aggressive (we’ll discuss this later in the forking section). You first define their action since players use different hands when being passive vs.

F: Factors that would influence their range.

A: Axe out any hands that wouldn’t be included.

D: Define the action your opponent is making.

So while a tight player won’t open-raise Q♠T♦ from UTG, a LAG will gladly open-raise that hand on the button.įor building ranges, I created a simple system with the acronym DEAF: On the other hand, a LAG that open-raises on the button, is typically going to raise with many hands and that higher frequency equals a higher %-form. This is an example of a small frequency, and as we learned from the percentage form earlier, a low frequency = low %-form = not many hands included in that range. This is where you need to pay attention to their frequencies and how tight or loose they would be in a specific spot.įor example, a tight player is going to be tight from early position and open-raise few hands first to act. The best way to calculate ranges is to determine how many hands they are likely playing in a given situation. The range you assign is a bi-product of who your opponent is, what action they are taking, where they are making that action, and how they might craft that specific range.

AQ+ doesn’t have an “s” (suited) or “o” (offsuit) qualifier, so you would include all versions of AQ and also AK.

98s+ means you should include suited connectors 98s and higher (so 98s, T9s, etc.).

22+ means you should include all pocket pairs (22, 33, 44…QQ, KK, AA).

The plus sign after a starting hand tells you to include all similar hands that are higher than it.

If you see someone write “JJ+”, this is a range strand that says “select pocket Jacks and all pocket pairs above it” so JJ, QQ, KK, and AA. Range strands can also be discussed verbally or shared in forum posts, and there is a common shorthand that players use to quickly talk about ranges. This is typically an ugly line of text, but it can easily be exported from and imported into your poker software of choice. The range strand is a string of text that lists all of the selected hands. For more information on this, read my complete guide on counting combos & blockers in poker. Keep in mind that combos can be impacted by your hole cards, commonly referred to as blockers.

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