Poker Range Chart Explained: How to Read the Grid

A poker range chart is a 13x13 grid that shows every possible starting hand and tells you exactly what to do with each one. Once you can read the grid at a glance, every strategy article, training tool, and solver output suddenly speaks the same language. This guide breaks the chart down cell by cell so you never have to squint at one again.

What the grid actually shows

Texas Hold’em has 1,326 possible two-card combinations, but many of them are strategically identical — A-K of hearts plays the same as A-K of spades preflop. Collapse those and you’re left with 169 distinct starting hands. A range chart lays all 169 out in a single 13x13 square, so one picture holds every hand you could ever be dealt.

The rows and columns are both labeled A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, from top-left down and left to right. Where a row and column meet, you get one hand. That’s the whole system.

The three zones of every chart

Every range chart splits into three regions, and knowing which is which is 90% of reading one:

• The diagonal — running from the top-left corner (A-A) to the bottom-right (2-2) — is the 13 pocket pairs. Any cell where the row rank equals the column rank is a pair.
• Above the diagonal are the 78 suited hands. A-K suited, A-Q suited, K-Q suited, and so on. These are labeled with an “s” (like AKs).
• Below the diagonal are the 78 offsuit hands — A-K offsuit, A-Q offsuit, labeled with an “o” (like AKo).

Add those up: 13 + 78 + 78 = 169 hands, the full grid. The top-left corner holds the strongest hands (big pairs, premium aces), and strength fades as you move toward the bottom-right.

Reading the colors

In the simplest charts, a cell is either shaded (in the range) or blank (fold). But most modern charts use color to pack in more information:

Those split cells are where solver-style charts get their reputation for looking complicated. A cell that’s 70% red and 30% green just means: raise this hand 70% of the time, do the other action 30%. You don’t have to hit those frequencies perfectly at the table — the split tells you the hand is a close, flexible decision.

How position reshapes the same grid

The grid never changes, but the shaded area does. This is the key insight behind reading charts by position:

• Under the gun (early): only the tight top-left block is shaded — big pairs, strong suited aces, A-K, A-Q. Maybe 10-15% of the grid.
• Cutoff / button (late): the shading spreads down and to the right, filling in small pairs, suited connectors, and weaker suited aces. It can cover 40%+ of the grid.

So when you compare an early-position chart to a button chart, you’re looking at the same 169 cells with a much bigger portion lit up. Learning poker positions is what makes these differences click.

Combo counting: why the grid isn’t uniform

Here’s a subtlety the grid hides: not every cell is worth the same number of actual hands. This matters when you estimate how often an opponent holds something.

• Each pocket pair cell = 6 combos (for example, A-A can be made 6 ways).
• Each suited cell = 4 combos.
• Each offsuit cell = 12 combos.

So even though pairs, suited, and offsuit hands each take up cells on the grid, the offsuit region actually represents far more raw combinations. A range that shades 20 offsuit cells contains many more hand combinations than one shading 20 suited cells. When you read a chart, remember the cells are hands types, not equal-weight slots.

A worked read: decoding one chart

Say you open a button opening chart and see the top-left corner solid, a diagonal streak of shaded pairs running down toward 2-2, a broad band of suited hands above the diagonal reaching to hands like 76s, and a smaller patch of offsuit hands below (ATo, KQo, KJo) with the rest of the offsuit region blank.

Reading it: raise all pairs, most suited hands including suited connectors, but only the stronger offsuit broadways. Everything blank — offsuit junk like J7o — is a fold. That single glance tells you the entire button opening strategy, which you can cross-check against our poker ranges by position breakdown.

Common mistakes reading charts

• Confusing suited and offsuit sides. Above the diagonal is always suited; below is always offsuit. Mix them up and you’ll play 72o thinking it’s 72s.
• Treating every cell as equal frequency. Remember the 6 / 4 / 12 combo counts — offsuit cells carry the most combos.
• Ignoring the action key. In a multi-color chart, always find the legend first. Green might mean call in one chart and raise in another.
• Memorizing one chart for all seats. A chart is position-specific. Using a button chart under the gun is a huge leak.

Putting it to use

A poker range chart is nothing more than a 13x13 map of all 169 starting hands, split into pairs on the diagonal, suited above, and offsuit below, with color showing the action. Master that layout and you can read any chart in seconds — opening, calling, or 3-betting. If the concept of a range itself is still fuzzy, start with what is a poker range, then return to the preflop strategy hub to see how every chart fits the bigger framework.