【Pre-flop】An In-depth Guide to Understanding Hand Range Charts in Pre-flop Poker!!
Table of Contents
Overview of Hand Range Charts
What are Hand Range Charts
Hand range charts are tables that summarize at a glance what action to take with your hand pre-flop.In poker, you are initially dealt two cards (the hand) and decide whether to participate or not before the board is revealed (pre-flop). If you choose to participate, you need to decide whether to call or raise.
For example, with a very strong hand like AA, you would join in with a raise, while with a weak hand like 72 off, you would fold.
How to Read Hand Range Charts
Hand
Each square in the table represents a hand. For example, in the figure, the brightened area represents the AA hand.
Hands are categorized and displayed in the following three ways:
- Suited Hands where both cards are of the same suit are represented in the upper right part of the hand range chart image and marked with 's' (suited).
- Offsuit Hands where the two cards are of different suits are shown in the lower left part of the hand range chart, marked with 'o' (offsuit).
Hand Actions
Many hand range charts express actions in the following colors:
Red: Raise
Green: Call
Blue: Fold
Grey: Hands that have already folded
Red: Raise
Green: Call
Blue: Fold
Grey: Hands that have already folded
Frequency of Hand Actions
The width of the color represents the frequency of that action.
In the hand range chart in the image, A4s indicates a 50% frequency to call and 50% frequency to raise.
In the hand range chart in the image, A4s indicates a 50% frequency to call and 50% frequency to raise.
For those who want to actually try out hand range charts, NTPoker is recommended.
You can check hand range charts for free.
NTPoker
The Importance of Hand Range Charts
There's always a significant difference in earnings between those who handle which hands to play and how to play them haphazardly and those who are well-trained. It can be said to be the very foundation of poker and should never be neglected.The reasons why it is important to learn pre-flop are as follows:
Number of Experiences
Since poker always starts with the pre-flop, then progresses to the flop, turn, and river, naturally, the most number of experiences will be pre-flop. Therefore, perfecting the most experienced pre-flop has a greater impact on long-term earnings than any other element.Difficult to Notice Improvement Points
In pre-flop, it's hard to find areas for improvement on your own. For example, if you fold a hand you should have participated in, you won't realize it was a negative expected value play unless you reflect on it separately later.This is different from losing a big pot, as you lose expected value without realizing it. Therefore, it's hard to 'learn as you go' and conscious study becomes necessary.
Guessing Ranges
In poker, you constantly play while guessing the possible hand range of your opponent.Without knowledge of hand ranges, it becomes difficult to effectively guess your opponent's hand range. On the other hand, with knowledge of hand ranges, you can gauge your opponent's hand range and even their level.
Types of Hand Ranges
Hand ranges are charts that show at a glance the action to take pre-flop.Hand ranges vary depending on the conditions of the poker game, and there are many types.
Typical conditions are as follows:
Game format (Cash Game, Tournament) Number of players (Heads-Up, 6Max, 9Max) Position (SB, BB, UTG, HJ, CO, BTN) Chip amount Situation (Open, 3Bet, 4Bet) Even for a standard 6Max, 100BB cash game, there are over 30 ranges depending on the combination of position and situation.
Examples of Conditions
- Game format: Cash Game
- Number of players: 6Max
- Your position: HJ
- Chip amount: Starting with 100bb
- Situation: You are being 3Bet by the BTN
![[ Thorough Explanation ] Explains the key points to remember about hand ranges!](/static/7373e1334c58191214b770cff5602bea/21c55/handrange_memorize_header.webp)
NTPoker
Summary
Hand ranges are very important for moving beyond beginner level and for improving mid to long-term earnings. The first step is to diligently train pre-flop, which is actually the quickest shortcut to improving at poker.