All Your Poker News

Out of all the strategy concepts we hear discussed in poker, putting an opponent on a range has to rank right up there at the top.  After all, being able to determine a specific range of cards your opponent could have is crucial to understanding what cards they hold.  With that in mind, here is a look at how to put your opponents on a range and figure out how your hand stacks up.

Define “Range”

The first step in being able to put your opponents on a range is to clarify the whole meaning of range to yourself.  When you put an opponent within a specific range of cards, you’re merely identifying certain card values that they could have.  For instance, if your opponent is betting heavily pre-flop, you can probably assume that their range is A-A to J-J, A-K.  With this being the case, you’ll need to have cards in this range to even consider calling.

Range Example

Let’s assume that you’re holding pocket jacks on a board of A-2-J-7-5 with no flush possibilities on the board.  In this case, you’d be sitting pretty good since you are holding pocket jacks.  However, an opponent is betting heavily which indicates that they either have top pair or A-A.  Your trips jacks will no doubt hold up against top pair, but they will most certainly lose to trips aces. 

In either case, you should definitely make the call.  There are 3 possible combinations which could make A-A left in the deck while there are 12 possible combinations that could make A-K in the deck.  With 15 possible combinations and 12 combos that will leave you a winner, simply divide 12 by 15 to find your answer.  You are an 80% favorite in this instance after doing the math.