SB Preflop Chart: 6-Max Small Blind Range
Updated 12 September 2026The small blind is the strangest seat at the table. When everyone folds to you, only one player is left — so you can open a very wide range, close to 45% of hands. But if that player calls, you will act first on every street for the rest of the hand, with the worst position in poker. Wide and aggressive when you are first in; tight and decisive when someone else has raised.
Quick version: when everyone folds to you in the small blind, open 37.3% of hands as a standard raise and a further 7.5% some of the time — about 44.8% in total, which is 594 of the 1,326 possible two-card combinations, across 94 of the 169 hand types. Fold the rest.
The SB opening chart
- Raise
- Mixed (sometimes)
- Fold
- 44.8% of hands · 594 combos
Green = raise every time. Gold = raise some of the time. Grey = fold. Assumes nobody has entered the pot before you.
What to raise, mix and fold
Note the raise size: from the small blind most players open to 3 big blinds rather than 2.5, because you want the big blind either folding or paying a real price to play a pot where you are out of position.
The range itself is close to the button’s, with the offsuit hands trimmed back. Offsuit aces from A4o up, offsuit kings from K9o, offsuit queens from Q9o, offsuit jacks from J9o and T9o — and nothing weaker offsuit at all, because offsuit hands out of position are the worst thing you can hold.
| Hand family | Always raise | Sometimes | Fold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pairs | all of them (22+) | — | — |
| Suited aces | all of them (A2s–AKs) | — | — |
| Suited kings | K4s and up | K3s, K2s | — |
| Suited queens | Q6s and up | Q5s–Q2s | — |
| Suited jacks | J7s and up | J6s, J5s | J4s and below |
| Suited tens | T7s and up | T6s | T5s and below |
| Suited nines and eights | 96s and up, 86s and up | 95s, 85s | 94s, 84s and below |
| Suited low cards | 75s, 64s, 54s and up | 74s, 53s | 43s and below |
| Offsuit aces | A4o and up | A3o, A2o | — |
| Offsuit kings | K9o and up | K8o | K7o and below |
| Offsuit queens | Q9o and up | Q8o | Q7o and below |
| Offsuit jacks and tens | J9o and up, T9o | — | J8o, 98o and below |
3 common SB mistakes
1. Limping (completing) the small blind
You put in half a big blind, the big blind raises with position and a wide range, and you play the rest of the hand first to act with a hand you have just advertised as weak. Completing also builds a pot you are badly placed to win. Raise or fold — and if the hand is not good enough to raise, it is not good enough to pay half a blind to see a flop with.
2. Cold-calling an open from the small blind
This is the worst spot in 6-max: you would be out of position against the raiser and the big blind can squeeze you both. Against an open, the small blind should 3-bet or fold. The charts below have no blue (call) cells at all, and that is deliberate.
3. Raising too small, or opening wide and then giving up
A 2bb small-blind raise gives the big blind a price they cannot refuse, and you end up out of position in an inflated pot. Use about 3bb. And if you open 45% of hands, expect to be 3-bet a lot — have a plan for it rather than folding everything but aces.
Facing a raise from the small blind
When someone has already opened, the small blind has one good answer and one bad one. The good answer is 3-bet or fold: you either take control of the pot and often win it immediately, or you get out cheaply. The bad answer is calling, because the big blind behind you can raise you both and you are out of position against everyone.
Because of that, these ranges are narrow. Against a UTG open you 3-bet about 6% of hands. Against a button open — who is raising close to half the deck — you 3-bet about 15%.
- 3-bet
- Sometimes 3-bet
- Fold
- 5.9% of hands · 78 combos
3-bet or fold. QQ+ and AK always; JJ, TT, AQs, AJs, KQs, the suited wheel aces and AQo some of the time. Everything else folds.
- 3-bet
- Sometimes 3-bet
- Fold
- 9.4% of hands · 124 combos
Wider, because the cutoff opened wider: JJ+ and AQs+ for value, plus suited broadways and a few suited connectors as the mixed group.
- 3-bet
- Sometimes 3-bet
- Fold
- 14.5% of hands · 192 combos
The widest: TT+, AJs+, KQs, AQo and AKo for value, with all the suited wheel aces, suited broadways and suited connectors mixed in as bluffs.
The ace-low suited hands (A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s) do a lot of work here. They block the hands that would call you, they make straights and flushes when the 3-bet gets called, and they are hands you would otherwise throw away. That is exactly what you want a 3-bet bluff to be. The reasoning is laid out in full in when to 3-bet.
Adjusting the SB chart
- Big blind folds too much to your opens: raise the gold as well and open even wider. A big blind who folds 60% of the time is handing you 1.5bb a time.
- Big blind defends wide and plays well after the flop: tighten toward hands that can make something — cut the weak offsuit hands (A2o, A3o, K8o, Q8o) first.
- Short stacks behind you: 3-bet sizing matters more than range. With 40bb stacks, a 3-bet commits a big share of the stack, so lean toward folding the speculative hands rather than bluffing with them.
- Heavy rake: the small blind is where rake hurts most, because you are paying to play pots you will often lose. When in doubt from this seat, fold.
The other five positions
- UTG preflop chart — Under the gun, opens 18.3% of hands
- HJ preflop chart — Hijack, opens 21.9% of hands
- CO preflop chart — Cutoff, opens 29.7% of hands
- BTN preflop chart — Button, opens 48.4% of hands
- BB preflop chart — Big blind (defence, not opening)
- All preflop charts — the hub, with how the grid works.
- How to use preflop charts — read, memorise and drill a range.
Frequently asked questions
How many hands should you raise from the small blind in 6-max?
About 37% as a standard raise and up to roughly 45% including the borderline hands — but only when everyone has folded to you. The reason it is so wide is that only one player is left to beat. Against an open it collapses to 3-betting about 6–15% and folding the rest.
Should you ever limp from the small blind?
For a baseline strategy, no. Completing the small blind invites the big blind to raise you cheaply and with position, and it builds a pot you are badly placed to win. Some advanced strategies do include a small-blind limping range; it is not where a player learning preflop should start.
Why should the small blind 3-bet or fold rather than call?
Because the big blind is still behind you. If you call, they can raise and you are out of position against two players in a bloated pot. 3-betting takes the initiative and often wins the pot immediately; folding costs you nothing more. Calling is the option that loses money.
How big should a small blind open be?
Around 3 big blinds, a little larger than the 2.5bb used from other seats. You are going to be out of position if called, so you want to either win the blinds or charge the big blind properly for the privilege of playing against you.