Determining Your Opponent’s Range
One of the most fundamental, and yet intricate, aspects of poker is determining another player’s range. Hand reading is the second level of thinking in poker. The first level of thinking is, “What do I have?” Once you step beyond the most elementary form of thinking you will be on your way to new levels of success. Any solid poker player will have developed well refined hand reading abilities. If you are thinking on level one while your opponents are on level two, you will lose money faster than you could ever imagine.
How do you put players on a range
Depending on the skill level of your opponents, hand reading can be as simple as using a bit of common sense. If a player has folded ten hands in a row, but then 3 bets a player out of nowhere, it should be easy to put him on a strong hand. Using context clues is the easiest way to define a player’s range. The more experience that you have with a player the easier it will be to put them on a range. Even against a random player common sense will be your best weapon.
What types of hands would you generally expect players to open with from UTG? A range of 22+ and AJ+ would be about right. Most players won’t open from early position with suited connectors or other similar hands. If a player raises from early position you can just categorize their hand as strong.
Middle position ranges are also strong, but they are a bit wider than early position. If I had to pinpoint a general range for middle position players, I would say it is 22+, AT+, some suited connector type hands, and JQ/JK. These ranges all assume that the player is the opening raiser. Ranges would tighten up drastically if they were 3 or 4 bets.
In late position you will find an extremely wide range of hands that players will regularly open with. The reason that the range for these players is so wide is because they will often just be aiming to win the blinds. Winning the blinds requires nothing more than participation in the hand. Hand strength is completely irrelevant when you want to win the pot without s showdown. You should definitely be factoring in the possibility that a late position player does indeed have a decent hand, but their credibility is greatly diminished when compared to early and middle position players who open.
Range vs. pinpointing exact hands
Not only is it much easier to try and put a player on a range as opposed to an exact hand, but it will also lead to better decisions in the long run. When you try and put a player on one or two exact hands you will get burned when you are wrong. Sure, it is great when you are correct, but it is highly unlikely that you will be able to put someone on an exact hand nearly enough to make it profitable. Instead you should focus on playing against a player’s range. This will allow you to make educated guesses as opposed to blind guesses. You will not always be right, but it is much easier to play against a few possible hands than it is to play against one possible hand. Estimating a range gives you some leverage, pinpointing a hand will screw you into the ground when you are wrong.