Thinking in ranges

Why you guess a list of hands, not one hand.

When someone bets, it's tempting to put them on one hand: "they have aces." You'll almost always be wrong, because many hands play the same way. Good players think about every hand the player could have, a range, and narrow it with each action.

In short

You can't see their cards, so guess a list of hands, not one hand.
Each player starts with a range: the hands they'd play from that seat.
Every action keeps some hands and throws others away.
In the app, the villains follow known rules, so you can always check how close you were.

Why not one hand?

Say a tight player raises before the flop. Could they have aces? Sure. They could also have kings, ace-queen, a pair of sevens and dozens of other hands. If you decide it's aces and fold, you've folded to every one of those other hands too.

A range keeps them all in view. Then you can ask a better question: how often does my hand beat that whole list?

Where a range starts

Each player's range starts with the hands they play from their seat. The Nit opens only a small group of strong hands from under the gun:

AAAKsAQsAJsATsA9sA8sA7sA6sA5sA4sA3sA2sAKoKKKQsKJsKTsK9sK8sK7sK6sK5sK4sK3sK2sAQoKQoQQQJsQTsQ9sQ8sQ7sQ6sQ5sQ4sQ3sQ2sAJoKJoQJoJJJTsJ9sJ8sJ7sJ6sJ5sJ4sJ3sJ2sAToKToQToJToTTT9sT8sT7sT6sT5sT4sT3sT2sA9oK9oQ9oJ9oT9o9998s97s96s95s94s93s92sA8oK8oQ8oJ8oT8o98o8887s86s85s84s83s82sA7oK7oQ7oJ7oT7o97o87o7776s75s74s73s72sA6oK6oQ6oJ6oT6o96o86o76o6665s64s63s62sA5oK5oQ5oJ5oT5o95o85o75o65o5554s53s52sA4oK4oQ4oJ4oT4o94o84o74o64o54o4443s42sA3oK3oQ3oJ3oT3o93o83o73o63o53o43o3332sA2oK2oQ2oJ2oT2o92o82o72o62o52o42o32o22

The Nit's open from under the gun: 144 combos, about 11% of hands.

That's their whole range at this point. Hands like 72o, J5s or 98o aren't in it, so you can cross them off before the flop is even dealt.

Each action narrows it

From there, every check, bet and call tells you something. A player who bets only strong hands just told you their hand is strong. A player who would bet any pair and then checks just told you they don't have one.

For example, the Calling Station bets only when they have top pair or better, and checks everything else. On a Q-8-3 flop, if they check, you can cross off every queen, every two pair and every set. What's left is smaller pairs and hands that missed.

Quick check

Why think in ranges instead of one hand?

Many hands play the same way, so one guess is usually wrong
Ranges matter only to professionals
Because players always show their cards

Show the answer

Many hands play the same way, so one guess is usually wrong. Many different hands take the same action. Keep them all in view and narrow them as the hand goes on.

How the app helps

Real players don't follow fixed rules, so at a real table you never find out exactly what their range was. The villains in the app do follow rules, so after each read the app shows you their true range next to yours. That's how you get better at it fast.

Try it

When a villain bets, don't name one hand. Ask what they started with, then which of those hands would bet here. For more on counting the hands in a range, read Ranges and combos. One last basic before you start: how to tell whether a call is worth it.