OT: Hand Ranges Assistance

Acehawk74 · #1 02-02-2006, 01:11 AM

Hey everyone. I just have a quick question for you guys... I'm currently learning NL, and getting into SNG's. I have read the FAQ and have found some excellent information about them. I'm just curious about how to approach putting opponents on a hand range, as reccomended by pretty much everyone. I have a hard time not focusing on thinking about a specific possible hand that the opponent may have, so any insight would be greatly appreciated. I am studying HOH 1 and 2, as well as taking my time working and learning through the $5.50's. Thanks for any advice, and I apologize if this is a question that bothers folks. If so, let me know, and I'll move along =)

Acehawk74 · #2 02-02-2006, 02:02 AM

No advice?

gumpzilla · #3 02-02-2006, 02:07 AM

It's a pretty vague question, and you sometimes have to wait more than 45 minutes, but here's what I've got.

In general, probably the easiest thing to do is to try and assess the strength of your opponent; that is, given their bets, try and determine approximately how good you think their hand is. Is it weak? Is it mediocre? Is it strong? You can then think about what kinds of hands will fall into these different groups (and it's important to remember that what your opponent considers strong or mediocre might differ strongly from what you think these things mean.) and just try and be as general as possible.

The other distinction that I can think of that is meaningful is whether you think your opponent has a made hand or is drawing to something. Trying to establish draws that your opponent may have is generally pretty easy given the board. Flush draws announce themselves, and straight draws usually aren't that hard to see after a little practice as well. One note is that with straight draws you generally need to think a little more about how realistic it is that your opponent is drawing to that particular straight, as there are generally more plausible ways to draw to a flush.

Acehawk74 · #4 02-02-2006, 02:10 AM

Gumpzilla,

Thanks for the reply. I meant no offense by the re-requesting comment. That seems to make sense to me.. I'll give that approach a shot, and see how it works. Thanks for the insight, its much appreciated!

Ace

gumpzilla · #5 02-02-2006, 02:12 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Gumpzilla,

Thanks for the reply. I meant no offense by the re-requesting comment.

[/ QUOTE ]

None taken. It's more of a comment that forum etiquette is generally that aggressive bumping of your own post is frowned upon. You should usually give it a couple of hours, and then if there hasn't been any interest, one bump is usually good.

EDIT: Another thought. While you're learning, try thinking about what YOU would have to make the bets that your opponent is making on this board. While this can be a dangerous habit to get into - making the assumption that your opponents think as you do is generally a bad assumption - it might help generate thinking about what those bets mean and give you some guesses about what they might hold.

blackize · #6 02-02-2006, 02:13 AM

Play lots of poker. Microlimits are best as they won't cost much. Learn how people play what. Learn what types of players play which way. It mainly comes from experience. There is information you can get from people who are betting(did they raise preflop, are they betting into a raiser, how big is the bet and what do you think they want you to do call or fold). Ask your self things like this. Are they calling your bets? Is there an obvious draw?

Id love to elaborate more, but you probably won't understand until you play quite a bit of poker.