I know we can't reach an exact range, but I'm more looking for how you play out of the blinds with 10-20 BB's and how often you are looking to reship. When i watch high stakes MTT's like the 109r it seems 50% of the hands are 3-bet in the middle and late stages and people aren't obviously doing it with the top of their range.

Leave Behind Your 'Fixed' Starting Hand Selections –
By Adjusting To These Pre-Flop Poker Tournament Situations

Our 3-betting range is a strong value-oriented game. You will notice that as our opponents open in later positions, we can 3-bet wider ranges for value, especially against BTN and SB opens. We do have a 3-bet bluffing range composed of small suited aces, 22-44 and a few combos of suited connectors. The above hand ranges are loosely based on Harrington on Hold’em Vol 1 for a 10-handed full-ring table. Again, these ranges are a conservative approach so feel free to adjust according to your current skillset. As you become more comfortable with your postflop game, you can begin opening up your range slightly in each position. Whether you are new to poker or just looking for pre-flop range advice on which hands to play in certain situations, you have come to the right place. I have been playing and winning at poker since 2008 and have put together some charts for you. The chart will work well both online and live, in cash games and tournaments.

After a reasonably successful weekend at the poker tournament tables I noticed a mistake coming up again and again from my less experienced opponents. Thinking through what was happening I came to the conclusion that many players were mixing up the idea 'playable hands' by failing to take into account pre-flop tournament situations which make their hands, well, unplayable!

This article is aimed at beginning tournament players. It will show you why your starting hand selections need to adjust depending on the betting of your opponents and stack sizes in play. In this article I will focus on those times you need to tighten up – there are plenty of articles in the main poker tournaments section here at SNG Planet which cover good times for making moves.

I start with multi-way pots and times you see a raise and re-raise ahead. Then cover situations where the betting is 'open' or 'closed' and how this affects starting hands. Finally stack sizes, and how many times the big blind you or your opponents currently have are factored in.

Pre-Flop Poker Tournament Strategy – Betting Ahead And Your Starting Hands

Here is a real example from this weekend from the always-fishy (easy!) Titan Poker tables. There was a raise from early position, a mid-position player bet all-in and a 3rd player called… the original raiser then also called and we had a 3-way all-in before the flop. I forget the exact stacks, they were shallow though not yet critically small… maybe 20x the big blind.

The 'overcaller' (3rd player in line) in this hand had a pair of 7's. Under many circumstances a playable hand in a tournament – here is why he made a mistake in this situation.

Against the original raiser, his pair of 7's was not in bad shape. Even if we give an early position raiser a reasonably conservative range of 55+ A10o+ and KQo+ those 7's, combined with having position after the flop, would be playable.

Once the all-in comes from the 2nd player, we have to think about the kind of hands which he might do this with after he considers that the first raiser has a fairly narrow range. We also need to consider that he might be making a move.

To start with we look at the legitimate hands:

Aces and Kings probably raise a little less here – holders of these hands do not like to chase away action! Ace-King, Ace-Queen, Queens, Jacks and Tens all fit the bill, and depending on the tendency of the player sometimes Nines, possibly Eights, Ace-Jack Suited or King-Queen Suited too. I will grab Pokerstove and run some calculations of Sevens against this kind of range.

As you can see, the Sevens have 40% equity at best – and we have not yet even accounted for the hand which the original raise might call with.

Having seen an all-in an a call of that all-in we have to assume that a rational player will be pretty tight here. He can not think that hands in the bottom part of his range (like 88 / A-10) are good any more… In my experience players will lay down even 10's here – so we will give him JJ+, AKo+ as an overcalling range.

If the call comes then here is what happens to the equity of the 7's!

Tableau Range Poker Mtt Charts

Basically, they are crushed… If the overcall by the original raiser comes half the time then we can work out the overall equity like this:

• 50% of the time we have 40% equity (at best!) and will double-up if we win.
• 50% of the time we have 25% equity (at best!) and will triple-up if we win.

Finally for this section, a sobering thought… the ‘all-in’ 2nd player might have been ‘bluffing’ – yet even if he was there is a very strong possibility that he is doing this with 2 overcards to our sevens… and some players will actually push their aces here too – trying to look weak.

The take away is this: ‘Playability’ of your hand is not based on some inherent strength, it is based on how that hand does against the types of hands your opponents might play in different situations… You do not need to be scientific about it (yet!), what you need to do is think about spots in the game where an opponent has a better than average hand and adjust your own strength requirements based on this.

Pre-Flop Poker Tournament Strategy – Open And Closed Betting

Tableau Range Poker Mtt Results

Here is second pre-flop mistake I regularly see at the tables, this time when stacks are a little 'deeper' in terms of number of big blinds. The typical scenario is this: One player raises a small amount, a second player re-raises and a 3rd or 4th or 5th player flat-calls the re-raise… next the original raiser puts in another re-raise (often a big one)… forcing those players who cold-called into a tough decision!

If we think about the kind of hands players would cold-call the original re-raise with then we can see that putting in the 4th raise by the original raiser makes a lot of sense. Small pairs, suited aces, weak ace high hands with medium 'kickers', 2 picture card hands and so on are exactly the hands which will flat the re-raise… A pair of aces or kings might be slowplaying, however these hands fare best when all-in pre-flop against a single opponent – so they are far more likely to be betting again.

Key to this mistake is that the betting is open, if the flat calls had been from just one raise then the players would have known that only the blinds had to act… a much safer situation in which to call with those mid-strength hands. When the re-raise came in there were two big problems with making such a call:

• The re-raise indicated strength, meaning those mid-strength hands were in far worse shape than if they were against a single raiser.
• The betting was open, the original raise had already shown some strength by raising in early position… there was a real danger that a re-raise would make those cold-caller fold.

Your take away: When you are considering calling a bet pre-flop with a mid-strength hand, assess whether the betting is open or closed. Be more inclined to fold easily dominated hands like ace-x when the betting is open – small pairs are often playable as long as you have deep enough stacks to be paid off with a very big pot those times you hit a hidden set of trips.

Pre-Flop Poker Tournament Strategy – Stack Sizes And Starting Hand Selections

Raises and Re-Raises ahead, open or closed betting – and now a 3rd factor which has a big influence on your starting hand selection pre-flop – stack sizes!

As we go through the tournament stack sizes relative to the blinds shift dramatically. Starting off with 100+ big blinds, you will often find yourself in situations where either you or any opponent have 10 or 15 blind stacks (or sometime less!). Making for big adjustments in how you play. I have covered general poker tournament strategy for different stack sizes in a dedicated article here – for this 'Basics' article I will list the different ways your starting hand selection is affected.

All-In Or Fold: At the 12 Big blinds mark you are no longer able to play post flop, your initial bet and then continuation bet would make you 'mathematically' compelled to call a re-raise – since you would be getting huge pot-odds on the last call. At this point you should usually go all-in or fold… forget raising pre-flop!

Effective Stack Sizes Matter: If you have 100 times the blinds and your only opponent only has 10 times the blind then you need to play a '10 times the blind strategy'… since this is all you can win or lose the 'effective' stack in play is the smaller one – make sure you adjust your starting hands accordingly.

Resteal Stacks: At around 15 times the big blind you will find yourself in a situation where a raise pre-flop which you end up folding would put you in the 12 times the blind danger-zone. Stacks between 15 and 20 times the big blind can be used as weapons! Instead of raising with them, use them for all-in re-raises, especially against opponents who raise a lot before the flop. You will find this is an effective (if risky!) way of gaining chips.

Implied Odds: When you play small pairs, suited aces or suited connectors then you are trying to hit a monster hand on the flop and win a big pot – since these hands will not win often enough unimproved to justify playing them. Be careful that you opponents have enough chips to pay you off + a few more for insurance against those times you lose even when you do hit. This is 12 times your bet for pairs and up to 20 times for suited aces and suited connectors.

Stack size awareness is a vital component of tournament strategy once you master the basics… Your take-away is this: Be aware of not only your own stack, but those of your opponents – ask yourself how their stack size is influencing their decisions… your game will improve very quickly!

Pre-Flop Poker Tournament Strategy – Choosing The Right Games For Bigger Profits!

When it comes to the number of ‘recreational players’ compared to serious players and pro-grinders, there are huge differences between the different poker sites. For newer readers I strongly recommend Betfair Poker, this big brand are part of the cool OnGame network – and the 1000’s of sports fans crossing over into the poker room mean that the games are very easy to beat. You get a choice of 5 great welcome bonuses too (hint, the smaller ones clear much faster!!).

More Articles For Poker Beginners:

I didn’t consider implementing poker ranges in my first few years of playing poker. One of the problems I used to experience at the tables was what to do with hands that weren’t so obviously strong (AA, AK – raise, raise, raise!) or so obviously weak (27o, J4o – ditch ‘em faster than green grass through a goose). Hands like K9o and 86s always gave me pause when it was folded to me. “Should I open… limp… or just fold?” I’d have to ask myself these questions all the time.

The answer to this problem was to create my own poker ranges. Bringing my off-the-felt analysis to on-the-felt play simplifies the game and ensures I’m making good opening hand decisions.

Finding ranges made by others online can help as a start, but they need to be tweaked and analyzed to fit your games and stakes. You can incorporate your own play style and the population tendencies at your stakes, with your own experiences and hand histories to help guide you in creating them.

The Poker Ranges You’ll Need

Here are the ranges that you’ll have to devise for the current stakes and games you play:

• Opening Ranges – Know what hands you’ll open in various positions (cash and MTT/SNG) as well as at different levels of the MTT/SNG (Early Stages, Mid-Stages, Late Stages).
• 3betting Ranges – You need to know which opponents you’ll 3bet and what you’ll 3bet with, both for value and as semi-bluffs.
• 4betting and 3bet Defending Ranges – Same considerations as your 3bet range.

The Importance of Building Ranges

There are three main reasons why we’d want to build ranges:

1. Simplification – by creating ranges that we drill into our heads, we’ve simplified our game. We’ve put these common spots into our unconscious competence, so we can act without thinking. We’re letting our subconscious mind direct our plays, so our conscious mind has more resources to devote to analyzing more difficult, less common situations. This has the added benefit of allowing for more multi-tabling, which in turn will increase your hourly.
2. Comfort – with your subconscious making decisions for you, you’ll be more comfortable and feel less stress at the tables. You’ll be more likely to avoid tilt and can continue playing longer sessions. Stress at the tables can lead to poor decisions, and making your subconscious work for you will be a great stress reliever.
3. Bringing off-the-felt analysis to on-the-felt play – by spending time off-the-felt, creating a thoughtful range that takes into account your position, blind structure and opponent type, you’ll be able to bring your stress-free analysis of the game onto the felt. How many times have you reviewed a hand history and thought, ‘Why did I fold TT? It’s obvious he’s opening 30%+, and TT dominates him!’ When you’re working on your game off-the-felt, you’re doing so without the stress of in-game play, which allows for more clear and level headed thought. You can spot patterns and weaknesses easier off the felt. Creating your ranges then using them in-game is a way to bring your level-headed, stress-free thoughts from off-the-felt analysis to on-the-felt play.

How to Create Your Poker Ranges

Start by building your own hand table in Excel (or just download this one that I built) like the following example (6-max Mid-level Open Ranges of a micro stakes SNG):

Different colors divide ranges into sub-ranges. For example with Opening Ranges:

• Use one color for your default opening range (dark blue in the example above)
• Utilize another color (green) for an expanded range when there are fish in the blinds
• Use another color (yellow) for an even more expanded range when there are nits in the blinds
• You can use as many colors as you want to differentiate ranges. You can even toss in some bluffs vs regs (red) if you feel it necessary.

Don’t try to memorize the ranges you build. Constant use will help to naturally ingrain them in your Unconscious Competence. Just print, laminate and have at the ready as you play online, and eventually you’ll end up memorizing them (or make flash cards to ensure they get in that noggin quicker).

Consider your opponent’s ranges

When creating your Opening Ranges, you’ll have to have a good idea of what your opponents will likely call or re-raise with. For 3betting Ranges, you’ll have to be aware of what your opponents are likely opening with and what they’ll continue with. And for your 4betting and 3bet Defending Ranges, you’ll have to have a good sense of what your opponents 3bet with and what they’re likely to continue in the hand with. This exercise takes plenty of experience at your stakes. You’ll want to devote a week to creating your ranges, putting them to the test in your sessions and assessing the effectiveness of your ranges through hand history reviews. Then go back and adjust your ranges based on what you’ve found.

Using well thought out, strategic ranges like this won’t turn you into a robot; it will enable you to have an effective game plan to use vs. your opponent’s ranges. You will be bringing your off-the-felt intellect, problem solving skills and controlled emotions to your on-the-felt play.

How do I know my ranges are good?

You can do a few different things to test the precision of your ranges at your stakes and game type:

1. Use Flopzilla

This program gauges the effectiveness of each hand in your range vs. an expected opponent’s range. For example, how well does ATs on the BTN fair vs. a BB cold call range of 30%? “Oh, it has 62% equity? Yep, it’s an open.”

2. Review the Profitability of Specific Hands

Don’t know if A9s should be in your Cut-off open range? Run a filter in your poker tracking software for this hand (I use PokerTracker 4), and specifically when you Raised First-In with it in the CO. Review at least 20 hands in your history and ask yourself if this is an overall profitable hand to open with. Did you lose or win an unexpected amount with it? Do you often wind up with a kicker issue when called, or terrible equity when you call an opponent’s 3bet? Do the players at your stakes call with hands much weaker, allowing you to extract value from them post-flop?

3. Get Help from a Study Group or Forum

Post your ranges in the appropriate threads and solicit feedback. This is a more subjective way to check your ranges, but it could give you insights into aspects of your range that you never considered.

4. Get Feedback on Your Poker Ranges

Tableau Range Poker Mtt Software

Your coach (or respected friends) will have plenty of thoughts on how your ranges would fare vs. your opponents, so use his feedback to adjust your ranges, test them on-the-felt, and make adjustments as necessary.

After going through these four modes of feedback, put them into play. Once you’re confident in your ranges, laminate them and use them all the time. *Remember: When you move up in stakes, move to a new site or game format you’ll need to adjust your ranges.

Tableau Range Poker Mtt Table

It’s a time consuming process if you do it correctly, but well worth it. Try to enjoy the process, because as your skills increase and you progress through the levels, you’ll be revising your ranges over and over to account for the population tendencies of your new stakes. I hope this first time creating ranges leads to two, three, four, even five or more times for you!

Tableau Range Poker Mtt Game

Please share with me your own poker ranges by emailing them to sky@smartpokerstudy.com. I’d love to review them for you and offer you some feedback.

Until next time, study smart, play hard and make your next session the best one yet!

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