What Is RFI in Poker? Raise First In Ranges by Position

RFI stands for Raise First In: you are the first player to voluntarily put chips in the pot, and you do it with a raise because everyone before you folded. Your RFI range is the list of hands you open from each seat in that situation. In a 6-max cash game at 100bb, a solver opens about 17% of hands from UTG and about 41% from the button — the later your seat, the wider you raise.

This guide explains what RFI means, shows the exact solver opening ranges behind DEEPFOLD's RFI trainer for every position, and covers sizing, how to read an RFI chart, the hands players most often get wrong, and how RFI is used as a stat to read opponents.

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What Does RFI Mean in Poker?

RFI describes one specific preflop situation: the pot is unopened and you raise. No one has called the big blind (limped), and no one has raised. If anyone has entered the pot before you, whatever you do next is not an RFI.

Situation	Term	Example
Everyone folds to you, you raise	RFI / open-raise	Folded to the CO, CO raises to 2.5bb
Everyone folds to you, you call the big blind	Open-limp	Folded to the SB, SB completes
One or more players limped, you raise	Isolation raise	UTG limps, BTN raises to 5bb
Someone raised, you re-raise	3-bet	CO opens, BTN re-raises
Someone raised and someone called, you re-raise	Squeeze	CO opens, BTN calls, SB re-raises

"Open-raise," "open," and "RFI" mean the same thing in everyday use. RFI is the precise version because it rules out limpers.

RFI matters because it is the most frequent decision you make with real money involved. In a 6-max game, the pot is folded to you in an unopened spot many times per orbit, and every hand you open decides which postflop spots you will be playing. A leak here repeats thousands of times.

RFI Ranges by Position (Solver Data)

The numbers below come from the same solver output that powers DEEPFOLD's RFI trainer: 6-max cash game, 100bb effective, folded to you. There are two sets. NL200 uses 3x opens with standard rake. NL50 uses 2.5x opens (3x from the small blind) with heavier rake. Both are raise-or-fold — the solver never open-limps in these sets.

Position	NL200 (3x) open %	NL50 (2.5x) open %	Approx. combos (NL200)	Players left to act
UTG	17.1%	17.6%	~227	5
HJ (hijack)	19.4%	21.5%	~257	4
CO (cutoff)	26.3%	27.8%	~349	3
BTN (button)	41.2%	41.5%	~546	2
SB (small blind)	42.5%	42.7%	~564	1

Three patterns stand out:

• The ranges roughly double from UTG to the button. Fewer players behind means fewer chances that someone wakes up with a strong hand, and the button always has position after the flop.
• The small blind opens slightly wider than the button in a raise-or-fold solution. Only the big blind is left, so the chance of winning the blinds immediately is high, even though the small blind plays every postflop street out of position.
• The 2.5x set opens a little wider in every seat. A smaller open risks less when it fails, so more marginal hands become profitable to raise.

Percentages count every combination: a pair has 6 combos, a suited hand 4, an offsuit hand 12, out of 1,326 starting hands. A 17% range is about 227 combos. If you want to see these ranges laid out on a grid, the 6-max preflop charts article and the RFI trainer page both show them.

UTG RFI Range (NL200, 3x)

Always open: AA-88, AKs-A2s (every suited ace), KQs-K8s, K6s, K5s, QJs, QTs, Q9s, AKo-ATo, KQo, KJo.

Mixed (opened part of the time): K7s 89%, QJo 68%, 77 57%, KTo 41%, 66 27%, K4s 27%, JTs 26%; small pairs and suited connectors only rarely (55 5%, 76s 5%, 54s 5%).

What surprises people: every suited ace is a pure open, KJo and QTs are pure opens, but 66 and JTs are opened only about a quarter of the time, and 55 or lower almost never. Suited connectors like 76s are close to folds from UTG.

HJ RFI Range (NL200, 3x)

Always open: AA-77, every suited ace, KQs-K5s, QJs-Q9s, JTs, AKo-ATo, KQo-KTo, QJo.

Mixed: J9s 73%, K4s 71%, 66 43%, A9o 41%, A5o 11%, QTo 10%, 55 9%, Q8s 9%, T9s 9%.

The hijack adds 77, JTs, KTo and QJo as full opens and starts mixing A9o and J9s.

CO RFI Range (NL200, 3x)

Always open: AA-66, every suited ace, KQs-K3s, QJs-Q8s, JTs-J8s, T9s, AKo-A9o, KQo-KTo, QJo, QTo, JTo.

Mixed: 55 91%, K2s 84%, A8o 84%, A5o 68%, K9o 57%, T8s 40%, 44 25%, 54s 18%, A4o 18%, J7s 18%, Q6s 13%, A7o 10%.

The cutoff is where offsuit broadways (QTo, JTo) and A9o become automatic, and where most suited kings join the range.

BTN RFI Range (NL200, 3x)

Always open: AA-33, every suited ace, every suited king, QJs-Q3s, JTs-J5s, T9s-T6s, 98s, 97s, 87s, AKo-A3o, KQo-K8o, QJo-Q9o, JTo, J9o, T9o.

Mixed: 76s 94%, 86s 83%, T8o 47%, K7o 43%, 22 35%, A2o 35%, 96s 34%, 54s 27%, Q8o 21%, 65s 20%.

The button opens 41% — most suited hands, almost all offsuit aces, and offsuit kings down to K8o. Notice that 65s and 54s are still only part-time opens even here.

SB RFI Range (NL200, 3x, raise-or-fold)

Always open: AA-22, every suited ace and king, QJs-Q2s, JTs-J5s, T9s-T6s, 98s-96s, 87s-85s, 76s, 75s, 65s, 54s, AKo-A4o, KQo-K8o, QJo-Q9o, JTo, J9o, T9o.

Mixed: 64s 74%, 98o 56%, T8o 48%, J4s 24%, A3o 23%, Q8o 10%, 53s 7%, 87o 6%.

The small blind's range looks like the button's with more small suited connectors and all pocket pairs. Many modern small-blind strategies also use a limping range; the solver sets here do not, so treat these as the raise-or-fold baseline.

Why RFI Ranges Widen by Position

Two forces drive every RFI range.

1. The number of players left to act. From UTG, five players can wake up with a hand that 3-bets you or calls with position. From the button, only the two blinds remain. Each extra player behind is another chance your open runs into a strong hand, so early ranges must be stronger to stay profitable.

2. Position after the flop. When you open UTG and get called, you are often out of position against a caller in a later seat. When you open the button, you will act last on every postflop street against the blinds. Acting last lets you realize more of your hand's equity, which is why a hand like K8o is a profitable button open and a losing UTG open. See position strategy essentials and equity realization for the details.

The small blind is the exception that proves the rule: it has only one player behind, which pushes its range wide, but it is always out of position postflop, which is why it is not dramatically wider than the button.

RFI Sizing: 2.5x, 3x and the Small Blind

Open size and range work together.

Format	Common open size	Why
Online 6-max, low rake	2-2.5x	Cheaper steals, smaller pots out of position
Higher-rake games (many micro and low stakes)	2.5-3x	Rake punishes small pots; bigger opens win more pots preflop
Small blind	3x or more	Out of position against the big blind; a larger size gives the big blind a worse price
Live cash	3x-5x	Players call more preflop; larger opens thin the field

DEEPFOLD's two solver sets show the trade-off directly: the 2.5x NL50 set opens 17.6% UTG and 41.5% BTN, while the 3x NL200 set opens 17.1% and 41.2%. Smaller opens allow slightly wider ranges.

The rule that matters more than the exact number: use one size per position for your whole range. If you raise 2x with weak hands and 4x with aces, observant opponents will read your hand from the chip count.

How to Read an RFI Chart

An RFI chart is a 13×13 grid: pairs on the diagonal, suited hands above it, offsuit hands below it. Each cell shows how often to open that hand.

• Solid cells are pure opens — raise every time. In DEEPFOLD's chart and text lists, anything opened at least 95% of the time counts as "always."
• Mixed cells show a frequency. A 41% open means the solver raises that hand 41% of the time and folds the rest, because raising and folding have almost the same expected value.
• Empty cells are folds.

You do not need to randomize perfectly to play well. A practical simplification: open mixed hands above about 50%, fold the ones well below it, and use a simple randomizer (the second hand of a watch, the suit of a card) for the ones near the middle. Mixed hands are close decisions by definition, so small errors there cost very little. The big losses come from opening clear folds and folding clear opens. For more on reading solver frequencies, see mixed strategies and how to read poker ranges.

Hands Players Most Often Get Wrong

These come straight from the NL200 solver set. The "common instinct" column is what many players do at the table.

Hand	UTG	HJ	CO	BTN	SB	Common instinct
KJo	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	"Too loose for UTG" — actually a pure open
QTs	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	Often folded early — pure open everywhere
A5s	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	Correctly opened, but players fold A2s-A4s early; every suited ace is a pure UTG open
KTo	41%	100%	100%	100%	100%	Opened every time from UTG — only part-time
A9o	0%	41%	100%	100%	100%	Opened from UTG — a fold there
55	5%	9%	91%	100%	100%	"Set-mine from any seat" — a fold from UTG and HJ
22	0%	0%	0%	35%	100%	Opened from every seat — fold until the button
76s	5%	6%	9%	94%	100%	"Suited connectors are always playable" — mostly folds before the button
65s	3%	1%	3%	20%	100%	Same — a part-time button open at best
Q9o	0%	0%	0%	100%	100%	Folded on the button — a pure open there

The pattern: suited aces, suited broadways and offsuit broadways are better opens than most players think; small pairs and suited connectors are worse. High-card hands make top pairs with good kickers and block the hands that would 3-bet you. Small pairs and connectors need deep stacks and multiway pots to pay off, and a raise first in usually leads to a heads-up pot.

RFI and What Comes Next

Your RFI range is only the first step. Once you open, the hand continues in a few predictable ways:

• Everyone folds — you win the blinds. This happens most from late position, which is why the button and small blind open so wide.
• Someone calls — you play a single-raised pot, usually with the initiative. Your range advantage on many flops comes from how strong your RFI range is; see continuation bet strategy.
• Someone 3-bets — you need a plan for which opens continue. See facing a 3-bet.

The other side of the table — what to do when someone else raises first in — is covered by the VS RFI trainer, which drills 3-bet, call and fold decisions against each opening seat.

RFI as a HUD Stat

Many tracking tools show an RFI stat, often split by position: how often a player raises when the pot is folded to them. It is more precise than a general PFR number because it excludes 3-bets and isolation raises.

Opponent's RFI	What it suggests	How to adjust
UTG RFI well under 12%	Very tight early opens	Give their UTG opens credit; 3-bet them mostly for value
UTG RFI around 15-18%	Close to solver	Play your baseline strategy
BTN RFI under 30%	Not stealing enough	Defend your blinds less; steal more yourself when they are in the blinds
BTN RFI over 55%	Very wide stealer	3-bet the button wider from the blinds, and call more in position

Sample size matters: positional stats need a few hundred hands before they mean much. See the HUD stats guide for how many hands each stat needs.

The Most Common RFI Mistakes

1. Open-limping

Limping first in gives up the chance to win the blinds immediately and invites the players behind to raise or join the pot. Outside of a deliberate small-blind limping strategy, raise or fold.

2. Opening small pairs and suited connectors from early position

Hands like 55 and 76s look playable but are close to folds from UTG and HJ in the solver sets. Their value comes from deep, multiway pots, and an early-position open usually leads to a heads-up pot or a 3-bet.

3. Folding strong high-card hands early

The reverse error: folding KJo, QTs or A3s from UTG because they "feel loose." In the 6-max solver set they are pure opens.

4. Not opening wide enough from the button and small blind

The button and small blind open over 40% of hands. Players who open 25% from the button leave money on the table every orbit.

5. Changing your size with hand strength

Pick one size per position and use it with every hand you open.

6. Using 6-max ranges in a full-ring game

In a 9-handed game, UTG has eight players behind instead of five, so the earliest positions must be tighter than the 6-max UTG range shown here. The ranges converge from the hijack onward.

How to Practice RFI

Reading a chart once is not enough. The ranges become automatic only after you have made the decision many times.

DEEPFOLD's RFI trainer deals you random hands from the positions you choose and asks raise or fold. Each answer gets a GTO-fit score — the solver's frequency for the action you picked — so a mixed hand earns partial credit either way, and the explanation tells you the exact raise and fold percentages. You can open the full range grid for any seat and switch between the NL200 (3x) and NL50 (2.5x) sets. It runs in the browser, with nothing to download.

Once your opens are solid, move on to the VS RFI drill and then the GTO preflop charts guide for the full preflop tree.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does RFI mean in poker?

RFI stands for Raise First In: you are the first player to put chips in voluntarily, and you do it with a raise because everyone before you folded.

What is a good RFI percentage?

In 6-max, 100bb cash games, solver RFI frequencies are about 17% UTG, 19-22% HJ, 26-28% CO, 41% BTN and 42-43% SB (raise-or-fold). Full-ring early positions are tighter.

Is RFI the same as an open raise?

Yes. RFI is the precise term, because it makes clear nobody entered the pot before you.

What is the difference between RFI and PFR?

PFR counts every preflop raise, including 3-bets and isolation raises. RFI counts only raises when you are first in, so it describes opening ranges more precisely.

What size should I open-raise?

Most online 6-max players open 2-2.5x; many live and high-rake games use 3x or more. Use one size per position with your whole range.

Should I ever open-limp?

Rarely, and mainly as part of a deliberate small-blind strategy. From UTG to the button, raise or fold.

📖 Related reading: Position strategy essentials · Common preflop mistakes · What is a 3-bet? · 3-bet strategy guide