Poker starting hands
Poker starting hands are the foundation of every winning player’s strategy. Before you think about bluffs, hero calls or advanced concepts, you…
Preflop
calling ranges
This article explains what a preflop calling range is and when cold calling poker actually makes sense in modern 6-max cash games. You will learn why calling is rare from most seats in raked 100 bb games and why the button and big blind are the two main exceptions. You will also learn what types of hands make good calls and how to study these ranges efficiently in Poker Trainer.
This guide focuses on 6-max cash games with 100 bb effective stacks in a raked online environment. The exact ranges on this page are built for cash games, but the main principles apply in all formats. Stronger positions can defend wider and out-of-position calling is usually harder.
If you mainly play tournaments, the ideas still help, but the ranges will be different. Antes and no rake add dead money and improve pot odds, which leads to more calling and wider defense than in cash games. In Poker Trainer you can explore the correct ranges for your format and stack depth in the Range Viewer.
Your calling range is the set of hands you choose to call with when someone raises before you. Many players also use the phrase cold calling poker for this, when you call without having invested money in the pot yet.
Calling is one of the three basic options when facing a raise. You can fold, call or 3-bet. Calling can be attractive when your hand plays well after the flop and you do not want to build a big pot. At the same time, calling has real costs. You may get squeezed by players behind you, you may end up playing out of position and rake reduces your profit in smaller pots. Because of this, strong strategies keep calling ranges disciplined.
In 6-max 100 bb cash games with rake, cold calling is often worse than 3-betting or folding when you are not on the button or in the big blind. The main reason is that you are usually stuck between two problems. If you call from early or middle position, players behind you can squeeze. If you call from the small blind, you give up initiative and make postflop play much harder.
Rake also matters a lot here. Many borderline calls become unprofitable in a raked environment, because you win too many small pots and pay too much in fees. On top of that, calling from these seats creates a strategy that is harder to learn and easier to misplay.
That is why many modern strategies in raked 100 bb cash games end up close to a simple rule: most positions versus an open raise are mainly 3-bet or fold. If you want to study the aggressive side of this structure, see our guide to preflop 3-bet ranges.
The charts in this article are built for 6-max cash games with 100 bb effective stacks in a typical online raked environment. They are calibrated for NL50-style rake, which slightly favors tighter and more playable ranges compared to no-rake games. At higher stakes with lower rake, some marginal hands can become slightly more profitable.
The preflop sizing used for these charts is an open raise of 2.5 bb from LJ, HJ, CO, and BTN, and an open raise of 3 bb from the small blind.
Poker Trainer includes two types of ranges: PTO and GTO (game theory optimal).
GTO ranges are direct solver outputs and include mixed frequencies where the same hand may take different actions at different percentages.
PTO (Poker Trainer optimized) ranges are built from those solver outputs but simplified to use pure decisions and to be easier to learn and execute. If you want a deeper explanation of how PTO ranges are constructed and why they work well in practice, see our guide to preflop opening hands.
For most beginners and intermediate players, PTO is the best starting point. As you improve, you can explore the GTO ranges as well.
If you play with very different rake or use different raise sizes, treat these charts as a strong baseline and expect small adjustments. If you want a deeper explanation of sizing and how it affects ranges, read our guide to preflop bet sizing.
The button is the first major exception where calling a raise makes sense. When you cold call on the button, you guarantee position after the flop. That positional advantage is huge. It helps you realize equity more effectively, control the pot with medium-strength hands and apply pressure on later streets.
Button calling ranges are built from hands that play well in position and can profitably continue without always needing to 3-bet. In full GTO solutions, these hands actually mix between calling and 3-betting rather than using one pure action. This is common with pocket pairs, suited broadways, suited connectors and some suited aces.
In the PTO strategy, the same calling range is used on the button versus LJ, HJ, and CO opens. In theory these spots differ slightly because the opener’s range becomes wider. However, every hand included in the PTO calling range already calls at some frequency in the solver output. Because of that, keeping the same range across these positions creates essentially no EV loss while making the strategy much easier to learn and execute. Only opponents who know your exact simplification and deliberately try to exploit it could gain an edge, which is extremely unlikely in practice.
The hands that call share the same key traits. They play well in position, can realize equity across many board textures, and avoid weak offsuit combinations that often make dominated pairs.
In practice, the best action depends on player type. Against players who fold too much to 3-bets, you can often raise instead of calling with hands from your calling range. Against players who call 3-bets too much or become overly aggressive after the flop, calling in position becomes more attractive with hands that realize equity well. Against aggressive players who 4-bet a lot, calling more and bluff 3-betting less can also make sense.
The players in the blinds matter too. If the blinds squeeze a lot, calling on the button becomes less attractive. If the blinds are passive and rarely squeeze, calling becomes more attractive because you can realize your equity in position more often. If the big blind is weak and calls too much, hands that play well multiway can also become better calls.
In summary:
The default is to call with your calling range. The two most common exceptions are when the raiser folds too much to 3-bets and when the blinds squeeze too much. These are general rules of thumb, not fixed rules. For example, if the blinds squeeze too much but also 4-bet too much, raising with the calling range may no longer be the best adjustment.
If you are unsure what the opener’s range looks like, review our guide to opening poker hands. Understanding your opponent’s opening range is essential for building a correct calling range.
Big blind defense is very different from calling on the button. You will be out of position after the flop (except when facing SB), but you already have one big blind invested and you close the action preflop, which means no one can squeeze behind you.
Because of that, many hands become profitable calls in the big blind even if they would be folds in other seats. Closing the action removes the risk of getting squeezed and the pot odds are good because you already have money invested in the pot.
The price you get to call stays the same if the open size is the same. What changes is the strength of the opener’s range. Later positions open more hands, which means your hands in the big blind will win more often. Because of that, the calling range becomes wider as the opener moves later.
The overview chart below shows how the big blind calling range expands as the opener moves from early position to the button. When the opener is tight you must defend carefully. When the opener is wide you can call much more often.
These ranges assume the opener raises to 2.5 bb, which is the size used in the PTO charts. If the open size is larger, such as 3 bb, you should defend tighter because the pot odds are worse. If the open size is smaller, such as 2 bb, you can defend wider because the pot odds improve. You can explore the exact GTO calling ranges for different sizes in the Range Viewer (Cash → GTO).
This spot is one of the most common in poker and improving your big blind defense can have a large impact on your win rate.
Versus an early position open, the opener’s range is strong. Because of that, the big blind must defend carefully even though you close the action and get pot odds.
Most calls come from hands that can realize equity well after the flop, such as pocket pairs, suited broadways, suited aces and suited connectors. Many weaker hands are still folds because they perform poorly against a strong range.
The hijack opens slightly wider than LJ, which allows the big blind to defend a bit more often. Some additional strong broadways, suited hands and connected hands now become profitable calls.
These hands benefit from good playability and the ability to make strong draws or disguised made hands.
The cutoff opens a clearly wider range. Because of that, more hands in the big blind have enough equity to continue.
Additional suited hands, suited gappers and some weaker connected hands become profitable calls as the opener’s range becomes weaker.
The button opens a very wide range. Because the opener is weak and you close the action with good pot odds against a 2.5 bb open, the big blind can defend much wider.
Many suited hands, connected hands and even some weaker offsuit hands now have enough equity to call.
The small blind opens the widest range of all positions. In the PTO charts the small blind raises to 3 bb, which slightly worsens your pot odds compared to a button open.
However, you now play the hand in position, which improves how many hands can realize their equity. Because the small blind range is so wide and you will have position after the flop, the big blind can defend with the widest calling range in this matchup.
Cold calling from the small blind is difficult because you will be out of position after the flop and you do not close the action. The big blind can still squeeze, which makes calling much less attractive.
If the big blind squeezes, you are often forced to fold and lose your call. If the big blind calls, you usually end up in a multiway pot out of position, which is also hard to play profitably.
Because of these problems, many strong strategies use very little cold calling from the small blind versus an open. Instead, they prefer a cleaner 3-bet or fold approach.
In the PTO ranges, the small blind uses a pure 3-bet or fold strategy against open raises.
This keeps the strategy simpler and avoids many difficult situations out of position.
Good cold calls tend to come from hands that are easy to play postflop. Suited and connected hands can make strong draws, strong two pairs, and disguised hands that win big pots. Pocket pairs can flop sets and win large pots when stacks are deep enough.
Bad cold calls are often weak offsuit hands that mainly make a single pair. These hands look fine before the flop, but they frequently make second-best pairs and lose big pots.
If you want a deeper explanation of hand types and why some hands perform better than others, read our guide to preflop starting hands.
The most common calling mistake is cold calling too much from early and middle positions. Calling there invites squeezes from players behind and often leaves you in difficult postflop spots without initiative. Modern preflop strategy generally prefers more 3-betting and less passive flat-calling in these positions.
Another leak is calling dominated offsuit hands because they look playable. Hands that often make weak top pair tend to lose money over time, especially in raked cash games where marginal calls perform worse.
Many players also defend the big blind too passively, especially versus later opens. The big blind gets better immediate odds and closes the action, so more hands can continue than many players expect. At the same time, big blind defense is very sensitive to raise size, so you should not treat all opens the same.
Fixing these mistakes usually improves results quickly because these spots happen so often.
Do not try to memorize every square in the chart. Strong players learn patterns, borders and a few key anchor hands.
Start by studying spots in a natural order, from tight ranges to wide ranges. Begin with defending BB versus an LJ open, then move to HJ, then CO, then BTN and finally SB. After that move on to defending BTN versus an LJ open, then move to HJ, then CO.
This makes it easier to see how your defense expands as the opener gets wider.
Use hand categories to simplify the chart. Think in groups like pocket pairs, suited aces, offsuit aces, broadways, and suited connectors. Then learn the weakest hand you still open in each group.
Focus on the border of the range. Most hands are clear folds or clear opens. The thin edge is where most mistakes happen.
In Poker Trainer, you can explore exact scenarios in the Range Viewer. Then practice the same spots in Preflop mode inside the Poker Simulator. Repetition with feedback is the fastest way to turn opening ranges into automatic decisions.
A disciplined calling range is a key part of modern preflop poker. In raked 100 bb cash games, calling is limited from most seats. The button and big blind are the main exceptions, and they call for different reasons.
If you understand where cold calling poker makes sense and where it does not, you will avoid many expensive mistakes and play a cleaner, more profitable strategy.
To complete your preflop foundation, study opening poker hands to understand how ranges are built in unopened pots and learn 3-bet ranges to see how strong hands and bluffs attack raises preflop.
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