Possible Pooh-bah? - The Basics of Thinking in Terms of Ranges

[PBJaxx]

This concept is relatively basic, and I am sure many of you already think in terms of ranges. There are more advanced articles and posts out there based on this concept (see Gbucks, ftw), but I haven't really seen anything that explains the application of hand ranges in a simplistic fashion. Everything I will refer to in this should actually be thought about AT THE TABLE. It is my belief that many posters perform post-analysis using hand ranges but do not think about them while actually making decisions at the table.

The easiest way to introduce using hand ranges is to use an example. In this example, we can assume that villain is not thinking about what we hold, so he is a first level thinker. These types of opponents are still very common at SSNL, and they are the types we should be seeking out.
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1/2NL (6max) - $200 eff stacks
Villain is 35/8/0.9 - Loose-passive calling station

Pre-flop:
Villain open-limps from MP. It folds to hero on the button with J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] who raises to $10, folds to villain who calls $8.</font>

It is time to start thinking about villain's range of hands. At this point, it is very wide, but we can narrow it down a bit. It is highly unlikely that he has a premium hand or complete trash like 72o. I would typically estimate his range as 22-99, Axs, KJ-KT, KJ-K9s, QJ-QT, QJ-Q9s, and all suited connectors and one-gappers JTs and below.
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Flop ($23): 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
Villain checks, hero bets $17, villain calls</font>

Now we can narrow his range down significantly. From this point, I will estimate in the fashion that I will at the table which is pretty general. I would assume villain has any pp 22-99, a straight draw (45, 89, 8T,9T), trip 6s (56, 68, etc), a full house, or any flush draw in his preflop range.
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Turn ($57): 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Villain checks...</font>

Against his range, we have to bet for both value and protection. This type of villain is very likely to take another card with a draw or a PP. He will also call or raise with the few hands that already have us beat, but overall we have great equity against his holding range and his calling range.
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Hero bets $42, villain calls

River ($141): 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
Villain checks...</font>

Now we only need to think about his calling range. He is most likely not calling 3 barrels with 22-55, diamond draws, or most of his straight draws. He also probably doesn't have a full house after checking all 3 streets. His calling range is most likely: 88-99, any draw that hit 2pair on the river (8T, 9T, JTs, etc), any 7, 666, and 89 for the straight. We are ahead of that range, meaning if he calls a certain bet size with the entire range, we win the pot &gt;50% of the time. We can assume he never folds a better hand or C/R bluffs us.

<font color="blue">Hero bets $75, villain's action is irrelevant as results don't matter if our ranges are accurate.</font>

Now this can get infinitely more complicated than the example above. The next step is to realize how our image can affect the villain's range. For example, if we are 3-betting very light, and villain is observant, we have to widen villain's 3-bet calling range because we can assume that villain has assigned us a wide 3-betting range (our perceived range). This also becomes much more complicated against villains that semi-bluff, bluff C/R the river, etc. This can go on forever, but the basic idea is outlined above.

The thing to take away from this post is that you should be doing this at the table! With practice, this kind of thinking becomes automatic, and you will soon start adjusting both your perceived range and villain's range dynamically throughout hands. You cannot get there if you don't start doing this in the most basic situations, though.

I hope this post is helpful to some of you out there in 2p2 land.