UTG (Under The Gun) is the seat directly to the left of the big blind, and the first to act preflop.
The name fits well: you have to decide before anyone else has shown anything, and any of the five players behind you can overturn your decision with a single raise.
1. What This Seat Is Like
| UTG (6-max) | |
|---|---|
| Preflop | First to act, with 5 players still to speak behind you |
| Postflop | Third to act after the blinds; out of position against anyone behind you who calls |
| Default opening range | 11.2% (the narrowest at the table) |
Under the gun, two drawbacks stack on top of each other:
- The most players behind you. With five players still to act, the chance that one of them holds a stronger hand than yours is much higher than when only two are left
- Often out of position after the flop. Once you open, anyone who calls from MP, the CO or the button acts after you on every postflop street
The one advantage: when you open from this seat, everyone knows you are holding a good hand, so your bets carry more weight. That weight depends on you actually opening only good hands.
2. Which Hands to Open
The RushCraft preflop trainer’s default UTG opening range:
77+, AJo+, ATs+, KQo, KTs+, QTs+, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s
In plain terms:
- Pocket pairs: 77 and up. Fold 66 and below
- Ace hands: suited ATs and up, offsuit AJo and up. Neither A9s nor ATo is in it
- King hands: suited KTs and up, and only KQo offsuit. KJo is not in it
- Suited connectors: QTs, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s
On the 13x13 grid this range lights up just 25 cells, which looks like very little — and that is the point. The full chart is in the preflop range chart.
At a 9-handed table you should be tighter still: there are three more players behind you.
3. The Three Most Common Mistakes
One: limping. Calling a single big blind to get in looks “cheaper” than raising, but it is actually the most expensive option: you cannot make anyone fold, and you hand a cheap price to all five players behind you. Under the gun, if you open, raise; if you will not raise, fold.
Two: opening hands that “look decent”. KJo, ATo, A5o and 66 are all standard opens on the button, and all of them are folds under the gun. When a player behind you raises or calls, these hands are often dominated by better hands of the same kind (KJ against KQ, AT against AJ), and you are out of position after the flop as well.
Three: hanging on after a 3-bet. You open under the gun, someone behind you re-raises, and he knows you are holding the tightest range at the table — if he still raises, his hand is usually strong. With hands from the bottom of your range (87s, KTs and the like), folding is the normal choice.
Under the gun in one line: five players are behind you, so only play hands that can beat them.
- Next seat: Middle Position (MP)
- The core concept for this series: Why Beginners Lose at Poker: No Sense of Position and Range
- The whole series: the position guide
To test whether you can tell what to open under the gun, the preflop range trainer deals random hands across the five seats, and all you do is answer open or fold.