All we're really trying to do, aside from winning as much money as possible, is to find out our opponent's hands and/or hand ranges. Our all studying efforts come down to figuring out our opponent's hand range. And once we can do that successfully, we can start winning a lot of money. I'm still amazed of how some players aren't at all familiar with the concept of 'hand ranges' and they're already playing pretty big games ($1/$2 NL).
In poker, players who can figure out hand ranges faster, more accurate - in a more effective are likely to be bigger winners. There's still other stuff related to being a successful poker player, but that's not a matter for this article. The more effective you can figure out opponent's hand range, the better.
Obviously all players are doing that while they're at tables, trying to figure out opponent's hand range that is. But you'll need to do it consciously and rationally. Here's how I break down hand ranges.
First, if you haven't got this software yet, I suggest purchasing. Poker Tracker is an amazing stats software that you can integrate with a variety of online poker rooms. This software isn't necessary, but you'll get the idea of hand ranges by looking at actual stats rather than "semi-guessing".
If you use Poker Tracker, there are statistics for a lot of stuff, also for VP$IP which means the volume someone puts money in the pot. For example, what we could see after playing with someone for a reasonable amount of time (like 1000-2000 hands which isn't too much, but already gives you an idea) is the percentage of hands he's playing - "putting money in the pot with" in other words.
Texas Holdem Hand Ranges
If and when we know the percentage of your opponent's starting hand requirements, we can start narrowing down his hand ranges statistically. Here's an example of what his holecards would generally look like when he plays a certain percentage of hands:
4.7%: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo - This range is obviously very tight, he only plays 4.7% of his starting hands. This could go for someone's re-raise range, for example, so basically if he re-raises 4.7% of hands, this is probably close to what his hand range will look like in Texas Holdem games.
10%: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo, ATs, A9s, KQs, KQo, KJs, QJs - Here we've got 10% of hands. I haven't included lower suited connectors and other stuff, only these stronger hands. There are some hands like A9s and QJs that I would rather exchange to a T9s, 98s, 87s or any kind of medium sized suited connector. This is where hand ranges can kind of "lie", but after all it's about how well you know your opponent and what kind of hands he likes to play. I excluded lower pocket pairs. though, since I don't think they play really well almost ever in a raised pot (and this range suits for cut-off and button raises quite well).
15% AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo, ATs, ATo, A9s, A8s, A7s, KQs, KQo, KJs, KJo, KTs, KTo, K9s, QJs, QJo, QTs, JTs - Variety of hands got much bigger, but at the same time, even though these are he most "powerful" hands, a lot of them play very poorly (that's, of course, my experience). Hands like A9s, A8s and A7s are, forgive me, total garbage. Same goes with KJ, KT, K9, QJ QT. If you hit with those hands, they still cause a lot of different kind of trouble.
The point of this was to give you an idea of different hand ranges. However, looking at these percentages and thinking "this is exactly my opponent's hand range" if he plays 15% of his hands won't work. There are various reasons for this:
Positions - There are major differences between hand ranges for different positions. Button raises are generally done with a wide range, where as UTG raises are generally done with a tight range (more information about table position names on table positions page). The fact that you know your opponent plays 15% of hands overall doesn't really help too much, if at all. You'll have to know more about his position percentages (Poker Tracker helps you).
You can, for example, get raised with a lot of hands against an opponent playing on the Button. In No Limit Texas Holdem, playing on the Button is generally the best position, and will also be raised easily more than other positions (you'll always be the last one to act on flop, meaning you can get to see what other players decide to do before you act). Cut-off (CO) is also generally raised with a wide range, since it's the second last position on the flop, and if you can get the Button out of the pot, you will be the last one to act.
Under The Gun (UTG) is a poker position where raises occur rarely. This isn't that much because of the position you get to act on the flop, but rather because you're the first one to act pre-flop. You'll know nothing about your opponents, they can have all kinds of hands. And, yet you're expected to risk bets into a field you'll know nothing about. Well, not nothing, you're going to have hand ranges on how your opponents will play on different positions. It's still kind of "shooting in the dark", but this is why UTG raises are usually pretty tight - you want to have a hand worth playing, and you don't want to lose bets to weaker hands you'll have to fold rightaway when they get raised.
Your Table Image - Well, unless your table image is completely similar to other players at the table, he'll play against you differently, therefore his hand range is going to be different. He might play 15% of his hands against a nameless player in position, when he plays 10% of hands against you in position (again, position matters).
You can manipulate opponent's hand range by other players at the table and taking notes on how they play against certain opponent, then perceive their image and use it against this player, who would in theory now play against you with the same kind of range as he played against other opponent. Usually though, it's a lot easier to adjust playing style against opponents to suit for the table image you've already got. When you try to decide opponent's hand range, and when he tries to decide yours, positions + table image is what matters. That's what you'll need to base your decision on.
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