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9-Max Preflop Charts
These charts are the starting point
Sharkling solves the spots the chart can't cover, and grades your play against the answer.
Seat by seat at a 9-handed table
Opening frequencies for the six seats with a published chart are the solved 100bb figures. The three early seats have no 6-max counterpart, so those are guidance rather than solver output.
| Seat | To act | Open | Chart to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| UTGUnder the gun | 8 | ~10-12% | Tighter than the lojackPairs down to about 66, strong suited aces, suited broadways, AKo-AQo. |
| UTG+1Under the gun + 1 | 7 | ~12-14% | Tighter than the lojackAdd the lower pairs and ATs/KTs; still no offsuit hands below AJo. |
| UTG+2Under the gun + 2 | 6 | ~14-16% | Tighter than the lojackNearly the lojack chart — the suited connectors start to come in. |
| LJLojack | 5 | 16.6% | 6-max UTG chartFive players behind, exactly as at 6-max UTG. Same chart, no adjustment. |
| HJHijack | 4 | 21.5% | 6-max MP chartSuited connectors and the weaker suited aces become profitable opens. |
| COCutoff | 3 | 29.6% | 6-max CO chartStealing becomes a reason to raise rather than a by-product of one. |
| BTNButton | 2 | 49.3% | 6-max BTN chartThe widest range in poker, and unchanged by the three extra seats. |
| SBSmall blind | 1 | 40.6% | 6-max SB chartOne player left, out of position for every street that follows. |
| BBBig blind | 0 | — | 6-max BB chartNever opens. Defends, and tighter against the three early seats. |
Static charts can't adapt to your opponents
Sharkling's neural solver does — it re-solves the spot for the table you're actually sitting at, then drills you on it.
What actually changes at nine handed
The number that decides an opening range is not how many players are at the table. It is how many are still to act behind you, because every one of them is a chance for someone to wake up with a better hand — and because the more of them there are, the less often the blinds simply fold.
At 6-max, under the gun has five players left to act. At nine handed, the lojack has five players left to act. If everyone in front of the lojack has folded, the two spots are the same spot: same blinds, same stacks, same five opponents, same rake. The 6-max chart is not an approximation there — it is the solution.
That is why the six published preflop charts by position cover most of a full-ring game already. Slide them along by three seats and the only gap left is the front of the table.
The three seats that need new charts
Under the gun at a nine-handed table you face eight players rather than five. Three extra opponents does not sound like much until you price it: each one folds a large majority of the time, but the hands they continue with are concentrated at the very top, and they all get to act before you see a flop.
The practical answer is to cut from the bottom of the 6-max under-the-gun range rather than to redesign it. In order, the hands that leave first are:
- The weakest offsuit broadways. KTo and JTo are already marginal opens with five behind. With eight, they are folds.
- The lowest pairs. 22-44 open at a small profit at 6-max because they can win a big pot when they flop a set. Three more players to get through, and more of those set-mining pots arrive multiway with reverse implied odds attached.
- The stretched suited hands. T8s, 98s and the weaker suited aces below A9s all need either fold equity or position, and the front of a full-ring table has neither.
What survives is the part of the range that wants to be called: big pairs, big suited aces, suited broadways, and AKo through AQo. That is roughly 10-12% of hands, widening a couple of points per seat as you move to UTG+1 and UTG+2.
Common full-ring leaks
- Opening the 6-max UTG chart from seat one. The single most expensive full-ring mistake, and the easiest to make if you have moved across from short-handed games.
- Over-defending the big blind against early opens. The price is the same, but a 10% opening range is far stronger than a 49% one. Defend wide against the button, not against UTG.
- Limping along in early position. Full-ring pots go multiway far more often, and a limp invites exactly the pot you least want: several opponents, no initiative, and you first to act on every street.
- Cold-calling from the middle seats. Calling an early open with four players still behind is how you get squeezed. Either 3-bet or fold; the flat-call range that works on the button does not work in the hijack.
- Playing the late seats like the early ones. “Full ring is a tight game” leads people to fold the button at 25% when the correct number is closer to 49%. Nothing about the button changes when three chairs are added in front of it.
Where to go next
Open the button chart and the lojack chart side by side — they are the two seats that produce most of a full-ring win rate, and they are the two you can take straight from the 6-max solves. If you want the reasoning behind the grids rather than the grids themselves, the preflop charts guide works through how a solver arrives at them.
Frequently asked questions
How much tighter should I open at a 9-max table?
Only the three seats that do not exist at 6-max need tightening. Under the gun at nine handed you are opening roughly 10-12% of hands against the 16.6% the lojack opens, because eight players are still to act rather than five. From the lojack onwards the ranges are the same as 6-max.
Can I just use 6-max charts in a full-ring game?
From the lojack on, yes — the number of players left to act is identical, so the spot is the same one. The mistake is using the 6-max under-the-gun chart from the first three seats of a nine-handed table, which is between one and three seats too wide.
What are the extra positions in a 9-max game called?
Under the gun, UTG+1 and UTG+2 are the three early seats, followed by the lojack, hijack, cutoff, button, small blind and big blind. Some rooms label the early seats MP1, MP2 and MP3 instead; the seat order is what matters, not the name.
Is full ring tighter than 6-max overall?
Yes, but almost all of the difference comes from the three extra early seats. You are dealt the same hands, so a larger share of your hands arrive in a position where folding is correct — a full-ring regular plays around 15-18% of hands where a 6-max regular plays 22-25%.
Does the button open the same range at 9-max?
Yes. On the button only the two blinds remain to act, whether the table started with six players or nine. The 49.3% button chart applies unchanged, and folding it away because full ring is a tight game is one of the most expensive habits in the format.
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