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Arsenal24_7's picture
Preflop hand selection/adjustments

Hi all,
 
I'm a long time browser, but recentely signed up to the forum. 
 
I'm just starting to get back into poker, after a while off after Black Friday. I've previously played a lot of FR cash, but those games i've found are far too nitty atm. I'm not a complete poker novice by any stretch of the imagination, but my knowledge of HUSNGs is nowhere near as strong as my understanding of FR. 
I know it is not advised to have a set series of hands, or a hand chart, but i would really appreciate some sort of help with how i can alter my preflop range in adjustment to certain player types/tendencies.
For example:
VS a villian who folds BB a lot - obviously raise a wider range. Any hands better than others?
VS a villian who calls in the BB a lot (after our open) - Would we open more value hands, like say hands which can flop top pair a lot - say K8, etc?
VS a villian who 3bets a lot from BB? - I'm not sure what we should do here? Raise a tighter range? I know that all of the above are influenced by post flop tendencies also.
 
And in the BB, how about villians who raise a lot? - 3bet more for value, until they adjust? Villians who limp a lot? - check back your garbage, and increase value raising range? And also, how about villians who call 3Bets too much?
 
I know there are a lot of scenarios there, by any help would be greatly appreciated.

batman's picture
If villain folds >50% to your

If villain folds >50% to your min raises then open any 2
If villain calls a lot, yes open tighter (but not too tight - if villain is fit or fold on the flop you can open any 2 and take it down with a cbet), but remember you have position so you still want to play a lot of hands.
If villain 3bets a lot raise a little tighter, expand your call 3bet range. You can also try 4bet bluffs (and for value) if villain folds to 4bets a lot. It is important to work out if villian 3bets wide (but mostly strong) or polarised as this will affect your ranges. Also start limping middling hands that flop well. If they attck your limps start adding strong hands to trap.
 
From bb:
If villain is loose try adding some 3bet bluffs. If they fold a lot keep doing it. Also 3bet value - hopefully they 4bet when you have a decent hand :)

Arsenal24_7's picture
Brilliant... thank you very

Brilliant... thank you very much.
 
Also, another thing which I would imagine is very important is altering your raising and calling ranges depending on effective stacks.
 
Can anyone provide any information on - or point me in the direction of - how one should alter ranges as the amount of big blinds reduces?
 
Thanks again.

Barrin's picture
What speed are you playing?

What speed are you playing?

Hi.

Arsenal24_7's picture
sorry.. should have wrote

sorry.. should have wrote that. i am playing the turbo speed on stars. thanks.

Arsenal24_7's picture
As well as my above question,

As well as my above question, could I ask... is this an okay range to start out?

Over 40 BB 
 
Button opening range
 
vs unknown...
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 93s+, 84s+, 74s+, 64s+, 54s, A2o+, K2o+, Q2o+, J2o+, T6o+, 96o+, 86o+, 76o
 
vs loose BB defender…
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T3s+, 95s+, 85s+, 74s+, 64s+, 54s, A2o+, K2o+, Q2o+, J7o+, T7o+, 97o+, 87o, 76o
 
vs tight BB defender…
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 92s+, 82s+, 72s+, 62s+, 52s+, 42s+, 32s, A2o+, K2o+, Q2o+, J2o+, T5o+, 95o+, 85o+, 75o+, 65o, 54o
 
BB defending range (2 - 2.5x raise)
 
vs unknown...
22+, A2s+, K7s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T9s, 98s, 87s, A7o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o, 98o
 
vs wide range opener...
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q8s+, J7s+, T7s+, 98s, A2o+, K8o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o
 
vs tight opener...
22+, A2s+, K7s+, Q8s+, J9s+, T9s, A9o+, K7o+, QTo+, JTo

Barrin's picture
You really should lay the

You really should lay the groundwork by makeing one default strategy and then adjust from that point on. Adjusting according to the information if a player is tight or not, can be very dangerous. That is because of the different meaning. The player is tight if he calls 20% only but he is also tight if he calls 5% only. You cannot possibly think about useing the same range against those two players, yeah? Anyways...I would recommend that you do not open hands like Q2o-Q5o. The reasons you play Q2s+ is because of the high flush you can hit (3rd nut flush). Q2-Q5o is very questionable versus an unknown player.
Do you have any membership here? If so, check out the "thinking like a winner" part 1 to 5. It has some basic game theory stuff like as; how to put someone on a range, but the game theory stuff and the games he reviews are all turbo speed on pokerstars.

Hi.

Arsenal24_7's picture
Cheers...   Thanks for your

Cheers...
 
Thanks for your reply. What sort of percentage would you suggest opening, 40BB+ deep vs an unknown? If we are excluding hands like Q2-5, we are only opening around 60%. Is this not too tight, with stacks this deep? I understand the value of the Qxs hands, but how low kicker would you advise? Q6+/J6+?
I take on board what you are saying with regard to a tight player, and how 'tight' villain actually is. Could you recommend any sort of %'s... like say for against a 20% caller, what sort of open raise percentage is ideal? 
 
I will check out those videos.. thanks for the recommendation.
 
And again, thanks very much for your reply. Your comments are appreciated.

Barrin's picture
It is no problem to open

It is no problem to open raise 50 to 60% vs unknown - if you asume that the unknown opponent is tight >40bb.

Hi.