Everything you look up at the table, on one printable page: hand rankings, the starting hands to open from each seat, pot odds, outs, and the table positions. Keep it open while you play, or print it and put it next to the chips.
Best five of your 2 + the 5 on the board. Odds: chance to end with that hand after all seven cards. Suits never rank; A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight.
Pot odds: equity you need to call
Bet you face
Pot odds
Need to win
¼ pot
5 : 1
16.7%
⅓ pot
4 : 1
20.0%
½ pot
3 : 1
25.0%
⅔ pot
2.5 : 1
28.6%
¾ pot
2.3 : 1
30.0%
Pot
2 : 1
33.3%
2× pot
1.5 : 1
40.0%
Equity needed = call ÷ (pot + bet + call).
Outs: chance to hit your draw
Draw
Outs
Next card
Turn + river
Pocket pair to a set
2
4.3%
8.4%
Gutshot straight draw
4
8.5%
16.5%
Two overcards
6
12.8%
24.1%
Open-ended straight draw
8
17.0%
31.5%
Flush draw
9
19.1%
35.0%
Flush draw + gutshot
12
25.5%
45.0%
Flush draw + open-ender
15
31.9%
54.1%
Next card from the flop (47 unseen); on the turn divide by 46. Quick rule: outs × 2 ≈ % for one card, outs × 4 ≈ % for two.
How a hand goes
Blinds
2 hole cards each
Preflop bet
Flop: 3 cards
Turn: 1
River: 1
Showdown
On your turn: check (if no bet) · bet · call · raise · fold. No-Limit: minimum bet = the big blind; a raise must add at least the last bet or raise; you can always go all-in.
First in (everyone before you folded), deep stacks. Hands ranked by equity vs two random hands; width = 1 − 0.41/k with k players behind. A starting point, not a rule.
Early: UTG–UTG+2 · Middle: LJ, HJ · Late: CO, BTN · Blinds: SB, BB. Act later = more information.
Odds are exact counts (hand rankings: all 133,784,560 seven-card deals); ranges follow the rule of thumb explained below.
Hand rankings
Ten hands, best first. The last column is how often you finish with that hand when you see all seven cards, from an exhaustive count of every deal: a flush 1 in 33, a full house 1 in 39, a royal flush 1 in 30,940. Your hand is always the best five of your two hole cards and the five on the board — using both, one or neither of your own cards. For ties, kickers and a tool that settles any showdown, see poker hand rankings.
Starting hands by seat
The chart colors each hand by the earliest seat you can open it from at a nine-handed table when everyone before you has folded. Magenta hands are strong enough from any seat; each later color adds hands as fewer players are left behind you. The widths come from one stated rule of thumb — with k players still to act, open the top 1 − 0.41/k of hands — and the hands themselves are ranked by all-in equity against two random hands.
Any seat, about 11%: 77+, A9s+, KTs+, QJs, ATo+, KQo
Hijack and later, about 20%: add 66-55, A8s-A3s, K9s-K8s, QTs-Q9s, JTs, A9o-A8o, KJo-KTo, QTo+
Cutoff and button, about 26%: add A2s, K7s-K6s, Q8s, J9s, T9s, A7o-A5o, K9o, JTo
It’s a baseline, not a script: tighten up against players who re-raise a lot, loosen up against ones who fold too much, and expect the picture to change once stacks get short late in a tournament. The poker positions guide has the interactive version for every table size, and the starting hands chart covers all 169 hands.
Pot odds
When you face a bet, the price of calling is your call divided by the pot after you call. If your hand wins more often than that, the call makes money over time. The table converts common bet sizes: a third of the pot needs 20.0%, half the pot 25.0%, a full pot 33.3%. Try your own numbers in the pot odds calculator.
Outs and draws
Outs are the unseen cards that complete your hand. After the flop there are 47 cards you haven’t seen; after the turn, 46. The sheet shows the exact chance for the next card and for both the turn and river. The quick rule of 2 and 4 — outs × 2 for one card, outs × 4 for two — is close for small draws but runs high for big ones: 15 outs is 54.1% by the river, not 60%. Compare the draw with the pot odds, and you have most calling decisions covered. One more to remember: a pocket pair flops a set or better 11.8% of the time — about 1 in 8.5. More on counting outs in poker outs.
Positions and the order of play
The button moves one seat left each hand. Before the flop, the player left of the big blind (under the gun) acts first and the big blind acts last; on the flop, turn and river, the small blind acts first and the button last. The later you act, the more you know — which is why the starting-hand chart widens toward the button.
Click “Print or save as PDF”Above the sheet. Only the sheet prints — the rest of this page is left out.
Pick a printer, or “Save as PDF”Every major browser offers Save as PDF as a destination in its print dialog.
Keep portrait and default marginsThe sheet is sized for one Letter or A4 page. The chart colors print on their own; on a black-and-white printer, the hand lists under the chart carry the same information.
Questions people ask
What should be on a poker cheat sheet?
The five things you look up most: the hand rankings, which starting hands to play from which seat, the equity you need to call common bet sizes, how often your draws hit, and the order of the table positions. This sheet fits all five on one page.
Is there a poker cheat sheet PDF?
Yes — use the “Print or save as PDF” button above the sheet and choose Save as PDF as the destination in your browser’s print dialog. The sheet is laid out to fit one Letter or A4 page in portrait.
What hands should a beginner play?
Start tight: from early position, pairs of sevens or better, A9 suited or better, KT suited or better, QJ suited, and AT or KQ offsuit or better — about 11% of hands. Widen toward the button. The colored chart on the sheet shows each step.
What equity do I need to call a bet?
Divide the call by the pot after you call. A half-pot bet needs 25.0%, a pot-sized bet 33.3%, and a bet of twice the pot 40.0%.
What are the odds of hitting a flush draw?
With nine outs, 35.0% from the flop to the river if you see both cards, 19.1% on the turn alone, and 19.6% on the river from the turn.
Can I use a cheat sheet while I play?
At a home game that’s up to your group, and most friendly games are happy to have one on the table. On FizzPoker your table is private to the friends you invite, so keep the sheet open in another tab or printed next to you.