Preflop charts created on the basis of this research have been tested in practice by our coaches and dozens of students and users of our portal. The main advantages are regular updates to the University chart, as well as the ability to create your own chart in the “My Chart” section by copying the original University version. Users can make any editorial changes to the copied version directly on the website. All changes made are saved for subsequent personal use.
University Chart
My Chart
A personal copy of the University chart. It remains available without any time restrictions and can be edited independently. We recommend creating a copy of the University chart if you do not plan to renew your subscription to updates after it expires.
How to Choose a Starting-Hand Chart
Choosing a starting-hand chart from those presented on our website will depend both on the players’ experience and on the limits they play.
Chart for Poker Beginners
For players taking their first steps in poker, we recommend the Level 1 chart — a sufficiently simple course with an uncomplicated data structure that will help create a solid foundation for winning play at micro-stakes and lay the groundwork for further professional growth.
- Poker University Charts — Level 1 for tournaments up to $8
The basic version of this chart is not enough to cover all of a player’s needs. For beginners who have gained their first playing experience, we recommend the version marked FULL. To obtain it, you need to fulfill one simple condition of the website’s loyalty program — make 1 poker-room deposit according to the school’s instructions (via the link). - Poker University Charts — Level 1 FULL
The structure of the information presented in the chart is expanded slightly, while the list of situations and techniques covered becomes broader. This is the complete basic version of the charts, which can be obtained by completing several simple steps.
Chart for Beginning Players and Low-Stakes Professionals
For players who have chosen tournament poker as their main occupation, more advanced courses and charts are intended, the first of which is the video course “Optimal Preflop Ranges — Level 2”. The course will be useful for MTT players at limits up to $22 and contains the most up-to-date charts for playing at these limits, created based on fresh research of this year’s field.
Course advantages:
- The 17 videos provided explain in detail how to use the charts in play, what to pay attention to when studying them, and how to implement them in practice;
- The well-designed structure and sequence of the material make the learning process fast and informative;
- Special attention is devoted to playing one of the most popular MTT formats today — tournaments with knockout rewards. The course explains how play changes in such tournaments depending on the size of the knockout reward.
Chart for Mid-Stakes Professionals
Professional poker players view preflop play as an integral part of their overall tournament strategy, dependent on many factors (the tournament stage, table position, players’ stack sizes, and so on). For experienced players who regularly participate in tournaments with medium and high buy-ins (from $25 to $150), we recommend the most comprehensive and in-depth course dedicated to preflop play: "Optimal Preflop Ranges — Level 3".
This course contains both up-to-date charts for limits from $25 to $125, created based on the latest research of this year’s field, and 13 videos with detailed explanations. This video course will also be useful for players at lower limits who have already implemented and regularly use the preflop charts from the “Level 2” course. The information presented in this course will help such players further improve their preflop game.
Chart for High-Stakes Professionals
At high stakes ($215–$1050), preflop play requires maximum accuracy and discipline. Here, every decision directly affects long-term ROI, and mistakes are especially costly. The course «Optimal Preflop Ranges — Level 4» was created specifically for professionals who consistently play tournaments with high buy-ins. It contains up-to-date charts for limits of $215+, compiled on the basis of modern field research and the practice of regular players at this level. The material will help systematize your preflop strategy and eliminate even minor inaccuracies in your game, which are decisive at high stakes.
How to Use the Charts and Implement New Knowledge in Your Game
All starting-hand charts presented on our portal have a similar structure. The information is presented in sections and subsections organized according to common characteristics: the preflop action, table position, stack size, our opponents’ actions, and other factors. Although the chart structure is intuitive, the data is highlighted with convenient color coding, and many sections include additional comments.
Even with all this convenience, implementing knowledge in your game is a fairly demanding process. Our coach has taken care of this as well, developing an extremely effective method over the course of his coaching career for implementing new knowledge into a playing strategy and making it automatic. All that is required of you is to watch one video and follow all of its recommendations completely and flawlessly. Discipline and trust in your coach are what will help you if you can find these qualities within yourself and work exactly as described in the video. The video is the very first one in Section 1 of our free video course “Fundamentals of Preflop and Postflop Play”.
Advice for Beginners
For beginners, we recommend the following approach to studying the charts and implementing them in your game:
- Consider studying and implementing starting-hand charts as an integral part of your learning process. Do it regularly!
- Study the information presented in the charts in order, section by section. Read all the notes and review the chart over an extended period.
- Look at the charts regularly during play, both before and after your action.
- Reduce the number of tables for the first few weeks while you adapt to the new playing charts and range characteristics.
- Be sure to make notes on the main differences from your current game that you identify while studying the chart. Otherwise, you will forget more than half of the new knowledge.
Conclusion
Preflop starting-hand charts in poker are one of the modern tools necessary for building a sound and profitable playing strategy. This is especially important in tournament poker, where the optimality of a player’s preflop decision depends on a large number of different factors. A clear understanding of which starting hands are profitable to enter the pot with preflop in a particular situation frees players from many difficult decisions at later stages of the hand and has a significant overall impact on long-term profit. Remember that preflop play is a crucial part of winning poker. And do not spare time to improve your strategy in this area!
