Think in Ranges
Do not try to put your opponent on one specific hand. Build a range: the hands they can plausibly hold, with different weights, after the cards and actions you have observed.
What you will be able to do
- Replace one-hand guessing with a set of plausible hands.
- Understand that a range assigns different likelihoods rather than treating every hand equally.
- Update a range without narrowing too aggressively after one action.
THE TRAP
“Villain has KQ.”
Putting your opponent on one specific hand makes every later decision depend on a guess you cannot verify.
THE BETTER QUESTION
“What hands could Villain have?”
A range is the hands a player can plausibly hold, together with how likely each hand is.
FOLLOW ONE HAND
Keep the action and the range in view
Do not guess the hidden cards. Watch the action, then change the weight given to every plausible hand.
Model used here: six-max, 40 BB effective, no ante. BTN opens to 2.2 BB. These are representative teaching ranges with mixed frequencies removed—not PokerChosen solved ranges.
BTN still has every starting hand before acting. BB has only posted a forced blind, so we have learned nothing about BB’s cards.
BTN range
Before acting: every hand is possible
BB range
Blind posted: every hand is possible
ONE THING TO REMEMBER
A check does not automatically mean weakness. In this spot, the BB is out of position (OOP) and normally checks to the preflop aggressor, so both strong and weak hands can check. A call still does not reveal one exact hand; each action changes the relative likelihood of several possible hands.
TRY IT
This is a 2-question test. Start when you are ready.