Quick Studies: Preflop Mechanics Lesson G: Identifying Ranges

When we talk about preflop opening ranges, we’re usually talking about purely linear ranges. We start at pocket Aces, and work our way down in construction. There’s never really a reason to raise a worse hand but fold a better one, but there are some contexts in which a hand becomes better or worse.

For example, in a tournament, our preflop raising range at 30bb stacks might include fewer small pairs and suited connectors, and a greater portion of Ace-highs and broadways. But this isn’t really us deliberately folding better hands; we’re just changing the definition of what constitutes a better hand.

Preflop raising ranges are also uncapped, and bounded, given that we never have the absolute bottom of the deck in our range when we open-raise.

Our 3-betting ranges can be linear or polarized depending on what context. The conditions of a situation will dictate whether we choose a linear range that possesses good board coverage and contains many types of hands, or a polarized one that includes clear value and clear bluffs.

Generally our 3-bet range will be more linear as stacks get deeper, and more polarized as stacks get shallower. In addition, we’ll usually have a robust flat-calling range in any spot where our 3-bets are more polarized.

Our 4-betting ranges are almost always going to be polarized, so that we don’t find ourselves in tough spots when we get shoved on.

3-bet and 4-bet ranges are almost always uncapped, since the natural assumption is that we will 3-bet or 4-bet our strongest hands, given the opportunity. They are also bounded, since we don’t 3-bet or 4-bet with trashy hands. The range with which we, or our opponent, may call a 3-bet or 4-bet will often be somewhat capped, but it will also be bounded. Since any range that is simultaneously capped and bounded contains mostly middle-strength hands, we can also describe a call vs 3-bet range as condensed. Similarly, our flat-calling ranges versus a preflop open will usually be condensed.

We’ll never really plan to employ a randomized range preflop. You could go your entire poker career without putting money in the pot with 7-2 offsuit and still be a huge winner. In fact, if you play deep-stacked cash games, you could probably still be a huge winner even if you always folded every hand in the bottom 70% of the deck.

Not playing trashy hands doesn’t make you a nit, or even a TAG player. It makes you a better player.

And so concludes this lesson and this course. As you build out your preflop strategies, come back and review these topics. You will rarely win a pot postflop without understanding why, and how, you got there.