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Preflop Ranges

Q&A: Polarized Ranges, LIVE to Online Poker Transition and the PFR/VPIP Ratio

By Sky Matsuhashi on June 18, 2020

What are polarized ranges? How do I go from LIVE to online poker? What the heck is the PFR/VPIP Ratio? I’m answering your 🔥 burning 🔥 poker questions.

Listen to episode #296: Q&A on Polarized Ranges, LIVE to Online Transition and the PFR/VPIP Ratio

1st Question: Polarized Ranges

Hello, Sky. Just wanted to ask if you have ever done a podcast episode on polarized ranges. I am a bit confused about this concept after reading some articles. I was under the impression that polarized ranges concept was more of a preflop concept, but some articles refer to it even in post-flop. Much appreciated in advance.

-Cenk Kiral

My Answer:

“Polarized” means to do things with two different ends of your ranges; strongest and weakest hands. I only think about polarized ranges when it comes to preflop hand selection, and only with 3betting or higher. So raising with a polarized range means you’re raising with your strongest hands and the weakest hands that are outside of your calling ranges.

For example, if you call raises with AJ-A6s, you probably 3bet with the strong hands AQs and AKs, and you might choose to 3bet bluff with the weaker hands A5-A2s.

A polarized AX 3betting range that calls with AJs-A6s

For post-flop, I revert to thinking about my ranges in terms of hand strengths. So, I’m thinking about what I’m doing with my flushes, straights, 1 pair hands, total misses, etc. I make plays based on my hand strength and what I think my opponent is doing with their different hand strengths.

2nd Question: LIVE to Online Poker Transition

I’ve got questions about the basics. I’m primarily a live player. So, my questions are about getting started with online play.

    1. What’s a good site to play on?
    2. What’s a good level to play? .05/.10 or ?
    3. I need to get and learn Poker Tracker 4, what’s the best way to get and learn the basics?
    4. Any other advice you could pass on would be greatly appreciated.

-Thanks, Ed Culwell

1. I recommend playing on Americas Cardroom

For people playing in states that don’t have regulated online poker (like me in California), there’s only one site I recommend to play on due to their track record and quick payouts, and that’s Americas Cardroom (ACR).  They have cash games from the lowest to the highest stakes, as well as tons of tournaments and SNG’s constantly running.  It’s very easy to deposit and withdraw using Bitcoin. There’s also plenty of action at all times of day (some other sites might only have a few tables/tourneys running).

If you decide to sign up, use offer code SPSPOD to get 27% rakeback. Rakeback saves you money, which is especially useful in the lowest stakes where the rake % is high.

Americas Cardroom runs a lot of great tournament series throughout the year, but their Online Super Series (OSS) is arguably the best as it appeals to all player types. It will run from June 14th-28th 2020.

There will be $15 million in total guaranteed prize pools over 150 tourneys, including three $1 Million Main Events.

There are a variety of game types, including NLH, PLO, and PLO8. Structures include regular, turbo and hyper-turbo.

Deposit with Bitcoin

The easiest way to deposit and withdraw from ACR is with Bitcoin.

Use my “refer a friend” bonus link.  When you buy $100 worth of bitcoin from Coinbase, we’ll each receive an additional $10 bonus.  This is what I did when I first purchased bitcoin and me and my friend both got $10.

2. Recommended Stakes

I recommend playing at 5nl (.02/.05) or 10nl (.05/.10). I recommend using a 40x bankroll, so play 5nl with $200 or 10nl with $400. But, don’t start off at 25nl even if you have a $1,000 bankroll. There are many more regs and winning players at that stake, so acquaint yourself with online poker at the lower stakes first.

3. PokerTracker 4

One of the things I love about online poker is PokerTracker 4, so I’m glad you asked about it. ACR allows for PokerTracker 4 and a HUD, which is what you need if you want to get the most from your play and study time. If you get PT4 through my link (above) and send me your purchase confirmation, I’ll send you my Smart HUD so you can start using it right away to exploit your opponents:

Once you get PT4, there are two things I recommend to help you learn it:

4a. Watch and follow along with PokerTracker 4 Videos

Watch and follow along with any of my YouTube playlist of PT4 videos:

Just choose one that looks good and hit play. Make sure you follow along with PT4 because repeating what others do is a great way to learn.

I recommend you start with this video:

4b. Use PT4 Every Day

Use PT4 every day to review your prior day’s hands. Just doing this, forcing yourself to look through hands will teach you how to use it. You’ll review a hand where you lost a lot of money after limping and you’ll think, “I wonder how profitable I am when limping?” Then, you’ll figure out how to find these hands, review them, then learn from your mistakes.

3rd Question: Learning from Poker App Hands

Hey Sky! Been listening to your podcast for a few months now and it’s helped me realize how incompetent I am, so thanks :D! I’ve heard you talk about HUDs a lot and I’m wondering if you have any advice for a novice serious player who plays exclusively on phone apps? Are you aware of any HUDs I can use with poker apps?

-Best, Matt

My Answer:

I’m sorry, I don’t play on poker apps so I haven’t looked into poker tracking software for use with them. I imagine a Google search could answer your question.

But, I do have 3 recommendations for you if you want to learn from the hands you play on poker apps:

  1. Use a smart phone screen capture app to record game tape as you play. This will record what’s happening on your screen in video form then you can rewatch them later to review hands and take notes on how your opponents play.
  2. Spend :30 minutes per day watching the prior day’s game tape. Look for showdown hands and replay the action to help you understand the logic your opponents use as they play.
  3. Take detailed player notes in your poker journal. When you see “BobbyMcGee44” open-limp UTG then call a 6bb raise with J5s, you know he’s an absolute fish. Make a note of this in your journal, something like, “Total fish; OL/c OOP J5s; DON’T BLUFF, ONLY VALUE BET BIG”. Then, when you play against him in the future, look up your player notes and make a plan to exploit him (and others you have notes on).

4th Question: PFR/VPIP Ratio

LOVE YOU MAN! Can you explain the PFR/VPIP Ratio stat you have?  If I understand what I’m seeing, you never called a raise from the BTN, CO or MP!?  Are you playing either raise or fold?  What’s a good or bad ratio to have?

-Dianogos

Here’s the video that spawned this question:

My Answer:

Yes, since April 1st 2020, I haven’t called at all from the MP, CO or BTN. I’m testing out a 3bet or fold strategy and seeing how I like it. And so far, I’m absolutely loving it. I’m facing less cbets, making more 3bets and poker is a lot easier when you stop calling. The only preflop spots I’m calling is when I raise then face a 3bet or I’m calling in good situations from the blinds.

For the PFR/VPIP Ratio, PokerTracker 4 defines this as, “Ratio of how often a player raises preflop to how often he puts money in preflop.”

The statistics tab gives you the definition and formula for every statistic.

So, the lower this is, the more passive you are (you make more calls than raises). For example, if you VPIP’d 10 hands, and out of those 10 you only raised 2 (so you called 8 times), then your PFR/VPIP = 2/10 = 20%. This indicates a super passive player, likely a fish.

Aggressive winning players have a PFR/VPIP around 75%, which means they raise around 3/4 hands they play preflop.

This is how you can learn more about every poker statistic:


Here’s my challenge to you for this episode:  I’m sure one of these questions and answers struck a chord with you. Whichever it was, take action on the answer I gave in your next play or study sessions. Take action and work to make yourself 1% better every day.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.


Support the Show (Affiliate Links)

Play on Americas Cardroom and get 27% rakeback with code SPSPOD:

Get PokerTracker 4, the best poker tracking software.  I love it and use it everyday!  If you get it through me, and send me your purchase confirmation (via email to sky@thepokerforge.com), I’ll send you a copy of my Smart HUD PokerTracker 4.  It’s the best online poker HUD in the business with every critical stat in the HUD and the 7 custom popups. This is what every online player needs to maximally exploit opponents.

Coinbase makes buying and selling bitcoin super easy, and bitcoin is the best way to deposit and withdraw from online poker sites. Use my Coinbase Friend Referral Link to get a $10 bonus when you purchase your first $100 of bitcoin through Coinbase. Support the show!

How to do Poker Hand Reading

By Sky Matsuhashi on August 15, 2019

How to do poker hand reading off the felt

Hand reading is the #1 skill in poker, and it’s well worth the time it takes to perfect your use of it both on and off the felt.

What is Hand Reading in Poker?

Hand Reading (aka Hand Ranging) is assigning a player a logical range of hands based on their actions, then making the most +EV decision that exploits their range.


Listen to episode #250: How to do Poker Hand Reading


It’s critical that we put our opponent on a range of hands, not just one single hand.

The reason we use ranges is because players can make the same play with many different hands.

For example, if they open-raise preflop, they can do it with AA, JT, 97s and 33 (and everything in between).

And then, if the flop comes AJT and they make a continuation bet, there are many hands that we can raise them with:

  • 2 pair: AJ, AT, JT
  • Sets (3 of a kind): TT, JJ
  • Straight: KQ

You see why you can’t put somebody on just one hand.  Depending on their preflop range and the board, there are lots of hands they would play in the exact same manner.


Hand Reading In Action


Hand reading is the most important poker skill because it forces you to consider all the variables in every hand you play.

Weak players just think about their hand and the cards on the board.

But a skilled hand reader will think about so much more on every street in every hand:

  • Type of player they’re up against
  • HUD stats
  • Tendencies
  • The specific actions the player has taken so far
  • Stack sizes
  • Size of the pot
  • Possible future board cards
  • Position
  • Images
  • Table or tournament conditions

Because a skilled hand reader considers so many more factors, they make better decisions.  This leads to more hands won, more bad situations avoided, more opponents exploited, more money saved and ultimately more profits at the table.

Hand reading is how you’re going to become the poker player you want to be.


You open-raised from the CO, a LAG player on the BTN 3bets.

What range of hands does a LAG BTN 3bet you with?

Answer this right now!


The Logistics of Hand Reading

In its most simplified form, hand reading follows this path:

  1. You assign a preflop range of hands based on the player’s actions. So, a caller has a different range than a 3bettor which is different from an open-raiser’s range.
  2. As the hand progresses through the flop, turn and river, you’ll narrow their range based on further actions. Narrowing a range means you’re removing hands that don’t fit into the actions they take.  So, if the player called your cbet on the flop from OOP, you might remove all non-pair hands and every draw weaker than a gut-shot straight draw.
  3. Exploit your knowledge of their range. If you narrowed their range to mostly weak pairs and draws, you might use this information to make an effective bluff bet to get them to fold.

Hand reading, like any poker strategy, requires loads of practice before you turn it into a skill you can successfully use on the felt.  Couple this with the fact that you’re making assumptions about a player’s range and how they play their hands, you’ll find yourself making lots of hand reading mistakes early on.

Action is the greatest teacher.

Getting used to hand reading is going to be tough at first, but don’t get discouraged.  It takes time and dedication to using it off and on-the-felt and the more time you put into it, the better you’ll become.

If you need motivation to get your butt in gear with hand reading exercises, do it for the promise of greater poker skills. Do it for the idea that you will start exploiting your opponents more. Do it with the expectation that hand reading skills will turn you into the player that you want to be.

I did a full 66 Days of Hand Reading in a row and I put all those videos up on YouTube.  You’ll see me make tons of mistakes preflop and through the streets, but this 66 days was the best thing I ever did for my poker game and I improved every aspect of my game through it.

The Poker Hand Reading 2-step Process

We’re keeping hand reading simple with only 2 steps: 1) assigning a preflop range and 2) narrowing that range through the streets.

But just because it’s simple, that doesn’t make it an easy skill to master.  The sooner you get to work on it, and the more practice you put in, the sooner you’ll use hand reading to exploit your opponents and earn an obscene amount of their chips.

Step 1: Assign a Preflop Range of Poker Hands

When I assign a poker range, I consider it being made up of 5 different hand categories:

  1. Pocket pairs
  2. Broadway hands
  3. Aces
  4. Suited hands
  5. Off-suit hands

To help me build their preflop range, here’s my favorite question to ask myself over and over again:

What is the worst hand they play this way?

Whatever the worst hand is, I would include that and better hands in their range.

EXAMPLE: Creating a player’s Big Blind calling range

We open-raised from the cut off. The BTN and the SB both folded and the TAG BB player called.

  1. What is the worst pocket pair they call with?
    • Let’s say they would call with 22 but they would 3bet with QQ or better.
  2. What are the worst Broadway hands they call with?
    • They worst would be JTs, QTs, KTs and ATs, so I would include those and the better hands. And off-suit, maybe just the AT, KJ and QJ hands.
  3. What are the worst Aces they call with?
    • I think they would call with every suited Ace and only ATo and better.
  4. What are the worst suited hands they call with?
    • Maybe 76s is the worst along with 86s and Q9s. So, we can include of those and everything better.
  5. What are the worst off-suit hands they call with?
    • Maybe just those Broadway hands already mentioned.
Final calling range for a TAG player ending the action in the Big Blind.

More Preflop Questions for Ranging a Player


Listen to episode #251: Poker Hand Reading Questions to Ask


What type of player are they?

I will range my opponents differently based on the type of player they are. Nitty players will get very small ranges in general, TAG players slightly wider, LAGs wider still and those LP fish get the widest ranges.

What notes do I have on them?

Your history with an opponent is incredibly important.  The more you know about them from paying attention to prior hands and showdowns, the better player notes you can take.  Good notes will help you range them and play against them in the future.

What does their action say about their range?

Generally, the more aggressive the action, the stronger the range.  The more weak or passive the action, the weaker the range.

What are their action-related stats?

HUD stats are a numerical representation of the history you’ve accumulated with the player. They 3bet 5% or they call 2bets 15% or they fold to steals 74%.  All of these numbers help to assign them a pre-flop range, so know which ones can help you in different situations.  Plus, try to observe these by position in a HUD popup.

Assigning a 3bet caller’s range:

What does their bet sizing say about the strength of their range?

Either online or LIVE, bet sizing can be a big tell.  In general, the larger the bet, the stronger the hand.

Why didn’t they CALL/RAISE/FOLD?

Your opponent’s action is important, but when they chose to call, they also chose to NOT fold or raise.  What does this say about their range?  Often, we can eliminate some of the strongest hands when they play passively (like removing AA and KK when they over-call) or we can remove the weakest hands when they 4bet.  If you can put yourself in their shoes and figure out why they chose to NOT make a play, this will lead to more accurate pre-flop ranges.

Flopzilla: #1 in a Hand Reader’s Tool Box

Besides PokerTracker 4, Flopzilla is the software I use most frequently when studying poker.

It’s a range analysis software that’s designed to quickly figure out how well a range of hands or a specific hand hits the board.  It’s also perfect for hand reading because it makes it easy to assign preflop ranges then narrow them through the streets based on the strength of the different parts of Villain’s range.  Learn more about the benefits and uses of Flopzilla here.

You can see how easy Flopzilla makes hand reading practice in this video:

More Hand Reading Action!


Step 2: Narrow Their Poker Range on the Flop, Turn and River

Narrowing a range means to remove hands from it based on their actions and what you know about the player. The smaller and more accurately we range them, the more +EV our decisions become.

To help me figure out what hands to remove, I ask myself The Ultimate Question on every street:

What are they doing this with?

If they call on a monotone board with 3 spades, there’s a good chance they have a flush or a flush draw already.  But, if they call your bet on that board, you can easily remove underpairs without a spade and most non-spade hands.  You might even be able to remove any 2s, 3s, 4s or 5s hands if you think they would never stay in with such a weak draw.

Here’s where putting yourself in your opponent’s shoes and trying to figure out their logic is super important.  Some players love to stay in with any draw, especially flush draws.  Other players fold any non-pair and non-nut drawing hand.  Others stay in with any pair because they fear getting bluffed.

Some players will only raise on the flop with trips+, and other players bluff-raise on the flop all the time.

More Post-flop Questions for Narrowing a Range

How well does their range connect with this board?

Knowing your opponent’s pre-flop range is one thing, understanding how it interacts with the board at hand is another. The goal is to visualize and understand which parts of their pre-flop range hit specific hands or draws.

Which parts of their range are BETTING/CALLING/RAISING/FOLDING on this board?

This goes along with the previous question. If your opponent raised, and you know that their raise means they’ve got 2p or better on this board, you’ll use that to your advantage and react to their raise and narrow their range properly.

Why didn’t they CHECK/BET/RAISE/FOLD?

Just like with that pre-flop question, your opponent took one option and chose not to take the other 3. If you can figure out why, you’ll use that information to narrow their range even more accurately.

What does a sane person do here?

This question helps us to get to the logic our opponent is using. I first heard it asked by Jonathan Little in a training video once, and I fell in love with it.  Some people think they can’t win against fish because there’s no putting them on a hand.  Or, they can’t win against a LAG Donk because they just bomb every street and it’s tough to call down without the nuts.  Well, both of these player types use some sort of logic in their decision making.  Your job it to get in their heads and figure out the logic they’re using.  It may be different from yours, but don’t let that stop you from trying to figure them out.

What are my notes on this player?

When in-game, we often forget to look at any players notes we’ve taken in the past.  Practicing this off-the-felt, basically looking at the notes as you try to narrow their range, is going to turn “note checking” into a habit.

The 5 Best Things We Learn From Showdowns

Showdowns teach us so much about our opponents.  Sure, HUD stats help us gauge their tendencies, but showdowns show us the unvarnished truth of how they played their hand.


Listen to episode #252: The 5 Best Lessons from Poker Showdowns


We see the exact hand they called with pre-flop, the hand they checked on the flop, the hand they check-raised with on the turn and the hand they shoved with on the river.

We get a brief but powerful glimpse into the logic they use and we use this to gain a better understanding of the way they play their hands.

By paying attention to the street-by-street action of every hand, whether we’re involved or not, the poker showdown is our opportunity to confirm our reads on the players and their actions.

1. Showdowns Clue Us in to a Player’s Logic

When we see a showdown, we can replay the action of the hand to determine why they played it the way they did.  This insight into their decisions made while knowing their hand strength at the time allows us to understand the logic they use as they play a hand.

This is extremely valuable for future pots played with the opponent because careful dissection now can help us make great decisions later.

The other day I did a hand reading exercise with a student from The Poker Forge.  In this hand, he faced off against a player who check-called the flop and turn with a nut flush draw (of course, we knew he had the nfd by paying attention to showdown).  My student bet 2/3 pot on the flop then ¾ pot on the turn.  When the flush hit the river, Villain donk bet for 3/4 pot and my student called.  He lost with 2p, but by paying attention to showdown, we saw that this Villain plays the nfd passively from OOP, but is willing to call really large bets.

We took a player note from this hand that read, “OOP calls w/nfd vs big bets (VALUE BET BIG ON WET AND INCOMPLETE BOARDS, BEWARE OF THE DONK BET WHEN DRAW COMPLETES)”

Now, my student has a new way to exploit this player or possibly to save money.  He only got this exploit because we did a hand reading exercise off-the-felt where he lost a huge pot on the river with 2p vs the nut flush.

Challenge

In your next 3 play sessions, for every showdown you see, run back through the action of the hand in an effort to understand the logic of the players.  Did they get super aggressive with a ten high flush draw?  Did they play the flopped nuts passively until the river?  Try to learn something and take at least one player note for every showdown you see. Now, I challenge you to take action!


2. Showdowns Help Us Spot Bet Sizing Patterns

They give us some insight into a player’s choice of bet sizing.  This is important because, whether they know it or not, the size they choose is often a subconscious reaction to the situation they’re in and they don’t realize they have patterns to their sizing.

Some players naturally bet bigger for value and smaller for bluffs.  Other players min bet with every draw as a blocking bet so they don’t have to pay too much.  Some players 3bet to 9bb’s with AA but only to 7bb’s with JJ.

Here’s a bet sizing example from a prior session:

    • 1st Hand: Villain made a ½ pot bluff cbet on the flop with AK.
    • 2nd Hand: Villain made a ½ pot bluff bet on the turn with a gs draw.
    • 3rd Hand: Villain made a ¾ pot value bet on the flop with a set
    • 4th Hand: Villain made a ¾ pot value bet when the 3rd spade hit the turn and he made a flush.

I took a player note that read: “1/2 pot = bluff, 3/4pot = value”.

The goal with taking a player note like this is so that in the future, I can get away from marginal hands when they’re betting bigger, and I can try pulling off some bluffs when they bet ½ pot.

3. Showdowns Help Us Learn the Tendencies of Different Player Types

You might face 8 opponents at a FR table, but those 8 opponents might be split among only 4 player types.  There could be 2 LAG’s, 1 TAG, 4 Fish and 1 unknown.  The unknown player is named Sam123.

Sam123 is an unknown, so how do you play against him?

Well, first you treat him like the average player.  Maybe the average player calls flop and turn and cks behind with TP.  Or maybe they check-call the flop and turn with any draw and either fold or donk bet the river when the draw completes.  Maybe the average player doesn’t 3bet JJ or worse, but they always 3bet QQ+.

You can treat an unknown player like Sam123 just like the average player, at least until you get to know him.

After 3 rounds you’ve seen him play 27 hands, and that can often be enough to see what type of player they are.

If Sam123 is a 45/4 player after 27 hands, this tells me he’s super loose and passive.  So, I’m going to treat him like a LP player.

Loose-passive players at my stakes love to see flops especially with pp’s and suited hands.  They just love to set and flush mine.  They also find it difficult to fold most draws.  So, if I’m value betting, I’ve got to go big to get maximum value from their drawing hands.  They also call down with weak TP and 2nd pair hands.  If they wake up with bets and raises either pre or post-flop, I have to be careful because they only get aggressive with made hands.

So, this is how I’ll play against Sam123 until I learn differently.

4. Showdowns Confirm a Player’s Use of Exploitative Plays

Sometimes you’ll look at a player’s HUD statistics and you’ll catch a tendency of theirs that looks like an exploit they like to use.

An example of this is seeing a high Turn Float statistic of 60%+.  In PokerTracker 4, a Float Bet is defined as the “Percentage of the time that a player bets in position on the turn after the aggressor fails to continuation bet on the turn.” So, they called a cbet IP on the flop.  Then their opponent failed to double-barrel the turn.  They pounce on this with a float bet intended to steal the pot.

It’s great when you catch an exploitative play like this.  Seeing a showdown after they make this play with Ace-high or a busted draw tells you they’re capable of it.

Now, you can use this against them next time by check-raising instead of double-barreling the turn.  Or, if it’s multi-way, you can raise them in-position as a bluff once they make the float bet.

The more showdowns you pay attention to, the more plays like this you’ll catch.  Now that you notice them, you can learn how to defend against them or use them for yourself to exploit other opponents.

5. Showdowns Help Us Spot Tells (14:40)

Whether you’re a LIVE or online player, spotting tells helps us exploit others and earn more of their chips.

For LIVE players, when you see a showdown and remember how the player reached for his chips, paused, then checked with an open palm when he turned the nut flush, that can help you in the future.  When they quickly 3bet pre-flop by haphazardly moving a full stack in with TT, but later you see them calmly slide a stack in with AA, that’ll also help in the future.

For online players, maybe you remember how your opponent timed down then over-shoved the turn with the nut flush draw, but in a different hand they quickly bet 2/3 pot on the turn with the set.

If you have a hard time remembering the action that just occurred, you’ve got to start paying more attention and try to remember their actions.  Tell yourself you can do it, then practice doing it.

Recite the action in your head like a play by play announcer: “The BB called pre-flop, then donk bet for ½ pot on the A92r flop.  On the turn he just checked and when the flush completed and on the river he quickly bet out 2/3 pot, like he liked that river card.”

Now You Can Exploit Their Range

Hand reading is the basis for all exploits against other players.

These exploits can start preflop or at any other point in the hand.

Preflop: If you assign the player a very wide raising range, you can exploit this knowledge by 3bet bluffing a lot.  If they call vs most 3bets, instead of bluffing, you can value bet really big to exploit their calling tendencies.

Post-flop: If you know they cbet the flop a lot but only double-barrel with strong hands.  On a hard to hit flop like J62r, you can call and when they check the turn, take the pot away with a bet.  It’s a hard to hit board and they’re turn honest, so bluffing here is an easy exploit to make.

Because there are so many important factors, it takes loads of practice to become a skilled hand reader.  Let’s get you started…


I challenge you to 5 hand reading exercises, one per day for the next 5 days.  Taking action and doing your own hand reading exercises is the only way you’ll learn this skill.  Now, I challenge you to get to work!


 

Support the Podcast

Christopher Urie, Phil Munos, Daniel McVicker, Albert Lee, Robert Fogel, Nick Court, Todd Doiron, Teddy Winstead, Sean Sluggett, Asher, Tomas Fagerstrom and Mantas Kurpius picked up the best poker software, PokerTracker 4.  My favorite since 2006!  In appreciation, I sent them each a copy of my Smart HUD for PT4.  Along with the growing database of hands to study, the Smart HUD is a powerful tool in anyone’s poker toolbox.

Crittenden Ewing, Joseph Bursey, Andrew Dowling, Kevin Cogan, MJ, Patrick Keaveney, Larry Lynn, Ollie Peters, Todd Caten, Peter Oaten, Krishna Mandava, Graham Rock and Normunds Pukinskis purchased the Smart HUD for PokerTracker 4.  It’s the best online poker HUD in the business, and you can get the Smart HUD by clicking here.

Leak 7: Using Preflop 2bet Ranges From Poker Coaches | Podcast #199

By Sky Matsuhashi on August 16, 2018

using poker coaches ranges

I help you plug the leak of straying outside of profitable preflop 2bet and 2bet calling ranges by utilizing ranges created by poker coaches.

In episode 198, I helped you diagnose the leak of straying outside of profitable preflop 2bet and 2bet calling ranges.

The 5 F’s of utilizing preflop 2bet ranges from poker coaches.

Find (3:00)

You can find ranges in books like ‘The Course’ by Ed Miller, ‘The Grinder’s Manual’ by Peter Clark or even my book, ‘Preflop Online Poker’.

You can also find ranges by going online. Upswing Poker, Red Chip Poker and so many other sites out there. Just Google search or YouTube search for “preflop ranges”.

Wherever you find your ranges, try to also learn how the poker coaches intend you to use them. If they say to raise to 4bb’s in EP and min-raise on the BTN, do it. They’ve played with and analyzed their ranges before you ever get to see them. So trust how they say to implement the ranges.

Every range you find that totals to the same percentage will look very similar. After all there’s only a few ways that you can build a solid 12% range for example. A 12% range from me and from another coach won’t contain hand like J4s or T9o. But, they will contain many of the same pocket pairs, broadways, Aces and suited connectors.

Here’s my EP 2betting range. This is the one I use for both FR and 6max games, and it’s for every position before the CO.

My EP range is 12% and contains 22+, ATs+, A5s-A2s, AQo+ and 76s+.

2bet Pot Preflop Ranges:

  • Preflop 2bet Ranges by Position:  http://www.smartpokerstudy.com/v1-open-raising-ranges
  • Preflop 2bet Calling Ranges by Position: https://www.smartpokerstudy.com/v1-2bet-calling-ranges

My CO range is used in that position and in the SB when it’s folded around. The BTN range is used there and in the BB, when the SB is the only limper. And there’s also an isolation range that’s used from the blinds versus one or more limpers.

When you’re using my ranges, I recommend to open-raise to 3bb’s or more. Choose the sizing that will limit it to one or two callers or steal the blinds if that’s your goal. If isolating limpers, size it to 3bb+1 per limper at a minimum. I’ve found success lately isolating at 6bb’s or more per limper. Choose the sizing that will limit the callers or get the necessary folds you’re looking for. If you’re isolating out of the blinds, make it even bigger to charge your opponents for their post-flop position.

When it comes to calling, consider the bet sizing you face and how the remaining players will respond to your call. You just sweetened the pot for others to overcall, and you’ve also sweetened the pot for 3bet bluff squeezes.

Look at your remaining players and if your call creates an easy to exploit situation for players capable of doing so, think twice before you click that button.

Critical:

Don’t follow ranges blindly

Ranges are meant to be a default play on tables and against players who you know nothing about. As soon as you start to learn your opponent’s tendencies, the bet sizing they use, their post-flop actions and anything else, that’s when you’ll start deviating from these ranges.

Speaking of coaches, are you looking for one?  I do coaching (online micro stakes, send me an email) or my friends at UltimatePokerCoaching.com have a ton of coaches they work with.  Check them out here.

Frolic (8:30)

Now that you’ve Found your ranges, it’s time to Frolic with them. You’re going to play 10,000 hands or more with the ranges.  Frolic with them in your normal games at your normal stakes. But don’t frolic frivolously. Frolic with focus. Pay attention to the table and the players you’re playing with.  Consider the EV nature of every single hand before you open raise with it, before you isolate with it or before you call with it.

If a hand falls within your range, think before you VPIP with it.  Being dealt ATs in early position is NOT a mandatory open raise. For example, if you’re at a table full of callers, then you’re likely going to multi-way to the flop with ATs. Not the worst situation be in, but it’s not a B&B situation either.  And if you’re considering open raising in EP 76s? Well, if your table is full of 3bettors, you may have to fold quite often after raising here.

As you are frolicking with focus, tag any tough hand or tough spots you get yourself into.  You’re tagging so you can review and learn from these hands in your next study session.

Lastly, you want to envision how the rest of the table will react to your play before you click that button preflop. Start planning the hand now before you even get to the flop.

Figure (10:40)

This is where you Figure out the profitability of the ranges that you found and have been frolicking with.

You can calculate the profitability as you go, but I recommend just playing at least 10,000 hands before you dive seriously into the profitability of the ranges.

As you play you’re going to be reviewing any tagged hands. But when you’re trying to look at the actual hard numbers of profitability, use figure here, you want to lease to 10K sample.  Playing 6max, you’ll be dealt almost 1,700 hands in each position. This is enough to begin analyzing for profitability (but 20,000+ is better).

You can filter through your database for 2bet hands by position and 2bet calls by position. You can also filter for specific hands or groups of hands to see how they’re working for you. For example, you can look up just 76s, or look up 76s – T9s. For any hands that seem unprofitable or tough spots that you’ve been researching, what’s making them tough or unprofitable? Is it your hand choice? Your position? The number of opponents you face? The stack sizes or the pot size on the flop? It could be more than just your hole cards that’re causing problems for you.

Record your findings and especially take note of hands and positions you find difficult to play.

Start your audiobook learning by picking up ‘Preflop Online Poker’ through Audible.com. Click the pic above to begin your free 30-day trial or to purchase the audiobook version if you’re already a member.

Fine-tune (16:05)

Now that you know which hands are unprofitable or cause you too many headaches, you can Fine-tune these ranges to make them more suitable to your style of play.

How you do the fine-tuning is completely in your hands. This is where you take the poker coaches ranges and make them your own.

For example, let’s say you really like playing KQo from the EP. That’s not in the range I gave you. Well, in order to add this hand, you need to remove others so you’re not playing too many hands. KQo is 12 combos.  You can ditch 76s, 87s and 98s. That’s 12 combos removed, making way for the 12 combos of KQo. You could instead ditch 22-33 instead if those aren’t profitable for you.

There’s a great reason for fine-tuning the ranges: it makes the ranges fit your style and the games you play. Now you have ownership over these ranges. There’s nobody to blame now but yourself if your ranges are making you unprofitable.

Now that you’ve made them yours, frolic with focus over another 10,000 or more hands.  Follow this up with another round of figuring out their profitability then fine-tune once again. Repeat these steps until you’re happy with the ranges.

Finalize (18:00)

Now that you’ve frolicked and figured and fine-tuned over and over again, it’s time to Finalize these ranges. Make them your ranges now.

Proceed from this moment with confidence in these ranges. You feel fulfilled with all the work that you’ve done.

You are free from doubt regarding the profitability of these ranges. They work for your stakes and the games you choose to play.

And you are fearless in your use of the ranges. You’ve done so much work and hopefully you’ve played 20,000 or more hands by now through this whole process.  You know these ranges inside and out and you don’t falter in your use of them.

Challenge (18:40)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Follow the 5 F’s for your preflop 2bet hand choices starting today and through the next 10,000 hands or more.

FIND a set of ranges you think look promising. Use mine from ‘Preflop Online Poker’ or look elsewhere. If you already have ranges you use, great, proceed with the next 4 F’s.

FROLIC with the ranges. Make sure you’re frolicking focus and tag every tough hand or spot you find yourself in.

FIGURE out their profitability after at least 10,000 hands.

FINE-TUNE the ranges and add or subtract hands as you deem necessary.

Frolic, figure and fine-tune some more until you’re ready to FINALIZE them. Do this when you feel fulfilled, free from doubt and fearless in using these ranges.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.

Support the Show

The incomparable Chase purchased PokerTracker 4 through my affiliate link.  He’s now primed to study his butt off and crush the competition.  Get PT4 here.

Bryan Spencer gave my latest book Preflop Online Poker a radical 5-star review.  Thanks for the kind words and I’m glad to hear your win rate is up, Bryan! If you buy a copy for yourself, please leave an honest review afterwards.  You can also buy and leave reviews for How to Study Poker Volume 1 and Volume 2!

Up Next…

In episode 200, I’ll hit you with another 3-question Q&A.

Until next time, study smart, play much and make your next session the best one yet.

Leak 7: Diagnosing the Leak of Straying Outside of 2bet Pot Ranges | Podcast #198

By Sky Matsuhashi on August 10, 2018

2bet pot podcast

I help you diagnose a costly preflop 2bet pot leak that’s killing your win rate: straying outside of profitable 2betting and 2bet calling ranges.

In episode 197, I helped you plan your weekly poker studies so you can build important skills into your game.

Introduction to the Leak (3:10)

You must make good preflop 2bet pot hand selections.

Our range of hands revolves around how we entered the pot. If we’re the 2bettor, we probably don’t have 42s or 98o or even K7o. Most of the time we’re raising with hands like pocket pairs, Broadways,  good suited aces and suited connectors. These are the kind hands that we just know are profitable.

And, if we’re calling a 2bet, we likely don’t have AA nor 72o and probably not T3s.

Our ranges also revolve around out position. The earlier your position the less hands you should play.  This just makes logical sense: the earlier your position, the more players you’ll have to deal with. Raising UTG in a FR game means you’ve got 8-9 players still to act. But raising from the BTN means you’ve only got 2 players still to act. It’s easier to steal pots with less players involved, so you can have progressively wider ranges as your position improves.

What hands are profitable?

We can utilize an equity calculating software like Flopzilla to build out profitable ranges or we can gather ranges from various poker coaches, test them out, and see which ones we prefer playing.  We can also filter in our database for our 2bet pot hands to see how historically profitable they are.

By doing this you’ll see that AA makes more money on average than any other hand. You may find that you’ve never made K7s profitable (even though you love this hand). You might even find that a popular raising hands like JTs is not a profitable open-raise in the early positions, but you can make it profitable from the BTN and SB.

Leak Symptoms (5:50)

Symptom #1: You just know that you make bad decisions when 2betting and calling 2bets preflop.

You click call or raise without considering the merits of the hand you have. You don’t think about position or how the remaining players will react.  You get yourself into many lousy post-flop spots, especially out of position. You see too many multi-way pots on the flop and you don’t often flop great hands.

Symptom #2: A negative total win rate. 

Your preflop hand choices dictate your profitability in poker. Post-flop play is a huge factor as well. But, if you’re getting to the flop with marginal hands in poor spots, you make it more likely you’ll lose money and you make poker harder on yourself.

Symptom #3: A high VPIP > 25%, and definitely > 30%.

It is possible to make a LAG style profitable, but not without lots of trial and error and study about range equities and post-flop play. If you’re currently VPIP’ing greater than 25% and you’re total win rate is negative, it’s because you’re playing too many hands preflop even though you are playing them aggressively.

Symptom #4: Lacking positional awareness.

If your VPIP increases from EP to MP to CO to the BTN, great, you’re positionally aware and play more hands with the best position. But, if your VPIP stays roughly the same along every position, like 20-25% across the board, you’re not positionally aware and you’re playing the same hands from every position regardless of how many players are yet to act.

Symptom #5: Your database proves you’re playing marginal hands.

If you look through your database and see that you play a lot of hands outside your 2bet and calling ranges, that’s proof you’re making bad hand choices.  If the worst Queen in your open raising ranges is QTs, but you see a ton of weaker suited and off-suit Queens, then you’re straying outside of your ranges too often. And if you don’t have ranges to compare your actual hands to, that’s another indication this is a leak of yours.

Symptom #6: Your Won When Saw Flop Stat is below 40%. 

Most good players have this stat at around 50% or so.  Hopefully, yours is close to 50 and anything between 40 and 50 is not too bad at all. But once you dip below 40%, that means you’re seeing the flop with too many crummy hands. Because of this, you’re not able to withstand too much aggression, and if you make it to showdown, you often have a weaker hand than your opponents.

Start your audiobook learning by picking up ‘Preflop Online Poker’ through Audible.com. Click the pic above to begin your free 30-day trial or to purchase the audiobook version if you’re already a member.

1st Hand Example: To 2bet with Q8s or not? (9:05)

These 2 hand examples are both with Q8s. Before I get to these example hands, pause the pod and filter for Q8s in your database this year.

I’ve been dealt Q8s 130 times, and I VPIP’ed 26 of these at 20% of the time. My total losses with Q8s amounts to $28.58 at a win rate of -88.5bb/100 hands. The majority of this came from losing $27.20 in one hand where I flopped trip 8’s and my opponent out-kicked me with a King.

#1: To Open Raise with Q8s in MP or not?

  • 6max table
  • The UTG player folded and you’re next to act. You’re in the MP with 4 players yet to act; CO, BTN, SB and BB.  You look down at Q8s.
  • What are the merits of opening this hand?

Let’s answer this question by looking through 3 different lenses.

Lens 1: the flopability of Q8s

Q8s flops TP+ or an open-ended straight draw or flush draw 31.0% of the time.  That’s not too bad, but are you happy flopping any TP hand with Q8s? Either way, you’ve got a weak kicker with a Queen or an 8. Nope, you’re not that happy with it. So, if we remove top pair hands, Q8s flops 2p+ and good draws only 18.6% of the time.  It’s not the kind of hand I’m happy to see the flop with.

Let’s compare this to another hand, 87s. This hand flops TP+ and good draws a little more frequently at 31.6% of the time. But, it flop 2p+ and good draws 27.5% of the time. Wow, what a difference! I’m sure that knowing this, you’d choose to open 87s instead of Q8s.

Lens 2: Q8s versus a 3bet

You’ve got 3 choices: fold, call or 4bet.

If you fold, you simply lose your open raise. That’s not so bad, but if you’ve got a lot of happy 3bettors at your table, you would’ve been better off folding the hand losing 0 chips.

If you call, you’re giving yourself a hand strength disadvantage because they’re not 3betting with worse than Q8s. Also, calling a later position 3bet will give them positional advantage, making the hand harder for you to play post-flop.

A 4bet bluff might win you’re the pot against a 3bet bluff, but Q8s doesn’t block many strong 3betting hands other than QQ and AQs.

Lens 3: Q8s versus a calling range

Q8s only has 44% equity versus a common BTN calling range of 17%. That’s not too bad, but it’s going to win less than half the time (without considering the board and post-flop actions).

Also keep in mind that you’re in the MP. If the CO calls, this will incentivize the BTN, SB and BB to overcall with the great pot odds they’re being offered. This is the worst case scenario. What equity does Q8s have against 4 calling ranges?

You’ve only got 20% equity against 4 others, with two of them in position against you in a large 15bb 2bet pot. A bigger pot means you need to put more money at risk for your value bets and your bluffs, and against 4 other players this is far removed from a B&B spot.

2nd Hand Example: To Call the 2bet with Q8s or Not? (19:25)

  • 6max table
  • It’s folded to MP who open raises to 3bb’s. The CO folds and you’re on the BTN with 2 players yet to act; SB and BB. You look down at Q8s.
  • What are the merits of calling this hand?

Let’s answer this question by looking through 3 different lenses.

Lens 1: Q8s equity against an MP open-raising range

We can assign a common MP range of 15%.

Against this range Q8s only has 38% equity. This means that given a random board and random post-flop actions this hand is only going to win 38% of the time or basically a little more than 1/3.  You are calling on the BTN with post-flop positional advantage, but I don’t that’s good enough to justify a call, especially if the open-raiser is a competent player.

Lens 2: your call incentivizes the blinds to call

The blinds are given a great price to call once you do. If they both call, you’re seeing the flop 4 ways with ultimate position. Your equity in this spot is a miserable 22%.

Great you have position, but now you’re up against 3 other players with a hand that’s only going to win one out of 5 times here. You could get ultra-aggressive and do some crazy betting and raising to take down his pot post-flop. You can hit something really good to get some crazy value.

But, those two possibilities: get crazy with aggression or hit a miracle hand hold true with any hand you play. So what really matters is how your hand hits the board and how you play it against other opponent’s ranges.  This is not a hand I want to take into a multi-way battle.

Lens 3: your call gives the blinds a great 3bet squeezing opportunity

We know how profitable 3bet squeezing can be, and your call gives a great money making opportunity to the blinds. Either one can squeeze here to 12bb’s and if you and the open raiser are folding often enough, the squeeze play is netting them 7.5bb’s for just 20 seconds of work. This is more than KK makes on average (verify this within your own database).

Calculating Costs (22:20)

It’s a simple but time-consuming process to calculate the costs of this leak. I’ll share with you how to do this for 2betting hands first.

Make sure you save all of these filters so you can recalculate these quickly in the future.

Make sure you’re going through at least 30,000 hands, preferably closer to 50,000 or more.

1. Baseline Stats: Filter for Raise First In hands and RFI/Saw Flop

Record the # of hands played, the $ won/lost and the bb/100 hands win rate. Do this by position. Also do this for RFI and Saw Flop and record those stats separately. These are the numbers you’ll compare all your other numbers to.

Hopefully you’re making some good pre and post-flop decisions and you’re profitable in both of these instances. If not, addressing this leak will help to fix the issue.

2. Filter for RFI with your positional ranges.

This is where things take time, so save each filter for quicker future filtering.

Start by filtering for Raise First In and adding to the filter your BTN open raising range. Record the necessary numbers.

Now, re-open the same filter, select the range and click the “NOT” button. This is how you do it in PT4. This new filter will show you all the hands you raised first in with that are NOT in your open raising range. Record the numbers.

Now, do this for a every position that you have an open-raising range for. Record all the numbers.

Now you can compare your RFI #’s with your RFI with range and without range numbers.

Any glaringly negative numbers will indicate where your leak is.

For example, you can see that my total RFI win rate on the BTN is 65bb/100 hands. That’s nice. It’s even higher when I RFI with my range at +79bb/100 hands. But, in the 153 hands where I RFI with hands outside my range, it’s at -29bb/100 hands.

So, I have some sort of leak when raising on the BTN with hands outside my open raising ranges. If I had folded all of these instead, I would’ve saved myself $11 in losses. It doesn’t seem like much, but a penny saved is a penny earned in poker and saving this would’ve pushed my RFI winnings up to $568 instead of $557.

Now that I know this is a leak, I can dive further into these losing hands to see why I’m losing.

3. Flip the script and run filters for 2bet calling with associated ranges by position

Run filters for Call 2bet and Call 2bet with Saw Flop. Record these numbers. These are the baseline numbers you’ll compare your range numbers against.

Next, you’ll filter for Call 2bet by position with the range you call 2bets with. Record the number of hands, the $ won/lost and the win rate again. Then, re-open the filter again and change it to NOT called with your range. Record the numbers again.

Once you’ve done all your filtering, saved the filters and recorded the numbers, you’ll compare them and look for trouble spots. Anything negative deserves to be looked into. This is how you figure out where your leaks truly lie.

It’s very likely in the blinds, but it might also be the BTN and maybe the CO because you think, “I’m calling now because I’m gonna have position on the flop.”

Now that you’ve done all of this filtering and calculated all the costs and spotted where your leaks most likely are, that’s where you can focus your leak plugging efforts.

Selecting Quantifiables (28:10)

As you work to plug this leak through a week or two of dedicated study and play surrounding it, you’ll want to keep track of these stats:

  • VPIP and PFR by position with associated win rates
  • Won When Saw Flop and your win rate
  • RFI by position, $ won/lost and win rates. Record these separately with and without your ranges.
  • Call 2bet by position, $ won/lost and win rates.  Record these separately with and without your ranges.

Challenge (28:55)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode:  Take the time this week to calculate your win rates and $ won or lost with your open-raising ranges and your 2bet calling ranges. When you filter for your profitability, make sure you also look at hands you opened with or called the 2bet that fall outside your ranges. Figure out where any leaks exist and get to work on plugging them.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.

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