Poker Hand Range Builder
Build a range on the 169-cell grid and see what it really is in combinations, not cells. Card removal counted exactly, notation read and written.
Click a cell to toggle it, or drag across several. Pairs run down the diagonal, suited above it, offsuit below.
77+ is sevens and up. A2s+ walks the kicker to AKs.
TT-77 is a run, and 54s-JTs is a diagonal one — the suited
connectors. AK with no suffix means both shapes.
Why cells and combinations are not the same thing
- The grid has 169 cells but the deck has 1,326 starting hands, and confusing the two is the commonest mistake in range talk. A pair is six combinations, a suited hand four, an offsuit hand twelve — so a row of pairs is worth far less than it looks and a block of offsuit hands far more.
- Thirteen pairs times six, plus seventy-eight suited times four, plus seventy-eight offsuit times twelve, is 1,326 — which is exactly fifty-two choose two. Every percentage here is measured against that, not against 169.
- Card removal is counted rather than estimated. Once you hold one ace the six combinations of pocket aces are down to three; hold two and they are down to one. The tool enumerates the survivors suit by suit, because the effect is not proportional.
- A plus sign means "and everything stronger of the same shape" — walking up the pairs for a pair, and walking the kicker towards the high card for anything else. A dash is an explicit run between two hands of the same kind.
- No opening ranges by position are included. What a given seat should open with is a matter of opinion and of the game you are in, and quoting a percentage as though it were arithmetic would be dressing up a judgement as a fact.
How to use
- Click or drag across the grid to build a range.
- Read the combination count, not the number of cells.
- Enter the cards you can see to get the count that is still possible.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the percentage lower than I expected?
Because a cell is not a hand. The grid has 169 cells but the deck has 1,326 starting hands: a pair is six combinations, a suited hand four, an offsuit hand twelve. All thirteen pairs fill the whole diagonal and are still only 5.9% of hands, where counting cells would call it 7.7%.
Where does 1,326 come from?
It is fifty-two choose two — every possible pair of cards. Thirteen pairs times six, plus seventy-eight suited times four, plus seventy-eight offsuit times twelve, comes to exactly that, and every percentage here is measured against it rather than against 169.
How does card removal work?
By counting the survivors suit by suit, because the effect is not proportional. Hold one ace and the six combinations of pocket aces drop to three; hold two and they drop to one. Enter the cards you can see and the tool recounts every cell against the smaller deck that remains.
What notation does it understand?
A plus means "and everything stronger of the same shape" — 77+ for pairs, A2s+ walking the kicker up to AKs. A dash is a run: TT-77 for pairs, A5s-A2s for one high card, and 54s-JTs diagonally for the suited connectors. AK with no suffix means both shapes.
Can I get my range back out as text?
Yes, and it collapses back into the compact forms rather than listing every cell — four consecutive pairs come out as a run, a full row as a plus. Anything it writes it can read back to exactly the same set of hands, which is checked over hundreds of random ranges.
Why are there no opening ranges by position?
Because what a given seat should open with is a matter of opinion and of the game you are sitting in. Quoting a percentage as though it were arithmetic would be dressing up a judgement as a fact, and everything else on this page is exact.
What are the presets for?
To show the gap between how a range looks and what it is. Suited aces fill a whole row of twelve cells and come to forty-eight combinations — under four per cent. The seven suited connectors are twenty-eight combinations, barely two.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged, or stored.