PLO Preflop Ranges Explained: What the Solver Actually Says
In No Limit Hold’em, there are 1,326 unique starting hands. In PLO, there are 270,725. That single fact explains why PLO preflop strategy has remained poorly understood for so long — the combinatorial space is simply too large for human intuition to handle. For years, PLO players relied on rough heuristics: “play hands with connectivity and suitedness,” “don’t play danglers,” “AAxx is always a raise.” These guidelines aren’t wrong, but they’re imprecise in ways that cost you real money.
Solvers have changed everything. Modern PLO solvers can compute Nash equilibrium strategies across the full 270K hand space, giving us precise answers to questions that were previously debatable. Let’s look at what the solver actually says about PLO preflop ranges.
Why PLO Preflop Is a Different Beast
The core challenge in PLO preflop isn’t just the number of starting hands — it’s the equity closeness between them. In NLHE, the best starting hand (AA) is a massive favorite against a random hand. In PLO, the best starting hand (AAKKds) has a much smaller equity edge against a random hand. Edges are thinner, which means the difference between a profitable open and a losing open is often razor-thin.
This equity closeness has major consequences. Position matters even more than in NLHE — acting last amplifies small equity edges into significant profit differences. And hand selection must be more nuanced: playability, nut potential, and suitedness create enormous EV differences between hands with similar raw equity.
How Solvers Group PLO Hands
Humans think about PLO hands in categories, and it turns out solvers roughly validate these groupings. The key hand properties that determine preflop playability are:
Suitedness
Double-suited hands (two suits with two cards each) are significantly more valuable than single-suited hands, which are significantly more valuable than rainbow hands. The gap is substantial. A hand like JT98 double-suited might be a clear open from middle position, while JT98 rainbow is a fold from the same seat. Solvers show that double-suitedness adds a significant boost in equity realization, which translates into a meaningful EV difference when multiplied across all postflop scenarios.
Connectivity
Connected hands — those that work together to make straights — outperform disconnected hands at every position. But the solver reveals something subtle: high connectivity matters much more than low connectivity. KQJ9 is dramatically better than 5432, even though both are four-connected, because the straights KQJ9 makes are more likely to be the nuts. In PLO, making a straight isn’t enough — you need to make the best straight.
Pair Value
Big pairs (AA, KK) are strong primarily because of their set potential and their preflop 3-betting and 4-betting power. But the solver is clear: naked big pairs without connectivity or suitedness are not as strong as many players assume. AAxx with two danglers and no suits plays poorly postflop despite its preflop equity advantage. Meanwhile, a hand like AA97 double-suited is a monster because it combines the pair with flush draws, straight potential, and nut-making ability.
Small and medium pairs (22-TT) are playable mostly based on their supporting cards. The pair itself adds value — set-mining equity is real in PLO — but the hand needs connectivity and suitedness to justify an open.
Nut Potential
This is the hidden variable that separates solver strategy from naive equity-based thinking. The solver strongly prefers hands that can make the nuts — nut flushes, nut straights, top set. Hands that frequently make second-best holdings are punished severely. This is why A-suited hands outperform K-suited hands by a wider margin than their raw equity difference would suggest: when the flush comes, the A-high flush stacks the K-high flush, not the other way around.
Position-by-Position Overview
Solver ranges for a 6-max game (100bb, typical online rake) look roughly like this:
UTG (Lojack): A tight range — roughly one in five hands
The tightest position. The solver opens strong rundowns (KQJT, QJT9, JT98 — all double-suited or single-suited with an ace), big pairs with support (AAxx suited, KKxx suited with connectivity), and premium suited-ace hands (AKQx suited, AJTx double-suited). Notably absent: low rundowns, small pairs without excellent support, and most rainbow hands.
HJ (Hijack): Slightly wider than UTG
A modest expansion from UTG. Slightly weaker rundowns get added (T987ds, 9876ds), and the pair requirements relax a touch. The HJ still folds most “pretty looking” hands that lack true nut potential.
CO (Cutoff): Roughly a third of hands
A meaningful jump. The CO opens a much wider set of single-suited connected hands, medium pairs with decent support, and some suited-ace hands with weaker connectivity. This is where players often underestimate their range — the solver is more aggressive from the CO than most humans expect.
BTN (Button): Close to half of all hands
The button opens nearly half of all PLO hands. This shocks many players. The positional advantage is so large that hands you’d never dream of opening from early position — K973 single-suited, QJ85 double-suited, even some disconnected suited-ace hands — become profitable opens. The solver knows that seeing every street last is worth an enormous amount.
SB (Small Blind): Wide but narrower than the button
The small blind opens wide but at lower frequency than the button due to positional disadvantage against the BB. Against a limped pot, the SB raises a tighter range but can complete wide.
BB (Big Blind): Defense range varies
The BB defends against opens by calling a wide range versus a BTN open and 3-betting selectively. Against an UTG open, the BB tightens considerably — calling a much narrower range and 3-betting only premiums.
How Rake Affects Everything
Rake is the silent range killer. At micro and low stakes, where rake is proportionally highest, solver opening ranges contract significantly at every position. The reason is mathematical: rake takes a cut of every pot you win, which means marginal opens that are profitable at zero rake become losers when rake is factored in.
This has a practical implication that most players ignore: if you’re playing low-stakes PLO, you should be playing tighter preflop than the training materials designed for high-stakes or no-rake environments suggest. Studying ranges computed at your actual rake level is essential. SolvePLO’s free preflop charts are computed at standard rake levels so the ranges you study match the games you actually play.
The Five Most Common Preflop Mistakes
1. Playing Too Many Rainbow Hands
Rainbow hands in PLO are almost always folds outside of the button. Players see four cards that “look connected” — like QJT7 rainbow — and open them from middle position. The solver folds this hand from UTG, HJ, and CO. Without flush-draw potential, postflop playability craters.
2. Overvaluing Small Rundowns
5432 double-suited looks elegant. It’s connected, it’s double-suited — what’s not to love? The problem is that the straights it makes are rarely the nuts, and the flushes are never the nuts. The solver treats low rundowns as marginal at best, only opening them from late position.
3. Playing KKxx Like AAxx
KK is the second-best pair, but the gap between AA and KK in PLO is enormous. AAxx can comfortably 4-bet and play for stacks preflop. KKxx cannot — it’s dominated by the one hand that will happily get it in. The solver 3-bets KK at far lower frequency than AA and rarely 4-bets it without additional equity drivers like double-suitedness and high connectivity.
4. Ignoring Dangler Impact
A dangler — an unconnected, unsuited low card — destroys hand value. AKQ2 rainbow is a fold from every position except the button. Players see AKQ and get excited, but that deuce contributes nothing. You’re effectively playing a three-card hand in a four-card game.
5. Not 3-Betting Enough From the Blinds
Most low and mid-stakes players dramatically under-3-bet from the big blind. Against a button open, the solver 3-bets with AAxx, strong suited rundowns, and double-suited broadways at a meaningful frequency. Many players 3-bet only premiums, giving the button a free ride with their wide opening range.
Building Your Preflop Foundation
Preflop is the one street where you can study solver-perfect strategy and implement it with near-100% accuracy at the table. Unlike postflop, where board textures and bet sizes create infinite variations, preflop decisions are finite and memorizable by category.
Start with SolvePLO’s preflop charts — they’re free and organized by position, hand category, and action. Spend a week drilling opens from each position until the patterns are second nature. Then move to 3-betting and defending ranges. The ROI on preflop study in PLO is enormous because the mistakes are so frequent and so costly, and the correct strategy is learnable.
Study solver-perfect PLO preflop ranges for every position. Try SolvePLO free — preflop charts are included at no cost for all users.