What boards hit certain ranges?

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Beasty2k

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Try and not see this as a "when to c-bet, when not to"-thread, as I know normally what boards are safer than others.

Often when reading strategy or hand analysis, people say "that hits a big part of his range, but not ours" etc etc etc. I would like to specify this a bit more as I am struggling in 3-bet pots at the moment (which I guess I shouldn't be because ranges are more narrow).

I realize there are certain boards that are better to cbet, check / float, raise. But I thought it could be an interesting discussion on what boards hit certain ranges. I guess we could get into detail on what specific player types affect ranges (a loose passive fish can have anything, and so on), but just on a general basis? Any comments you might have would be much appreciated.

A good TAG will know when the board hits his perceived range better, and will therefore be more inclined to float/raise here. If we know this, then we can more often assume that he may well be floating/raising light, and use that against him.

For instance, 6-max UTG+1 raises 3bb, we 3-bet 9x on the BTN, UTG+1 calls. Board comes J92 rainbow. Is this a good board to c-bet or does it hit his range too hard? If it is, he may well be floating this light.

Or, say we 3-bet from the SB and original raiser calls IP (this tends to happen to me a lot, which is why I have started flatting strong hands in blinds - makes me lose less if I miss and pot is not bloated if I c/c/c). Flop comes 57Q. I would c-bet here too but will have to play rest of hand OOP without much equity if called.

So what are examples of boards that should hit villian's range when:

1) TAG calls 3-bet IP.
2) TAG calls 3-bet OOP.
3) Nit calls 3-bet IP.
4) Nit calls 3-bet OOP.
5) any other comments? fish can have anything.

Sorry for the messy post but I really hope someone understands what I am after and that there are some gurus out there willing to help. Thanks.
 
AugustWest

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I have wicked trouble with this as well..........
Looking forward to this thread!
 
Blobweird123

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This thread needs more attention from the higher ups!
 
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baudib1

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To understand what ranges hit certain boards, you have to understand what certain ranges look like.

1. Say you raise from LP and a straightforward nit/TAG calls from the BB. Assume he is not going to slowplay QQ+ and isn't a habitual floater. The flop comes down 762r. He checks. You should bet your whole range here because he almost never has anything on this board.

Why?
His flatting range from the BB is going to be small-medium pairs and big cards. He can have sets and it's very likely he'll call at least 1 street with say, 33-55, but that's a very small part of his range.

2. Another example:
A nit opens UTG and you have AQs on the button. You call. The flop is AK2 2-tone (you don't have a flush draw). He bets. Turn is a brick and he bets again. You should probably be folding here as this range just crushes his range and despite having a pretty good hand, you essentially have a bluffcatcher.

Problem with this hand is not only that this board hits his range hard, your range has a serious problem here. Since you flatted pre you can essentially never have the nuts (you didn't flat pre with AA/KK and maybe not AK) so your range is really capped. The best hand you can have here is AK or 22 but really your hand is exactly what it looks like: a pretty good ace.

In general, against thinking opponents, play tighter on boards that are good for your opponent's range, and more aggressively on boards that hit yours.

Some random important tips to remember:
1. Looser players have many more flush draws and Ax hands than tighter players. Tight players are often folding hands as good as AT or AJo pre and will often fold smaller suited aces pre. Looser players will play all sorts of suited junk.

This is a really important thing to remember on certain runouts. Let's say you are the PFR, are against a nit and you flopped a set on Ac7c4d. The turn is the 3h and the river is the Kc. There is a possible straight and a possible flush on the board, but because it's a tight player, he rarely will have either because he rarely calls with 65 preflop. Because the Ac and Kc are on the board, he has almost no flush draws in his range because he's not often calling Qxs hands preflop. You can feel pretty confident that your set is still ahead.

2. Hands that people flat 3-bets with are generally medium pairs and AQ/KQ type hands. If you have AK in a 3-bet pot and the flop comes down Q92 you should be wary because Q-high flops in this situation are a generally very bad for AK.
 
nabmom

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Baudib1,
Always great to read your posts. This is a nice intro to the concept of ranges, an area I'm working on in my game at the moment.

I think there might have been a typo in your post, though. Did I correct it properly?

2. Another example:
A nit opens UTG and you have AQs on the button. You call. The flop is AK2 2-tone (you don't have a flush draw). He bets. Turn is a brick and he bets again. You should probably be folding here as this range just crushes your range and despite having a pretty good hand, you essentially have a bluffcatcher.
 
LD1977

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To understand what ranges hit certain boards, you have to understand what certain ranges look like.

1. Say you raise from LP and a straightforward nit/TAG calls from the BB. Assume he is not going to slowplay QQ+ and isn't a habitual floater. The flop comes down 762r. He checks. You should bet your whole range here because he almost never has anything on this board.

Why?
His flatting range from the BB is going to be small-medium pairs and big cards. He can have sets and it's very likely he'll call at least 1 street with say, 33-55, but that's a very small part of his range.

He very often has a set on this kind of board and you are IP. I think delaying the cbet has merits. A lot of TAGs bluff chkraise flop on this board against another TAG. I do it if I know the PFR is able to fold an overpair against me due to previous play.

Comments in the quote.
 
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Beasty2k

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2. Hands that people flat 3-bets with are generally medium pairs and AQ/KQ type hands. If you have AK in a 3-bet pot and the flop comes down Q92 you should be wary because Q-high flops in this situation are a generally very bad for AK.
Thanks for the input, very helpful! But do people really tend to call 3-bets with AK/KQ type hands? I am inclined to fold these myself facing a 3-bet, as they are so often dominated (unless I suspect a squeeze or any other reason for villain's 3-betting than for value).
 
Aleksei

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Baud's post says it all. All I can add really is that while looser ranges hit more boards, the looser someone is playing the more likely they are to miss ANY board (or hit easily-beatable junk).
 
fletchdad

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subbing. Big problem spot for me as well.


If I ever start playing again, this is the type of spot I want to start working on first.
 
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baudib1

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Baud's post says it all. All I can add really is that while looser ranges hit more boards, the looser someone is playing the more likely they are to miss ANY board (or hit easily-beatable junk).

People who start with weaker ranges have weaker ranges on every street, generally.
 
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