After my session review post yesterday, I've been thinking a lot about my opening strategy in live 1-2. One particular spot I'm unsure about is how to change CO and BTN ranges based on the number of limpers.

I wrote down my current strategy and several questions here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

I'd love any input!

Looks fine and youd probably beat the game for a decent clip assuming your competent postflop.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this! I'm glad to hear I'm not totally off.

Pretty solid. It's not often that you see 1/2 players adjusting ranges by position at all, much less based on table reads and expected limpers, etc.

I think your EP opening/3-bet is a little too skewed towards suited Ax, so be careful there.

Your range out of the SB looks too loose. Other then that it looks like a reasonable starting point. Out of the SB and BB stealing is entirely situational. It depends heavily on how much FE you have on raises. If you don't have much then the best option is often no bluff raises at all.

1/2 opening ranges and sizes is all about adjusting to the current situation. 1/2 tables wander all over the place. I have played at 1/2 tables so stationary that other then some flop c-bets I had no bluffs at all, I have also played at 1/2 tables so weak/tight I was opening 100% of unopened hands and betting 100% of flops in LP. I have been at tables where $5 had a good chance of taking down the pot preflop and ones where $20 would get multiple callers.

KQo is often a good hand for making a raise but a bad one for calling any raises. A tight raiser will often have you dominated or beat and against a loose one you will often not know what to do because they can be bluffing with ace high and still beat you.

AJo can be trap at 1/2, where you have to watch out for loose/passive villains that limp/call with AQ or even AK. It plays badly OOP because when you flop one pair and get a caller on the flop you have little idea if you are ahead or behind. It does have the benefit of having a ace, which reduces the chance of running into another ace. It can be a good hand in LP once you get a feel for what other villains are limping in with.

66 you have to decide if your bluffing with a back up option of hitting or you are playing for set value. If you are bluffing then size your raise to get FE, if your aiming to set mine then limp or size your raises to setup a good SPR. Watch out because even at 1/2 some villains will pick up on what your doing if your sizing is too obvious.

The same sort of situation comes up with ace-rag suited. You can limp in and hope for a good flop when deep or you can raise as a bluff. It plays much better in position because you will be on more bluffs/draws/marginal made hands on the flop. Ace-rag suited also has the interesting paradox of playing worse at tables of bad opponents then good ones. This is caused by weak villains calling raises with hands like ATo/A9s and not giving up when they flop an ace.

While it's true that if Vs are all folding to your opening range, you should size it smaller to get callers, I think in general when this is the case you should just table change.

Example, I was at a table last Friday, around 6pm and the table was super tight/passive. Even when I made my raises smaller, I would get 1) a lot of folds or 2) 1 caller and the flop was just a bet/fold and I would pick up tiny pots with premium holdings. I table changed, got onto a table where half the table was like 150-200bb deep, and had good action and a good session.


Even if you run well, pick up hands, you just don't really get paid off unless it's a huge cooler on those types of tables.

I much, much rather just table change if possible or just rack up and play later or the next day. Not worth it.

"My CO and BTN ranges are staying wide with 1-2 limpers, then dropping steeply with 3 or more. Is this a good adjustment?"

For opening, yes. Consider having a very wide overlimping range in that circumstance however. It's a great circumstance for seeing a cheap flop and stacking one of the idiots if you flop huge and they can't lay down (for example) TPNK, or bottom 2-pair.

My opening range transition is a slightly less linear progression than yours and a tad tighter up front and in blinds and looser in the c/o. I typically seat select for a tight player to my left tho.

I also have over-limping ranges in games where a pile of limpers beat me in the pot. Too often their collective limp/call range is more than I can beat into submission and especially with a couple passive nitty types limping a tight range. But with playable hands with nut making potential I'll elect to take a cheap flop. So with that dynamic my opening ranges are a bit tighter moving to the right.

Obv all this is in a vacuum and it is often as important who limped as how many.

I will say my open sizing is a bit more compressed. If my standard open is 12 from mp and it folds to me Otb I rarely go less than 10 anymore unless there is a specific reason.

Edit: lol just read Garrick... So yeah.