Preflop Hands and Position

I understand premium hands, pocket pairs, and hands that absolutely shouldn't be played preflop. I also understand the basic fundamentals and importance of position play, however i was wondering if there was someone that can tell me in depth...like give me a chart or something of what hands should be limped in, what hands should be raised, what hands should be shoved all in, etc. This is in perspective to No limit hold em & ring games.

Also: How much to raise with which hands preflop and when to fold good hands preflop will also be very helpful?


THANKS IN ADVANCE

Check out hte strategies portion of this site. Lots of answers for you questions. Good luck in your endevors.

I read those, but nothing that spot on answers my questions.

Download Poker Stove and research making your own starting hand chart.

Post what you come up with for comments/criticisms.

We learn a lot more from doing our own homework.

Hands to raise:

AKs, AKos, AQs, AJs, KQs, AA-55

Limp with:

22-44

Fold all other hands....? Thats basically what i've gotten out of it....except for maybe playing more hands during Later Positions.

jbeezy24 said:

Hands to raise:

AKs, AKos, AQs, AJs, KQs, AA-55

Limp with:

22-44

Fold all other hands....? Thats basically what i've gotten out of it....except for maybe playing more hands during Later Positions.

Click to expand...

Never limp! If you are first in with a hand raise. If there are limpers in front of you raise to take it down or to isolate them and make them play you out of position. If you are facing a raise you need a better hand than one that you would just open with. Generally look to 3 bet or fold unless you have a small pocket pair that you can call a raise with to set mine.

The earlier your postion, the tighter that you should play. In the cutoff or on the button you can open up your range due to your positional advantage. However, how much you should open up depends on your level of experience and post flop skills. Playing more marginal hands will put you in more risky situations. Since you are inexperienced I would say open your range slowly in late postion and add more hands as you get more experience.

Never play a hand just because it is on a starting hands chart. Know why you are playing the hand and try to have an idea of how you will handle potential flops.

GL

PS are you playing 6 max or full ring and cash or tournaments?

jbeezy24 said:

Hands to raise:

AKs, AKos, AQs, AJs, KQs, AA-55

Limp with:

22-44

Fold all other hands....? Thats basically what i've gotten out of it....except for maybe playing more hands during Later Positions.

Click to expand...

Well, that's a start... You mentioned you have a basic understanding of position so, break your hands down position...

Are we playing 22+, AJs+, AKo, and KQs in every seat except the button and the cut off?

What other hands are we playing in LP?

Are we really limping UTG w/ 22?

jbeezy24 said:

I read those, but nothing that spot on answers my questions.

Click to expand...

You will never find a 'spot on' answer to your question.

The game is way more complex than a simple robotic guide to poker, which seems what you want. Many pros will tell you that the least important thing about the game is what you hold.

Position, stack sizes, ring/tourney, table image, table dynamics, and more all play into the game before what you actually hold.

dj11 said:

Position, stack sizes, ring/tourney, table image, table dynamics, and more all play into the game before what you actually hold.

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^ this. The answer is always "it depends", no one answer will work for every opponent and every table. Against an opponent that calls you down light speculative hands may be very profitable. Against a nit who only gets money in with the nuts they're less profitable. You have to adjust to your opponents.

OzExorcist said:

^ this. The answer is always "it depends", no one answer will work for every opponent and every table. Against an opponent that calls you down light speculative hands may be very profitable. Against a nit who only gets money in with the nuts they're less profitable. You have to adjust to your opponents.

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Sure, but we still need some standard opening ranges, right?

If nothing else, having standard pre-flop ranges will free up some mental bandwidth to think about the things you mentioned...

I'd rather use a "dynamic" hand range as in you open or close the range of hands depending on the behaviour of the people in the table, position and chip amount. It works better if you can figure out the kind of hands certain player use and how he responds to bets, etc...

If you are playing online poker a HUD is very useful in that regard,

This is really a good question for a beginner in the game. They simply have to have a guide to get them started before they can tweaking things based on situational analysis. I'm working on putting something together to satisfy this need.

alaskabill said:

Never limp! If you are first in with a hand raise. If there are limpers in front of you raise to take it down or to isolate them and make them play you out of position. If you are facing a raise you need a better hand than one that you would just open with. Generally look to 3 bet or fold unless you have a small pocket pair that you can call a raise with to set mine.

The earlier your postion, the tighter that you should play. In the cutoff or on the button you can open up your range due to your positional advantage. However, how much you should open up depends on your level of experience and post flop skills. Playing more marginal hands will put you in more risky situations. Since you are inexperienced I would say open your range slowly in late postion and add more hands as you get more experience.

Never play a hand just because it is on a starting hands chart. Know why you are playing the hand and try to have an idea of how you will handle potential flops.

GL

PS are you playing 6 max or full ring and cash or tournaments?

Click to expand...

I am playing full ring game cash games.

And so how should i play lower pockets like maybe 8's and lowers......should i raise them in a general sense or no?

Neoblast said:

I'd rather use a "dynamic" hand range as in you open or close the range of hands depending on the behaviour of the people in the table

Click to expand...

What are our dynamic hand ranges going to look like at a table full of unknowns? Are we just going to fold until we figure them out?

I agree with most of my previous speakers.
You also have to look which kind of players are on your table and especially with you in this hand. Got Calling stations on your table I wouldn´t raise 22-77. You will be called anyway and if you didn´t hit your set you don´t where you are in this hand. The pot is just blowing up and you have raise a huge amount of chips to get them out and commit yourself into the pot. If you got premium hands you can over bet them on any position they will call you and so they will be commited into the pot and get more chips.
If you are on a tight table I would more often raise to get the blinds. If you got called and didn´t hit the flop it is an easy fold.

If you want an endless read about what hands to play,
google 'Opening Hand Chart'.

jbeezy24 said:

I am playing full ring game cash games.

And so how should i play lower pockets like maybe 8's and lowers......should i raise them in a general sense or no?

Click to expand...

Personally, at full ring I don't play pocket pairs below 7's in early position. Middle postion on I'll go 5's. Late postion, I open all pairs. If I'm gong to open the hand I will raise. Again, limping is just bad imo.

You can make a case for opeining all pocket pairs in any position, but don't limp with them.

dj11 said:

You will never find a 'spot on' answer to your question.

The game is way more complex than a simple robotic guide to poker, which seems what you want. Many pros will tell you that the least important thing about the game is what you hold.

Position, stack sizes, ring/tourney, table image, table dynamics, and more all play into the game before what you actually hold.

Click to expand...

FULLY AGREE you can't just atake it for granted that the players at the table read the same book you did and will play that way...take me..played for 40 yrs..never read a book and have been yelled at a few times...they lose and I am at the last table!!!:boxing:

Besides the obvious determining factors which are:
Stack size
Position
Hole cards

I have to observe one round before I can start making a read on a player.
My basic strategy is to isolate the early limper with a raise with premium hand (AK KK AA AQ QQ early or late) ( add KQ JJ AJ in late pos)
or call raisers and try to get others to call so 4-5 players see the flop with marginal but potential good hands like suited connectors or low pairs.

I agree with all the starting hand requirements. The one point I'd make is never limp if you're first into the pot. The number of time I've seen someone limp with AA and then lose at showdown to a hand that would have folded fre-flop had the guy with aces raised is too many to count. Raising when first in early on in a tourney will help you steal blinds later on when maybe you haven't got a premium hand.

Considerations that I don't think have been mentioned yet in this thread:

There are hands you want to play against several others, and some you want to play against one opponent. Distinguishing between them will inform your decision to call or raise, and by how much.

You also want to decide whether you want to play a small pot (out of positon and/or drawing hand) or a big one (strong hand and/or in position).

For example, you raise UTG with pocket tens. You get 3-betted by a strong player and everyone else folds. Chances are, you don't want to play this large pot out of position against one opponent.

Now you're on the button with the same tens. There is an early raise and 2 callers. Here you can call because you want to play this hand against multiple opponents (so if you hit a set you can more likely get paid). The exception would be if one of the blinds will often come over the top, creating a one-on-one situation with a big pot.

My point is that a chart will tell you to play pocket tens from anywhere. But I think these questions will help you learn what to play and where, and how. When you have a hand that is an easy fold, ask yourself what is the minimum hand you WOULD play in this situation -- follow the action and try to imagine what your line of play would be like. If there is a showdown, see if you would have played the same way your opponents did. Now you're creating ranges for yourself AND your opponents. Get ready to win

Hope this might be helpful