6-max preflop charts

Solver preflop ranges for 6-max cash games at 100bb, from a simulation we ran ourselves: what to open from every seat, how to defend against an open, and what to do when your open gets 3-bet. Beside the opening ranges, how often real players actually open, counted from millions of hands.

A square split between colours is a mixed strategy: the solver plays the hand both ways, in those proportions. Hover or tap a hand for its exact numbers. In the 3-bet charts a faded square is a hand that only sometimes gets there, because it was not always opened.

Opening ranges

Everyone has folded to you. The solver opens to 2bb or folds. It never limps, because its tree has no limp from these seats. The table puts its opening frequency next to what the pool does.

Regulars open within about three points of the solver from every seat: a little tighter from the hijack, cutoff and small blind, a little looser on the button. They almost never limp. Recreational players open about as often but also limp 11–18% of their hands, a line the solver never takes.

Defending against an open

Someone opened to 2bb and it is folded to you. In this simulation only the button and the big blind can flat-call. From the hijack, cutoff and small blind it is 3-bet or fold, so those charts have no calls.

Facing a 3-bet

You opened and one player 3-bet; everyone else folded. In position the 3-bet is to 6.5bb. From the small blind it is 10.5bb and from the big blind 12bb. These charts only show the hands you opened. Each one's frequency is what it does once it is here.

Where the numbers come from

• Solver ranges: our own HoldemResources Calculator (HRC) simulation, 6-max, 100bb deep, 5% rake capped at 0.6bb, no flop no drop. Opens are 2bb from every seat. Ranges as of 2026-09-10.
• The pool: 23.9 million hands from 6-max tables at NL500 and above on 888poker, GGPoker, PokerStars, WPN, 2020–2026: 47.5 million first-in decisions by regulars and 9.8 million by recreational players. Counted from aggregate totals with no player names. Baseline built 2026-09-18.
• Who counts as what: a regular has played 30 or more hands with VPIP under 35% and less than 18 points between VPIP and PFR. A recreational player has VPIP of 35% or more, or a gap of 18 points or more. Players with fewer than 30 hands are left out.

Not covered here: squeezes (a 3-bet after someone has called the open), cold 4-bets and other stack depths. The pool column covers opens only. Our pool counts for "facing an open" do not yet separate squeezes from plain 3-bets, and comparing the two would make everyone look as if they under-3-bet. So we leave them out rather than print a misleading number.

How to use a preflop chart

Why do the ranges get wider closer to the button?

Fewer players are left to act behind you, so your open is less likely to run into a strong hand, and you are more likely to play the flop in position. UTG opens about a fifth of hands; the button opens over 40%.

What does a mixed square mean?

The solver is indifferent between two actions with that hand, so it plays both at those frequencies. At the table, either action is close to break-even against a good opponent. Pick one consistently, or use a random number to split them.

Do these ranges work at my stakes?

They assume 100bb stacks and rake capped at 0.6bb, which is close to mid and high stakes online. Higher rake at small stakes makes calling and opening the weakest hands worse, so tighten the edges a little. Against players who limp or call too much, raising wider for value pays more than any chart says.

Any of these ranges can be loaded into the equity calculator to see how it does against a hand or another range.