[FF] “I think I understand the idea behind hand ranges now,” Figaro the Fish began, “but I’m pretty clueless as to what ranges to put people on. It just seems so complicated!”
[NN] “It is complicated, so don’t feel bad”, Nate the Natural consoled.
[DD] “Maybe you could give us some more common pre-flop examples?” Deb the Duchess inquired.
[NN] “Sure. Especially among casual players like we have here, you often get an early limper that encourages the rest of the table to limp in because we love to see flops.”
[NN] “The early position limper has the tightest range of the limp chain, anywhere from 20% of hands to 40% of hands, not including the biggest hands like Aces or Kings which don’t want to be playing against a lot of opponents. This is what it might look like for 30%:
QQ-22 A2s+, K5s+, Q7s+, J8s+, 98s-54s A8o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o
Subsequent limpers might be playing 40% of hands:
QQ-22 A2s+, K2s+, Q7s+, J8s+, 98s-54s A2o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o-65o
But there’s always a guy who loves suited cards and limps along with almost 55% of hands:
QQ-22 XXs A2o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o-54o
And don’t forget that the big blind gets to play for free, so he could have any two cards with up to about two limpers in front, and all but Aces or Kings with more (that’s 99%).”
[NN] “If a middle position player is known to raise a loose 30%, say,
AA-22 A2s+, K9s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 98s-54s A8o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o, 98o
then a player in late position could call with the same 30% with the positional advantage.”
[NN] “Another common occurrence is when a short-stacked player moves all-in pre-flop. You can use a formula1 to estimate how weak the player’s range is, but most people here just use their gut instinct. Depending on the player’s patience, the shoving range tends to widen with each hand that gets folded. In a rebuy tournament, the range is significantly wider early and tightens up tremendously after the rebuy period ends.”
[LL] “My range widens considerably once the side game has started”, Leroy the Lion admitted. “I don’t want to bust out and have to wait around doing nothing.”
[NN] “The button vs. small blind vs. big blind (BSB) battle is a special scenario that happens more with better players that it does here, but it’s still important. Some players will raise 100% of the time if folded to on the button. Other players, especially weaker ones, don’t value position that highly and are likely to play the same cards from the button as they will from the cutoff or hijack.”
[NN] “A limp from the button here is interesting, since it tends to deny a stronger hand. One player might raise 40% of hands,
AA-22 A2s+, K9s+, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s-54s A2o+, K2o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o
limp 40%,
K8s-K2s, Q8s-Q2s, J8s-J2s, T8s-T2s, 97s-92s, 86s-82s, 75s-73s, 64s-62s, 53s-52s, 43s Q8o-Q2o, J8o-J3o, T8o-T5o, 95o+, 85o+, 75o+, 65o, 54o
and fold the remaining 20%:
72s, 42s-32s J2o, T4o-T2o, 94o-92o, 84o-82o, 74o-72o, 64o-62o, 53o-52o, 43o-42o, 32o
while a raise-or-fold player could raise 50%:
AA-22 A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J6s+, T6s+, 96s+, 86s+, 76s, 65s A2o+, K5o+, Q7o+, J7o+, T7o+, 98o
and fold the rest.”
[NN] “If the blinds are known to be tight, the stealing range from the button could be 70% or more.
AA-22 A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 93s+, 84s+, 74s, 63s, 53s+, 43s A2o+, K2o+, Q3o+, J5o+, T6o+, 96o+, 86o+, 76o"
[NN] “The big blind might then try to resteal with just the top 20% of hands:
66+ A4s+, K8s+, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s A9o+, KTo+, QTo+, JTo"
[LL] “A wider range would probably be better.”
[DD] “We’re only talking about what people do, not what they should do.”
[NN] “One last example… stealing from the small blind in a blind vs. blind battle is tough because the player is out of position. A player might raise 30% of the time (like the loose middle position raise) against a tight big blind:
AA-22 A2s+, K9s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 98s-54s A8o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o, 98o"
Footnotes:
- For example, the SAGE (Sit And Go Endgame) formula can be used to determine whether to move all in or fold.