The ability to create accurate hand ranges is a crucial skill needed to be a profitable poker player. although at first it might seem like quite a daunting task it’s actually simpler than you may think, with a bit of practice and some knowledge of what your average ranges may look like I’m sure you will have the tools necessary to start creating fairly precise ranges for your opponents at any table.
It makes life a bit easier if we can actually visualize possible ranges, to do this we use a poker hand grid like the one below, as you can see there are 78 off suit hands, 78 suited hands and 13 pairs. Now you may think that with all those possibilities it would be incredibly difficult but there are many helpful tools you can use to drastically narrow this down.
HAND MATRIX
It’s equally important to not only be aware of your own range but what range your opponents are opening with(XXXXX), here is a couple of examples
A loose players range from late position may look something like this,
22+,A2s+,K2s+,Q7s+,J7s+,T7s+,96s+,86s+,75s+,64s+,53s+,43s,A2o+,K5o+,Q8o+,J8o+,T8o+,98o,87o,76o,65o
To make things easier we use % form to calculate a plyers range,
This is 50% of hands.
Now a more conservative players range would look more like this,
22+,A2s+,K8s+,Q8s+,J8s+,T7s+,97s+,86s+,75s+,64s+,54s,43s,A8o+,A5o-A2o,K9o+,Q9o+,J9o+,T9o
This is 35% of hands
To get you started with some basic ranges here is a quick guide that will show you solid opening ranges from any position. Link Here
As you can see the looser player is opening with far more speculative hands than the tighter player, but which of these is the correct way to play?
Adjusting to the population vs using a base line strategy
What is GTO
GTO or Game theory optimal meaning the perfect or optimal play in the given situation, GTO play is calculated by programs known as Solvers where you enter a set of parameters and it will calculate the optimal play, For comprehensive pre flop ranges containing any situation that may arise it’s highly recommended you check our MTT Ranges, by loading these ranges into PIO solver you can see what hand ranges, frequencies and bet sizing you should be using for any spot and we believe this is a must for those looking to take their game to the next level.
EXPLOITATIVE vs GTO
Of course, If players in the blinds start folding too much we can steal more and open a wider range. This adjustment to our opponents tight play is called an exploit, there are many spots you can exploit weakness in your opponents range or frequency, if your opponents range is too wide or too tight or if they’re value betting far too thin or not enough, maybe they call far too often? You can win a lot of pots by exploiting these weakness.
GTO is
The thing to remember when using these solvers is they take into account that your player is also using a GTO strategy, so in situations where your opponent is playing too tight or too loose you can vary your range. Be sure to check out xxxx article for more on this important topic
Evolution of hand ranges
If you’ve ever watched any old poker videos you may have noticed many players holdings were more polarized and talk of hand ranges was virtually non-existent, Before GTO solvers when facing a 3 bet versus UTG raise you could be almost certain you were against JJ+ AQ+, we know now that this play style is highly exploitable and has no place in the game as it is today as more experienced players will have no trouble taking your chips. That is why mastering pre flop GTO is so crucial to be a successful poker playerxxxxx success, this is where pokernerve pre flop ranges has you covered, you will have a complete set of pre flop solutions demonstrated in the video below.
Pre GTO -> 3-betting versus EP (utg) was always AQ+ and JJ+ … very explitable… blah blh.
Now we now this is not a good way of playing….
Which is why mastering preflop GTO
Get pokernerve preflop ranges and you’ll have a complete set of preflop solutions as demonstrated in the video below….
VIDEO
Eg. A super tight player that is raising very few hands opens UTG, you can be sure that he is not playing a GTO range but an overly tight and very exploitable range of only premium hands, in this situation you can adjust your 3 betting hands accordingly.