[A Beginner's Guide to Poker] What is poker pre-flop? It is actually very important!

What is Preflop?

Preflop refers to the stage in a poker game where two cards are dealt, and the community cards are not yet revealed.

During preflop, you decide the optimal action based only on the two cards you’ve been dealt. The considerations here are, “Should I play with these two cards?” and “If I’m playing, how should I join the game (call or raise)?”

In other words, deciding ”what hands to call, raise, or fold with” is crucial. Beginners in poker often either play with any hand or play too conservatively.

So, what kind of hands should you play with?
This largely depends on your and your opponent’s position.
For example, A4o might be a fold from UTG but a raise from BTN because it’s easier to play from a more advantageous position.

Then, how should you decide your action?
This is where the Preflop Range Chart comes in.

About Preflop Range Charts

Preflop range charts show you ”what actions to take from which positions.” It’s quite a challenge to memorize them all, but initially, play while referring to these charts.

※A narrower range is adopted here for beginners.

How to Use Preflop Range Charts

What if it's Your Turn to Fold?

If your hand is stronger than the color of your position, participate with a raise.
For example, if you are CO, play all hands above light yellow with a raise.
If you are UTG, play with yellow-green, green, and red with a raise. A common raise amount is 2.5 to 3 times the BB. For SB, if no raise comes to you, raise with the same hands as BTN.

When an Opponent Raises

Check the position of the person who raised and compare it with your hand and their position.

Generally, if your hand is one level above the raiser’s position, call; if it’s two or more levels above, raise; if it’s the same or below, fold. So, a raise from UTG often leads to a fold. The raise amount here is generally 3 to 4 times the original raise.
Now, here’s a problem. There are three problems in total. Refer to the chart above and think about them.

Problem 1

Imagine you are in the BTN position. HJ raises to 600, and it’s your turn to act. You have ♠7 ♦7. What action should you take (call, raise, fold)?

Call.
According to the chart above, ♠7 ♦7 is in light green, one level above HJ’s yellow, so a call seems good.
Let’s move to the next problem.

Problem 2

This time, imagine you are in CO. HJ raises to 600, and it’s your turn to act. You have ♠J♠7. What action should you take (call, raise, fold)?

Fold.
According to the chart, ♠J♠7 is in white, two levels below HJ’s yellow, so a fold seems good.
Here’s the last problem.

Problem 3

Now, imagine you are in HJ. UTG raises to 600, and it’s your turn to act. You have ♠A ♣K. What action should you take (call, raise, fold)?

Raise.
According to the chart, ♠A ♣K is a very strong hand, good for a raise from any position.
In this case, raise to 3 times the UTG’s bet of 600, which is 1800.

Exceptional Patterns

The above does not apply if you are in SB or BB. Regardless of the opponent’s position, do not generally call from SB. The reason is that the position is disadvantageous, as you always have to act first.

SB should raise with dark green or stronger hands, and fold with anything else.
BB should call with light grey or stronger, and raise with dark green or stronger. This allows for quite a few calls.
Now, here are the problems for exceptional patterns. There are two problems in total. Refer to the chart above and think about them.

Problem 1

Imagine you are in SB. UTG raises to 600, and it’s your turn to act. You have ❤5 ♣5. What action should you take (call, raise, fold)?

Fold.
Generally, do not call from SB.
According to the chart, ❤5 ♣5 is an HJ hand and a pair, a strong hand you want to play, but not dark green or above, so a fold seems good.

Problem 2

Imagine you are in BB. BTN raises to 600, and it’s your turn to act. You have ♣7 ♣5. What action should you take (call, raise, fold)?

Call.
BB can call with light grey or stronger, so looking at the chart, ♣7 ♣5 is light grey and can be called.

Summary

By memorizing the preflop range chart, you can minimize play mistakes. Once you can play with this hand range, aim to learn a more advanced hand range.