If you’re looking to take your poker game to the next level, you’ve probably heard of a magical term called ranges. All pros use ranges to figure out what their opponents could have based on how they’re betting. But to mere mortals, ranges can be complex and crazy things that seem impossible to comprehend.

So, we’re going to break ranges down to try and help you master this amazing tool so you can take your poker game to the next level and win!

Let’s start at the very beginning.

What is a Poker Range?

First up we’re going to take you right back to the beginning of poker ranges. Simply put, a poker range is all the possible cards your opponent could have. Now, there are 78 off suit hands, 78 suited hands and 13 hands that are pairs that are possible to be dealt in a single game. That equates to a possible 168 different hands your opponent can have – 168 because you have the other one. Now, once you’ve observed a player’s behavior and betting style you can narrow down their possible hands to around 15% of those 168 hands – that’s about 25 hands they could have.

How to Create a Range for a Player

When you’re creating a range for a player, observe how they play hands very closely. Once you’ve seen a few hands, you will quickly be able to identify when they raise under the gun (UTG) and what this usually leads them to having at the end of a round. Take a mental note of what they play with, then work this into a range for this player. Good players will only raise UTG with around the top 15-20% of hands, so keep this in mind when you’re creating a range for a player.

Do Ranges Actually Work?

Learning how to make a range in game for a player isn’t something that you can do overnight, it takes months and months of practice to perfect. If you can nail the technique down, you can seriously improve your chances of nailing other players and knowing exactly what cards they have. We’ve seen top players like Daniel Ngreanu appear to be psychic, knowing exactly what cards his opponents have. This is exactly how ranges can help you win. So, put in the time and you too can be a pro.

Ranges might be tricky to learn, but they’re well worth putting in the effort to learn. They will take your poker game to the next level and help you take home more pots than ever before!