Hi All,

I'm getting back into poker after a bit of a break. Preflop ranges are a bit of a boring topic, but I'm starting to study using solvers and it's pretty obvious that using overly simplistic ranges that treat all hands as 100% raises/calls/folds give misleading results for postflop play. This is particularly true in 3bet+ pots where ranges become narrow.

I know you can buy expensive software and investigate preflop ranges extensively if you have the required computing power, but all I want are some reasonably solid preflop ranges for 100bb 6max that are suitable for studying postflop play with solvers. Is there anywhere I can find some, or would anyone be kind enough to share theirs with me?

For instance, here's an example of an optimal BB defending range vs a 2.5x BTN open that I saw posted in another thread:

I'd really like to have a complete set of preflop ranges like this!

Thanks!

You could start with the PokerSnowie Preflop Advisor ranges. They're free.

Or you can pony up some cash for one of the Simple Postflop preflop solutions packs, in particular the BB vs IP Raiser 6 max.

I am also just getting back into poker after a long hiatus and starting to explore the various hand ranking and AI tools out there. I have a question about PokerSnowie's preflop advisor ranges.

I ran the suggested actions for facing a range under two scenarios:
1) UTG+1 raises, hero is in dealer position
2) Dealer raises, hero is in big blind position

The calling range under the second scenario is MUCH wider / larger than the first, which looks very narrow to me. Is this to be expected? In the big bind position we've already put in one big blind so I understand that the pot odds are better. But you will be playing out of position.

In general the range in #1 is in general far narrower than I would have guessed off the top of my head. It says to fold AJo in dealer position if someone raises before you. I'm pretty sure I ran it correctly. Am I missing something here or is this actually correct?

thx

The BTN opens much wider than UTG does, so this means the BB can call much more often vs a BTN open than an UTG open, because he'll literally have more equity against the range he's facing.
e.g. The "worst" hand someone might open UTG could be JTs or ATo or 66. Hands like A7o don't do well if those are the worst hands they are up against, so should usually be folded in the BB vs an UTG open. But the BTN is opening hands like T9o and 76s, so hands like A7o, QT and K7s are often ahead and can defend vs a late position steal.

AJo doesn't play very well against an UTG opener's range (it only dominates AT, but is crushed by AQ+ and JJ+), so it's usually folded in position, or used as a 3-bet bluff. It's also incapable of continuing if you flat on the button and one of the blinds squeezes. In today's aggressive games, you can't really do much flatting in position.

Thanks for the reply. This all makes sense; I am just surprised at the degree to which a raise ahead of you narrows your optimal calling range when sitting on the button in best position.

The calling charts from pokerSnowie certainly support your statement, "you can't really do much flatting in position". You did mention bluffs though. Do those pokerSnowie charts incorporate bluffs in any way? Is there another chart for "optimal bluffing" frequency or amount or hand range - something like that? Or does it already consider that and when it says fold AJo it literally means always fold it and don't even bluff with it.

Yes, Snowie bluffs pre-flop. If you pick a situation like UTG opening for 3x and hero is on the button, it will recommend folding AJo, but raising (as a bluff) with hands like A5s and 65s and other non-premium hands.

I've looked at the Snowie ranges, and although some of them look OK I'm not convinced by all of them. I think the ranges given by solvers are quite different and probably better.

I think the Simple Postflop solutions would be the best option, but I'm reluctant to spend that much and I don't really care if the ranges are perfect or not - I just want ranges that are good enough for postflop analysis. I'll probably just end up making my own...

I really like Doug's preflop ranges on upswing poker, they're a pretty good general guidline, they're similar to Pokersnowie's ranges but slightly tweaked... I'm not a big fan of Pokersnowie's facing a 3b scenario's to me it looks way off, but I could be wrong... I guess it's because it's based around a 100bb stack so I suppose I'm not used to seeing such loose calls.

The BB is the only position where this really works because it's a HU game and the only assumption you need to make is what the opener's range is. For any other position it turns into a 3+ player game and you need to start making bigger and bigger assumptions and simplifications. I know there are packs and stuff for "GTO" BU ranges, but take those with a very big grain of salt.

If you just want opening ranges, the Upswing ones will get the job done. For 3betting and calling you're not going to find any strong answers and there's wildly different approaches from player to player.

Yeah, I agree with everything you've said. Opening ranges are easy enough to come up - I was hoping to see some solid 3bet+ ranges. This is obviously highly strategy dependent though (e.g. you could always 3bet or fold vs a raise, or you could have a wide cold call range).

Guess I'll just have to make some up myself.

For now, there are still some domains of poker that require thinking in order to get the proper answer. But don't worry, it won't be long.