Understanding your opponent's range is one of the most important aspects of profitable poker play. This game concept is very simple, but playing blindly and not applying any learning strategies can take many hands to master range understanding. Combining theory and practical experience can achieve the same results much faster than just practice alone.
The simplest initial rule for correct thinking about range can be described as follows: every opponent's reaction indicates their possible range. A reaction in this case can be anything – check, call, raise. Of course, during the game, it can be somewhat difficult to consider the opponent's range after absolutely every action, but this is the easiest way to train your thinking and achieve its automation.
Before starting any considerations about the opponent's possible hands, you first need to take into account the peculiarities of the limit you are playing. At lower limits, weaker players will often have a tendency to overcall both value and draw hands, sometimes floating random Ax and low pairs. At higher limits, the game becomes much more complex, as players' ranges will be more balanced, with less random floating, and so on. In this article, we will discuss thinking more suitable for lower limits, as players there will play more according to ABC poker strategy.
Flop: On the flop, we will know the least about the potential opponent's range (except in 3bet situations). Depending on the value held, board texture, and chosen bet sizing, the turn range can change very significantly. Before choosing the bet size (or checking), you need to consider what the opponent's preflop range is and how many cards potentially hit it.
Turn: After getting a call on the flop, we can draw a few conclusions:
- The opponent has a pair (or pocket pair)
- The opponent has a draw.
- The board was suitable for floating stronger combinations.
Remembering the opponent's preflop range, we can mentally “cross out” hands that will call very rarely. For example:
If the opponent's range consists of hands that do not connect with the board, we can exclude them from their potential calling range (T6o, Q4o). Lower limit players usually call on very dry boards only when they have pairs, so getting a call on such a flop, regardless of bet sizing, we can assume that the opponent has either a pair or pockets. At higher limits, players may float on such boards more widely. Turn cards rarely change players' equity significantly, as almost all cards in the deck will connect little with the three flop cards. Therefore, before choosing to bet/check on the turn, we need to think about how many of the opponent's combinations we can fold (that beat us) and how many of the opponent's combinations we can get value from (and how many of their combinations we beat).
Conversely, if the flop was like this:
On such boards, we will often get many more calls from various draws (QJ, J9, and so on). On such boards, the opponent's calling range will be much wider, so they will be less suitable for one-street betting (as the fold frequency will be much lower). Turn cards on these flops will often be of great importance – Qx, 9x will complete many draws, but a card like 3 will almost always change nothing. Before choosing to check/bet on the turn on such textured boards, you need to think about how the potential turn card strengthened the opponent's range. Usually, turn cards that strongly connect with the flop will increase the opponent's potential equity, while bricks will improve the situation for those who have stronger pairs.
River: The river is usually the most difficult street for beginners. Very rarely will the turn and river cards change nothing from the flop, so you will need to carefully consider possible decisions. Fortunately, at lower limits, opponents' river check/raise as a bluff lines will be much rarer than they should be, making the bet/fold line choice easier.
Being in position on the river provides a very important strategic aspect, as when cards that strengthen the opponent's range come out, we can check. When evaluating the river card, you can apply the same thinking as on the turn – how does this card change the strength of the opponent's range? For example, if the river completed many flop/turn draws for the opponent, we will more often want to check our pairs. If the flop and turn were dry, and the river changes nothing, we will more often want to bet our pairs (if they usually beat the opponent's pairs).
The most important thing to remember is that the opponent's range constantly narrows as you approach the river. On the turn, players will more often fold very weak draws, low pairs, and hands floated on the flop. By the time you reach the river, the opponent's range will usually consist only of strong draws and higher pairs (depending on the kicker).
