Poker Ranges

Introduction

When you are trying to anticipate the set of cards your opponent might be holding, Poker hand ranges come in handy. Instead of planning if your opponent is holding a specific hand like K♣10♥, it is tactical to calculate the Poker ranges like K10s, Q10s, J10s, etc. This concept is referred to as a poker hand range in a game of poker.

Usually, new players feel their opponents can't have certain hands. However, this has to be considered differently regarding what hand ranges they might have before making decisions. This article will explain how poker ranges work and how players can use them to make better decisions.

What Is a Poker Range?

A poker range is a group of hands a player may have in a given situation. As the game goes down the lower streets, the range of all the possible combinations of hands that your opponent might hold can be zeroed on based on the different factors:

• Player’s betting actions
• Player’s betting sizes
• Player betting patterns
• Type of player

Before the flop gets opened, one can observe their opponent's playing style, which consists of different factors mentioned below to get a view of the hand range they might be holding:

• Pre-flop actions playing style(limping/aggressive raising/3-betting etc)
• The frequency of these actions being taken by the player
• Negate the hands that don’t seem to fit the criteria
• Find any patterns in their gameplay

Objective

The blog aims to help you understand poker hand range, its significance, and how to use it.

Poker Range Chart

A poker range chart is a visual representation of your ranges. All the 169 hand combinations are represented through a 13x13 board. The board is divided into three sections: Suited hand combinations go in the top right, off-suited hand combinations go in the bottom left, and pairs start from the top left and diagonally to the bottom right.

How To Visualize a Poker Range

Let’s look at the poker hand matrix below to better understand the poker ranges. Here, ‘o’ represents the offsuit hand while ‘s’ represents the same suited hand. 

For example, K♣4♦ is an offsuit hand, which will be shown as K4o and K♠4♠ is the suited hand, which will be displayed as K4s.

• Pocket Pairs are placed at the diagonal of the above matrix.
• Suited Hands are placed in the top-right half of the above matrix.
• Unsuited Hands are in the lower-left half of the above matrix.

A Brief Word on Combinatorics

The number of possible combinations which can be made from these different types of hands are as follows:

1. Each Pocket Pair hand has six combinations possible.
2. Each non-paired hand has sixteen combinations possible.

• Each Unsuited Hand has twelve combinations possible.
• Each suited Hands has four combinations possible.

An Example of a Poker Range

A widely accepted number of poker hands in the playable opening range for the player sitting at LoJack position in a 9-max table or at UTG position in a 6-max table looks like the one below with 15% playable hands.

The playable hand range is highlighted in yellow in the table below.

Different software will offer hand ranges similar to but slightly different from those shown above. As you keep playing and learning the game, you can gradually build one based on your experience and the opening hands that work for you.

How to use Poker Ranges

Poker ranges help you strategise your game. Here’s a guide on how to use them:

• We use poker range to read the opponent’s hand. By hand, we mean all the hands, not only the hole cards.
• To read their hands, we analyse their betting patterns. To do this, we start by guessing what hands our opponent could begin with and then observe their betting patterns. For example, if your opponent raises before the Flop, bets after the Flop, and keeps on betting, they usually have strong hands.
• Start with your opponent’s preflop range; this is the stage where their actions can give more information about their cards/hands.
• Lastly, keep your opponent’s range consistent, which means you should not make a conclusion based on one round. Start from preflop and keep it consistent to get an accurate result.

Poker Hand Ranges In The Form Of a Percentage

Poker hand ranges can be displayed in the form of percentages as well. These percentages depict the percentage of hands a player can play out of all the possible combinations of hands from that position. 

Poker software usually depicts the poker hand ranges in the form of percentages.

For example, for a player, a stat like 17 VPIP from the middle position means that the player is playing almost 18% of the hands from the middle position, and the poker range chart for the player looks like the one given below.

Poker Hand Ranges In The Form Of Range Combos

Poker hand ranges can also be expressed in terms of possible hand combinations based on the cards held. Depending on whether the hands are unpaired or paired, these combos can be segregated as suited and offsuit.

As mentioned above, each pocket pair can have six combinations. For example, if we consider Pocket Queens, this hand has six possible combos.

• Q♠Q♣
• Q♠Q♥
• Q♠Q♦
• Q♣Q♥
• Q♣Q♦
• Q♥Q♦

For unpaired hands, there are 16 possible combinations; 12 are unsuited combinations.

Poker Hand Ranges In The Form Of Range Strands

A range strand represents a poker hand range in text format. Sometimes, poker hand ranges are represented in the form of the range strands as well.

Below are some examples of the poker ranges represented in Range strands:

• 55+: All pocket pairs greater than 5s
• 99- : All pocket pairs lower than 9s
• KTs-KQs: KTs, KJs, KQs are the hands in this range. Here, the combo KTs tell us about the lowest combination, and KQs tell us about the highest combination.

How to Calculate Poker Ranges

It is difficult to estimate your opponent’s range accurately. We can use the available information to come up with a close estimation. To do this:

• You should know who your opponent is. Although everyone is treated equally on the poker table, age and appearance play an important role. The older the player, the tighter they will play as they are risk averse. Try to check your opponent’s past performance, wins, and gameplay.
• The second important factor is the position they are playing at—the range changes based on the position and betting patterns. Their range is wider if your opponent is betting from the late position. However, their range is tighter if they are betting from an early position.
• Lastly, monitor their actions at every stage. Are they raising before the flop or after? When are they betting? Keep a note of everything.

How to Calculate a Player’s Preflop Hand Range in Poker

While playing against a player, it is important to have played enough games with them to understand their psyche and make the statistics work.

Let’s see how we can calculate the Preflop Hand Range of a player with an example.

Let’s say you are playing NLH on a 5/10 table. Now, say the player at Under The Gun against whom you are playing for the first time raises the action that has come to you. Suppose you are holding T♠T♦ while sitting at the dealer position.

You might be trying to guess the range of hands this player at UTG might be holding, but as you are playing with them for the first time, you might not have enough information about their playing style. In such situations, the best way to start is to think of the range with which you would have raised your hand while sitting at UTG.

For instance, the opening range for someone at UTG could include all Poker pairs and some of the suited as well as off-suit Broadway hand combinations (AKo, AKs, AQo, AQs, AJo, AJs, ATs, KQo, KQs, JTs)

Remember, the more you play against a player, the more information you will have about their style, thereby becoming more accurate in anticipating their hand ranges.

How to Calculate a Player’s Postflop Hand Range in Poker

To calculate the Postflop Hand Range of a player with whom you are playing for the first time, you have to think exactly how you would have played in the same situation. Let’s try to understand this better with the help of an example:

Suppose you are playing from the dealer position. You call the bet, and the players sitting in small blind and big blind positions fold the action. Now, the flop gets opened, the community cards turn out to be A♣8♦6♣, and your opponent sitting at UTG (Under The Gun) checks.

Since you would have played all the Three-of-A-Kind (set) hands, all the flush draws, and all the high pairs, you will initially play, thinking that the others will play the way you would have played. The checking range will be the underpairs, weak Ax hands and sometimes the Pocket Aces.

Now, the poker range of your opponent post-flop will look somewhat like the one shown below:

As you can see from the poker range table above, the range has shrunk a bit. You now have comparatively more information, as the flop is already open.

How to Counter Your Opponents based on their Range

Based on the concepts of Game Theory Optimal (GTO), there are certain approaches you can consider while playing to counter your opponents’ gameplay.

Minimum Defense Frequency

You should defend this minimum hand range by calling or raising your hand to avoid getting trapped by the opponent’s bluffing strategies.

This Minimum Defense Frequency tells you the percentage of hand ranges you should defend to avoid getting trapped by the bluffers.

The formula for calculating Minimum Defense Frequency is:

Pot Size/(Pot Size + Bet size)

MDF should be applied only against experienced players or against players you don’t know.

The players should know about MDF while they are off the table and doing the hand reviews. It is a part of the analysis that, if done while not playing, will help them improve their thinking while playing.

When should you use MDF?

You should mostly apply MDF only when playing against strong players with balanced gameplay or against players about whom you have little information.

When should you not use MDF?

One should avoid using the Minimum Defense Frequency concept in the following scenarios:

• When you play from out of position or sit at the early positions, you cannot take advantage of the range against a preflop raiser.
• If you are playing against fish or weaker players, you should use exploitative strategies to win the maximum amount from them.

Big blind defence

In a heads-up situation, the player should defend the larger part of their hand range while sitting at the Big Blind position. This recommendation is specifically for experienced players and can control post-flop scenarios. Keeping a tight hand range is always wiser if you have just started playing or learning the game.

Following are some basic rules which can be followed to measure equity of the hand and consider before playing:

• While playing against a 2x open raise, odds will be calculated as (Original Raise Value + Big Blind Value + Any other contribution)/Amount needed to Call. In this case, (2 + 0.5 + 1):1 = 3.5:1. The required equity value will be calculated as the Amount to Call divided by the sum of the Total Pot and the amount to Call. In this case, it is calculated as 1/(3.5 + 1) or ~22%.
• While playing against a 3x open raise, odds will be calculated as (Original Raise Value + Big Blind Value + Any other contribution)/Amount needed to call. In this case, (3 + 0.5 + 1):2 = 4.5:2 = 2.25:1. In this case, the required equity value will be calculated as 2/(4.5 + 2) or ~31%.

Playing Various Opponents Differently

Although there are various tips and strategies to improve your poker gameplay, the best a player can start with is identifying the weakest player on the table. You are probably the one if you cannot find the weakest player on the table.

Once you have found them, you can take advantage of them to earn bigger pots.

For example, a player is sitting in the dealer position and limps with any hand that is not as strong as AA, AK, KK, and QQ, which are pretty strong for 3-betting. In that case, if you have an AQ, you have to be very careful while 3-betting as chances are that they might 4-bet, and you might end up losing bigger sums. Against such players, you need to wait for more favourable conditions and keep looking for patterns that can be easily exploited.

Some of the traits which can be easily exploited among weaker players are:

• Frequency of c-betting
• The behaviour of folding against c-bets (overfold or under fold)
• Performance while playing out of position
• Frequency of calling and folding
• Are they bluffing, or are they relatively straightforward in approach
• Their surefire tells or signs
• Frequency of overbet calling

How to Balance Your Poker Hand Ranges

To become a profitable poker player, you must consider your opponent's and your hand ranges. Good players always consider how to play all the hands in their range during post-flop betting to maintain a balanced poker strategy.

Many players misjudge the drawing hands, believing all draws are identical. If you always use semi-bluffs with your draws, you may end up bluffing too much, making you vulnerable to counter-attacks.

As a basic rule of thumb, players should bet or raise with their weakest draws and should check or call with their strongest ones, especially if they have the potential to win at a showdown.

While there are exceptions, the players should focus on fold equity, i.e., the likelihood that the opponent will fold, for the draws that don’t have much showdown value. Hence, with the weaker draws or hands with almost no showdown value(SDV), the players should try to make their opponents fold.

The players can use the following bluffing strategy, although they can adjust it based on their bet sizes:

• On the flop, the players should aim to have about twice as many bluffs as value hands (2:1 ratio).
• On the turn, the players should aim to keep the bluffs and value hands roughly equal.
• On the river, players can have about twice as many value hands as bluffs (1:2 ratio).

The ratio of Bluffs to Value Hands

Following the above chart while betting or raising will help you win in the longer run, irrespective of whether your opponent raises or folds. The ratio of the bluffs to the value bets will depend on the size of the bets, which is detailed in the above table.

Why are Poker Hand Ranges Important

Players should start learning about poker ranges as early as possible in their careers to gain an edge over others. Knowledge of hand ranges helps players narrow down the cards their opponents are holding based on various factors, such as their hole cards, community cards, and the playing style of the other players.

If you want to identify what hands your opponent has, it is recommended to narrow down the range of hands they might be holding rather than guessing the exact hand they are carrying. When you understand how to evaluate the hand ranges your opponents might be playing based on their actions, you become more adept at predicting their moves and making informed decisions. This approach is so helpful in gaining success in this game that almost all the successful players have added this to their playing style.

If a player is good at identifying the opponents’ hand ranges, they also become better at creating their own playing hand ranges based on their positions at the table and the table dynamics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 10% Range in poker?

The top 10% of hands are strong hands, including pocket pair 7, Q-10, and KQ.

What is the 35% Range in poker?

The 35% range is the group of the top 35% of starting hands a player will play.

What are the ten levels of poker hand rankings?

These are the poker hand rankings from the highest to the lowest, starting from Royal Flush to High card.

What is a tight range in poker?

A tight-aggressive player tends to change their range based on their position at the poker table. They usually prefer playing premium hands like AA, KK, QQ, and AK when seated in an early position. When sitting in a middle or late position, they become more flexible and include a wider variety of hands, allowing for more combinations to play.

Conclusion

Understanding poker ranges is essential for enhancing your game and anticipating what your opponents might be holding. Acknowledging the broader possible hand ranges helps make informed decisions instead of focusing on specific hands. This article explains poker ranges, how they work, how to balance them, and their significance. It provides practical insights into using poker ranges effectively, including evaluating opponents' betting patterns and visualizing hand combinations. By understanding these concepts, players can enhance their strategic skills and achieve success at the poker table.