🚪 Opening from different positions: what to play first in, and why
18% from UTG, 48% from the button — the logic of position and which hands lose the most · Beginner
Opening is the most frequent decision in poker, and it's the easiest place to gain a steady edge. We look at why the button's range is 2.6 times wider than UTG's, which hands "move" from fold to open as position changes, and why nobody limps in Omaha.
Why position matters
An open means you're first into the pot with a raise, everyone before you folded. The seat order at a six-handed table: UTG → MP → CO → BTN (button) → SB → BB.
Position works twice. Before the flop: the more players behind you, the higher the chance one of them has a strong hand. After the flop: the player in position acts last and sees the opponent's action before deciding. In Omaha, where hand equities run close and every street's decisions are expensive, information is worth especially much.
The chart's numbers
According to our chart (100 bb, PL200 rake), the opening ranges are:
— UTG — 18.4% of hands;
— MP — 22.2%;
— CO — 30.4%;
— BTN — 48.2%;
— SB — 41.8%.
The small blind opens less than the button, even though only one player is behind it: after the flop the SB always acts first, and that costs it part of its range.
The open is a pot-sized raise, 3.5 bb. There's no limp (just calling the blind) in this chart: a limp gives up the initiative and invites the blinds in with any cards, and in Omaha any hand has at least some equity.
Which hands "move" with position
Premium hands open from everywhere, weak ones from nowhere. Everything interesting is in between. See how the frequencies change from UTG to the button:
— double-suited aces with gapped cards (like A♠9♠5♥4♥): 3% → 88%;
— double-suited king-queen with two gapped cards (like K♠Q♠9♥6♥): 16% → 86%;
— single-suited rundowns (like 9♠8♠7♥6♦): 40% → 70%;
— rainbow aces with broadway cards (like A♠K♦Q♥J♣): 18% → 100%.
These hands are strong after the flop but handle pressure and out-of-position multiway pots poorly. From the button only the blinds are behind you — and a hand that loses money from UTG makes money from the button.
How to think when opening
Position first, then the hand. Ask yourself three questions:
— how many players can still enter the pot after me;
— how does my hand play in position and out of position;
— what will I do with it against a 3-bet.
The last question is often forgotten: if a hand opens from UTG, it should be able to continue against a 3-bet. According to the chart, UTG against an MP 3-bet continues with 72% of its opens — the range is already narrow, there's almost nothing to fold from it. The button against an SB 3-bet continues with 83%: it will play the pot in position.
Practice: 10 hands from different positions. Graded by the chart: "Correct" — the most frequent action or an action with a frequency of 50% or more; "Inaccuracy" — the chart sometimes plays it this way (1–49%); "Mistake" — almost never (under 1%); "Blunder" — the same, when the chart makes the correct action 90% of the time or more.