GTO Preflop Ranges Explained: How to Read and Use a Starting-Hand Chart

If you have ever opened a GTO preflop chart for the first time, the reaction is usually the same: a grid of coloured squares that looks more like a spreadsheet than a poker strategy. But those charts are one of the most useful study tools in the modern game, and once you understand what they are actually telling you, they become far less intimidating. This guide explains what GTO preflop ranges are, how to read a starting-hand chart, why your position changes everything, and how to check — honestly — how closely your real play matches the theory.

What "GTO preflop range" actually means

GTO stands for game theory optimal. A GTO preflop range is, in plain terms, the set of starting hands a mathematically balanced player would play a certain way from a certain seat — which hands to raise, which to call, and which to fold. It is not a magic formula that wins every pot. It is a baseline: a way of playing that cannot be easily exploited, which you then adjust based on the specific opponents in front of you.