A range is the full set of hands a player could have in a particular spot. Instead of guessing that your opponent has exactly AK, strong players think: “given how they played, they could have any of these 40 hands.”
Range notation
- 22+: every pocket pair from deuces to aces.
- ATs+: ace-ten suited and better (ATs, AJs, AQs, AKs).
- KQo: king-queen offsuit only.
- T9s–54s: suited connectors from ten-nine down to five-four.
There are 169 different starting hands and 1,326 two-card combinations. A pocket pair has 6 combos, a suited hand 4 and an offsuit hand 12. See all of them in the starting hands chart.
Narrowing a range
Every action removes hands. An under-the-gun raise might be 15% of hands. If that player then calls a 3-bet, remove AA and KK (they would usually 4-bet) and weak hands (they would fold). On an A-high flop, a big bet and call narrows it further. By the river, a range might be just a dozen combinations.
Why ranges beat single-hand guesses
- You rarely know exact hands, but you can know what is likely.
- Your decisions become consistent: you play your hand the way the best strategy for your whole range would.
- You can calculate real equity against everything they could hold.
Types of ranges
Ranges can be polarized, merged or capped. Practice with the range equity calculator and the starting hand chart. More terms in the poker glossary.