The single biggest mistake made by novice poker players is that they put their opponent on a specific hand instead of assigning them to an entire range. Their opponents simply have a hand range that is in constant state of flux throughout the entire hand.
Once you know the right way to tightening an opponent’s range then it will help you in taking more +EV decisions, playing optimal aggression and exploiting few of his/her current weaknesses. In this article we will dissect a real hand example so you can see how to improve your poker skill and extract the most EV from each situation.
PokerCoaching offers pro advice on deeper topics like hand ranges, betting strategy and other advanced poker concepts. com, THE BEST WAY FOR AVID PLAYERS TO GET BETTER.
1. Lets say you never think in a hand range
The main error made by most of those on amateur level is the belief that they try to put opponent on exact hand, when what has always be remembered as YOU play poker and not COUNTERFEIT!ении.
The Optimal Way to Frame Hands
So instead of, “My opponent has pocket kings”
What you must be thinking is, “My opponent has AA,KK and QQ in his range as well as AJ….
As the hand develops, you can then refine that range even more depending on what they did.
The way to do this is by evaluating all of the possible hands your opponent could have instead of narrowing it down to one specific holding.
2. Preflop: Defining the Opening Range of Hands
Now we are going to look at an actual hand example in order to showcase how you build your opponent’s hand range one step further.
Hand Setup: A $2/$5 Cash Game
An Early position $500 stack raises to $25 – Tight player with a straight forward line.
You call the extra $20 from your big blind.
Slack Day 16 October — What Does Their Raise Mean?
Remember that because your read on this player has them as tight and conservative, they will most likely be raising tighter still.
A standard early position range much like the above would be:
The premium hands are your AA, KK, QQ; JJ or better(cards of the same rank as J); AK;, AQ;; 10-1040;(AJs).
Sure, some looser players have wider ranges than average UTG in your typical 12 NL game but this guy is probably not opening light from EP.
In narrowing down this range preflop, we already have a very good read on what our opponent could be holding.
3. Flop Play: Further Range Narrowing
The Flop Comes:
9♠ 7♠ 6♣
You check and villain bets $30 in to a $52 pot.
What Can We Infer?
Even on this board that favors your big blind calling range, it’s possible the biggest overbetting continues all in AA or KK if they’re continuing with every hand from their preflop limping/calling only so far.
A tight player rarely has a straight draw here (he mostly has overpairs, high cards or flush draws.
With your range benefitting from this board so largely (equity wise) now even fringe hands like K♥ 6♥ or A:8s start to clearly call.
You make the call, and to be four-hundred an exorbitant $112 in the pot.
4. Play of the Hand: Using Our Range to our Advantage
The Turn Comes:
5♥
Now the board is: 9♠ 7♠ 6♣ 5♥
Now, you have significantly more straights than they do in their range.
Leading the Turn is Such a Good Play
Their range is mostly overpairs and very high-card hands.
But now your range has a lot of straight (8-6, 10-8, A-8).
You are making them fold a large part of their range if you bet aggressively.
How Often Will They Fold?
Then your opponent folds about 64% of the time when their continue range is overpairs and sets only.
If they call with a range that includes only lower sets, then they will fold pretty much every hand.
That makes leading into them hugely successful, because you can take stronger preflop hands from your opponents and still have equity when calling with draws.
They have a capped range, and you bet $80 into the $112 pot.
5. Think In Ranges — How it Works
Key Lessons from This Hand:
NEVER assume that your opponent has EXACTLY one hand. You will always start with a range and adapt it from there as the hand progresses.
Identifying Board Textures That are Better for Your Range This helps you to bluff better and can put your capped the opponent into difficult spots.
The 3 Best Ways to Exploit Your Opponents with Bet SizingManipulating Opponent Play Using Bettting Size. Aggressive betting puts your opponent in a tough spot when their range is weak.
Understand fold equity. Against an opponent who is folding more than 60% always to any c-bet, betting at all his range of value bets and semibluffs will be hugely profitable.
6. Where this Strategy Can Be Used: Both Online and Live Play
Playing live or playing online, the ability to assign hand ranges and exploit range advantages is huge for your success.
Live Poker Adjustments:
The preflop behavior of your opponent reveals the most information about his likely range so watch it closely.
Make use of physical and betting tells to move their hand range even slightly more effectively.
Online Poker Adjustments:
Use HUD stats to see how opponents are raising from each position.
Patterns — if a player c-bets every time but folds to turn aggression, you can lead with your draws really wide.
If you want to take your poker game up a notch, 탑플레이어포커 머니상 offers an opportunity for serious players to work in the range read and betting strategies.
7. In Conclusion: Hand Ranges in No-Limit Hold’em — The Gold Standard of Profits
Because poker is a game of incomplete information, you are much better served to think in terms of entire hand ranges rather than specific hands, so that you can make more optimal decisions and apply maximum pressure while maximizing your edge.
By focusing on:
✔ Placeorranging range based on position of the action preflop
✔ Widening that range according to post-flop betting trends
✔ Identifying when a board hits your range and when to barrel
You will have a massive edge on every1 who plays their range instead of against your particular hand.
Great players do not only play their own cards, they play against the whole range of their opponents and precisely target exploitatively.
Use these ideas in your game today and you will instantly notice an improvement to your decision making, bluffing success rate and bottom line at the tables!
