Introduction to Ranges

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flincGO

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Hi folks,

I'm looking for introductory advice on putting players on ranges. I'm looking for suggestions from more experienced players, online reading materials, etc. Or if there is a good thread on the topic on CC that I've missed, if you could simply point me to it I would appreciate it.

Cheers
 
AlfieAA

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Hi.....do you use a HUD? If you do then you can start to gather info and put people on ranges....also download pokerstove or any other equity calculator....I will try and give you a quick example off the top of my head so here goes.....say you're playing 10nl cash game and you've got a decent amount of hands on the players at your table using the HUD....now you can start assigning ranges....UTG raises X3 and you are in MP with QQ and his PFR (pre flop raise) stat is 5 over a few hundred hands and his VPIP stat is 40 then you would go on pokerstove and type in 5% on the range graph and you will get all the hands for that number.....put all the hands that come up in the calculate box for villian 1 and your queens for hero and calculate your equity........now you can base your decision taking into account eff stack sizes etc.....also you can manually pick cards on stove instead of running the ticker up and letting the software pick its 5%.....you get the picture, just a quick example, I'm sure someone will come along with a more indepth one....gl
 
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flincGO

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Yes, I use PT4 and have pokerstove. I will try this out. I didn't know that pokerstove included range calculations.
 
DrazaFFT

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Good post Alfie, i really had hard time understanding ranges and whenever i read some treads that involve putting someone on a range confused me, i dont have a tracker so i probably shouldn't bother with ranges until i get tracker...
 
micromachine

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You can still work out a possible range for your opponents without an HUD based on positions and betting action. I would start thinking about it now if I were you :)
 
Matt Vaughan

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While having a tracker can make your hand-ranging more accurate (at times), putting someone on a range is just about one simple question:

What range of hole cards would my opponent take all the actions he's taken in this hand with?

So having stats on how your opponent has acted in the past helps, yes, but this is not necessary for putting someone on a range. Keep in mind that:

- The range you assign a villain will usually not be perfect
- All ranges (except for our own) are inherently uncertain
- The biggest key in getting better at hand-reading in terms of ranges is actually starting to think in terms of ranges

It doesn't really matter if your assumptions about how people play start off wrong, because experience and hand analysis will fix this. The biggest thing by far is to actually TRY to put people on a range of hands. A tight player opens UTG at 6m - what does he have? His range might look something like 77+/ATo+/A2s+/QJs+/KQo+. Again, this won't be perfect unless villain's range happens to be exactly that, but it's a good jumping off point, and informs us later in the hand.

Ranges can never widen throughout the course of the hand, because of conditional probability. This means that if preflop, villain can have hands A-Z, and based on his flop play he can have A-E, and based on his turn play he can have B-D, and on the river we think he could have A, B, E, or F then we see he must have B, because B is the only hand that makes sense because it's the only one he would play that way to the river. So ranges always stay the same size or narrow as a hand progresses.

(But there is always some non-zero chance of spew at any given time for most players. Just because an opponent shows up with some random hand we didn't expect doesn't mean we did anything wrong with our hand-reading.)

In terms of "materials" on hand-reading, you're going to have trouble with that. "How to Read Hands at No-Limit Hold'Em" is a decent read, but it's fairly combinatorics-based, which might not appeal to you. There's a decent article over at The Poker bank called "REM" (range, equity, maximize), that you may find helpful. But really getting better at hand-reading is all about jumping in, doing your best, seeing where you're wrong, tweaking your assumptions, and repeating. Hand analysis (HA) can help a lot, since it hones your skill in a non-stressful, off-table environment. Check out the HA threads here on CC and start reading responses. Feel free to make your own threads, and comment on other people's hands, but don't be discouraged if people disagree with you. If someone says something as if it's a given, feel free to ask them to clarify why they think what they said. A lot of what people write in HA seems obvious to them, so they don't always do the best job of being explicit about their thought process. But most people can be coaxed into an explanation from time to time.

Good luck.
 
DrazaFFT

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I do have some limited ranging while i play but my way of thinking looks a lot like, he opens utg he might have pocket pair suited ace or even rag ace or breadways, i also tend to take a lot of notes on people cations some are useful some ar not for example if i see that someone opens with rag ace early i write it down, if someone opens with lets say small suited K i write it down i also not how big the bet was to see if there is a pattern i also do the same post flop it is probably not even remotely accurate but im trying to adjust it...
 
Arjonius

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Ranging is a progressive process throughout a hand. You can make a good start by familiarizing yourself with what various open-raising ranges look like in Pokerstove. From there, you can start making adjustments based on position, but only for players who you judge to be position-aware. Another layer is factoring in player tendencies; e.g. you can have two players with similar vpip and pfr where one plays more mid suited connectors and the other plays more broadways.

After you assign a range pre-, you then look at what to drop from it based on the player's subsequent actions and tendencies.

Of course, there's more to it since, for example, people have different pre-flop limping, calling and 3betting ranges, plus things like stack size can also factor in. But in terms of getting training yourself to think in terms of ranges, I'd start by focusing on people when they open the betting.
 
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flincGO

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Ok, thanks, especially to Scourrge and Arjonius, for the helpful tips. I'll be checking out the articles that you mentioned. I had been looking for an article that would point me in the right direction. I'm sure it will start becoming more clear to me with continued play. I know what my opening ranges are, but wasn't sure just how much to widen them up against loose players.

Cheers
 
okeedokalee

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This book has some good information on ranges mat flyn, sunny mehta, ed miller - professional no-limit holdem volume1, especially on REM.

The main thing about ranges is what you can do with yours.

As well as the normal 15-20% hands you open with, have some low suited connectors and some trash in your range.

When you open raise, do it for the same amount, whether it be premium, speculative or trash.Your goal is to make yourself unreadable.

Seldom limp, and always enter the pot for the same amount.

Against loose players I would play the top of your range only.You can open your range against TAGs and especially tight passive players.Loose passives will call and it becomes hard to shed them, and LAGs will re-raise and a weak range will end up throwing away chips, given that it is too hard to continue.I would also recommend you don't Cbet LAGs.

A prosperous happy new year and good luck.
 
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loafes

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I think Ranging is one of my strong suites, and I've never played with a HUD. I think it's something that improves tremendously with experience and practice.
 
Arjonius

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Ok, thanks, especially to Scourrge and Arjonius, for the helpful tips. I'll be checking out the articles that you mentioned. I had been looking for an article that would point me in the right direction. I'm sure it will start becoming more clear to me with continued play. I know what my opening ranges are, but wasn't sure just how much to widen them up against loose players.

Cheers
In addition to reading whatever you can, it's important to practice ranging. An exercise you might consider is watching one or two tables while you're not playing, and trying to range the players based on their actions. The tables should be at the level you play. Don't be overly concerned if your reads aren't good all the time or right away. One of the purposes of this exercise is to get you accustomed to thinking in terms of ranges.
 
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