Putting Your Opponent on Hand Ranges

Figuring out a hand range for your opponent is a complex part of a basic game. This little nuance will determine who is a good player and who is a great player. If you can master figuring out hand ranges for your opponent then you will see profit in places you never looked before. Finding profit in places you haven’t since looked will also happen when you determine a hand range and then change the hands you will play against that opponent. At the tables you will see tons of wildly aggressive youngsters who don’t value money much, and you will see the old timers who have gone broke so many times that they are satisfied making a couple bucks a day. In between the two of these mediums you should recognize hand ranges and how to determine hand ranges.

The first way to see what your opponent could have is to identify the style of play that they are showcasing. If you identify how a player plays their hands, you will have success when determining a hand range when they are sitting in a pot with you. Always gather information when you sit at a poker table. You should never sit at a poker table and not have your brain constantly thinking 2 steps ahead of the other players. If you do then you are in for long days and longer nights. The best way to get your mind thinking in the right direction is to see hands that are showed down by your opponents. If you can see what hands they are showing down, you can optimize what you think their range of hands could be. If you can figure out a range for a player and always keep it in the back of your mind until you need it, then you can find success against various opponents.

To determine a hand range you have to always remain focused on everything especially in live poker games. Live poker games will allow the bad players to lose and the good players to win over time. The reason for this is because some players pay very close attention to everything and some players don’t pay very close attention to everything. When someone covers their mouth, leans forward in their chair, splashes a pot with chips, shuffles their chips, all of these things mean something. If you don’t pay attention to subtle things then you will not have success when attempting to figure out what your opponent has. In live poker more than anything you need to remain focused and always look for good spots. Live poker doesn’t offer the rapid swings in the game like online poker does, so every hand matters and every bet matters.

Mainly you want to play focused poker sessions throughout your poker career. If you do that then you will have success and also with repetition you will see some scenarios come up more times than others. A common scenario is that a board brings two cards of one suit and you bet out and the player shoves. This scenario is obviously a flush draw almost every time and regardless of pre-flop action you can see in this hand that you will call and win a large portion of the time. Determining if someone has a flush draw or shoved all-in with a set or aces is something that draws a fine line between what you can do and what you will do. What you can do is look at the players past and how they have played previous pots. How often have they moved all of their chips in the middle? If this is the first time they have moved all-in do you really think they have a draw? If you ask yourself questions and you ask your opponent questions throughout a poker hand, you will understand more about what hands they could flip over. Asking questions is a form of gathering information. Often times in live poker you will get responses from players no matter what stakes you are sitting at. These responses can be interpreted as strength or weakness, but most often the signs are obvious. If you know someone hasn’t played any hands you should be more prone to folding when they bet big. If a player is loose with their money then you should in return play loose against them. Constantly adjusting to the table is what will keep you on top of your game and also help you determine proper hand ranges for your opponents.