Determining Hand Ranges

Hi all,

Ok, I'm trying to improve my game by defining players hands preflop. I'm attempting to do this by counting the amounts of hands volunatarily entered into pots for specific players and using this count to put that player on a typical range. This is so that I can narrow the range down post flop...

Does anyone know of any literature that's currently available online or in books?

I've had a scout about, but from what I've seen the stuff out there looks a little wishy washy imo - nothing what I would call concrete. I'd really like to see something that someone has dedicated some little time to rather than a quick article that's been published giving a rough idea of what to expect. A book with a high content on the subject would be ideal.

Please note I'm no interested in using software to do this for me, since I would like to use these techniques both online and in live games.

Any pointers will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Paul

can't help you Paul but glad to have you join us . maybe you can post your question in strategies if you get no answer here . good luck Paul

Here is a good breakdown of percentages with a fairly good top down selection of hands played.

http://www.tworags.com/index.php?ACT...odo=view&ID=82

Now, you have to combine that with the notes you have on the player since some will favor things like suited connectors or Axs more than others...

And all other player data is important... If your opponent is positionally aware then you have to account for the variance in his selection based on where the button is.

And if he is in a blind, how he plays (or if he gets to limp) will also vary and you have to be aware of it.

http://www.pokerstove.com/

http://pokerazor.com/

Yeah it's software, but it give you ideas in what to expect from ranges/equity that you can sort of automate for yourself with practice.

here is a good artical on hand rangees

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/69...d-reading-631/

Hi,

I'm sort of thinking that I'm going to initially build a matrix profile initially with the hands I see and confirm/cross reference it with played hands count %...... I guess that I'm also going to have to come up with some widening/expanding of the ranges in consideration w.r.t. the position of the player and how much of an idiot he is...

I'm going to have to visualize some key profiles and percentages, along with all the other poker rubbish you have to remember - brain melt down - lol. A lot of work, but doable...

Thanks for the input all, its apprecated.
Paul

Moved to Strategies...maybe you will get a little more input here.

Not bad to begin with, but remember thet two people playing thee top 20% may be playing slightly different cards.

What you need to do s to taylor your 20% to the indervidual. So start with a basic model, but if ou see a guy playing a lot of aces then think to yourself.. if he plays all aces ... what might he not play in order to still be getting the figure of 20%

If you havnt seen someone play suited connecters.. then maybe he dosnt play them.. or now with enough frequency to include it in their range.

Remember that if you think someones range for say pairs is AA-77.. then most likely they wont play any pair lower than a 7... but then again its not impossible that they might still play 66-22.. especially if their stack becomes either large or short.

Remember that cards that are well inside their range are more reliable than those on the egdes.. because they may or may not be playing them due to position or just because they feel there is a reason to do so (or not).

The tighter their range the more accuracy you will get.

Whilst its very likely thet their cards are within their range.. dont completely assume that they wont be playing cards outside their range.. stick with the range.. but if the pot seems to be getting bigger than ususal... dont assume they must be bluffing because the nuts is outside of their range.. maybethey took a shot, maybe their range has changed.. or maybe they just misclicked and got lucky!!

Also If you do go with the matrix idea.. post your results on the forum for others to get a look at too.