Every one of the 169 starting hands in Texas Hold'em, ranked by strength. Pocket pairs run down the diagonal, suited hands sit above it, offsuit hands below. The brighter the cell, the stronger the hand. This is the reference; learning when to deviate from it is the game.
Suited hands (e.g. AKs) are above the diagonal; offsuit hands (AKo) below; pocket pairs on it. Hover or tap a cell for its Chen score.
| Tier | How many | Example hands | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium | 5 hands (2% of deals) | AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs | The nuts of starting hands — raise these from anywhere. |
| Strong | 10 hands (5% of deals) | TT, AQs, AJs, KQs, AKo, AQo | Clear raises in most spots; big pairs and big broadways. |
| Playable | 39 hands (19% of deals) | 99-22, ATs-A2s, KJs, QJs, JTs, KQo | Profitable with position or in unraised pots; play with a plan. |
| Marginal | 70 hands (42% of deals) | K9s, Q9s, J9s, T9s, 98s, A9o, KTo, QJo | Situational — late position, cheap flops, or fold. |
| Trash | 45 hands (33% of deals) | 72o, 83o, 92o, J2o, and most offsuit junk | Fold pre-flop. The long-run losers. |
Percentages are the share of all deals, weighted by combinations — pocket pairs are six combos each, suited hands four, offsuit twelve, which is why a single offsuit class covers more deals than a pair.
Find your two cards by rank. If they're the same rank, you're on the diagonal — a pocket pair. If they're different and the same suit, look above the diagonal (the cell with the higher card first and an "s"). If they're different suits, look below the diagonal (an "o" cell). The color tells you the hand's raw strength against a random hand.
Suited hands beat their offsuit twins because the flush potential adds equity — AKs is a premium hand while AKo is merely strong. Connected ranks (like JTs) gain straight potential, which is why a suited connector outranks a bigger but disconnected hand like K6s.
Here's the honest answer: it depends, and any chart that gives you one fixed answer is selling a fantasy. Strength is the starting point, not the decision. The same king-ten offsuit is a fold under the gun at a full table and a raise on the button against two tight players. Position, stack depth, and — most of all — who you're up against move every borderline hand.
A big bet from a rock means fold your marginal hands; the identical bet from a maniac means call them down. That read — putting an opponent on a range and watching it narrow — is the skill this chart can't teach on its own. Drill it free in the Poker Reads Trainer: watch a transparent bot's range narrow on this same 13×13 grid, then test your read.
The grid shows all 169 starting-hand classes. Pocket pairs run down the diagonal (AA top-left to 22 bottom-right). Suited hands sit above the diagonal (the higher card is listed first, e.g. AKs), and offsuit hands sit below it (AKo). Color shows strength: the brighter the cell, the stronger the hand. Find your two cards by their ranks and read the color.
A standard deck deals 1,326 distinct two-card combinations, but most are strategically identical. AhKh plays the same as AsKs (both "AKs"), and AhKs plays like AcKd (both "AKo"). Grouping by rank and suited/offsuit collapses 1,326 combos into 169 classes: 13 pocket pairs, 78 suited hands, and 78 offsuit hands.
The premium tier — pocket aces (AA), kings (KK), queens (QQ), jacks (JJ), and ace-king suited (AKs) — wins the most often and should be raised from any position. Just behind them, pocket tens, ace-queen suited, ace-jack suited, king-queen suited, and ace-king offsuit are strong raises in most spots.
No — and any chart that claims to is lying. This is a strength reference, not a strategy. Which hands are profitable depends on your position, your stack, and who you are up against. A hand you fold against a tight player is a raise against a loose one. To learn how the same hand changes meaning by opponent, use the free Poker Reads Trainer.
Last updated June 1, 2026. Strength tiers computed with the Chen formula — see our methodology.