Hi,
I was wondering how people construct hand ranges for opponents, whenever I try I can never do it fast as I am always going 'oh they could have QJs and KQs etc' and by the time I think of everything I have forgotten the first ones! Is there a specific technique people use for hand reading? I will be playing online but don't have access to a HUD and as I am playing very low limits I don't really see players enough to know much about them outside of what I learn at the table (which I know will contribute alot) so I was wondering how to hand read before you know anything about the opponent? I read an article that had a bunch of hand ranges based on percentages and they said they would assign a player to one of the percentages based on their play and then continue to add more hands to this range while they played with them, this seems like a good way as I feel I wouldn't spend all my time thinking about all the hand combinations as they would be prememorised, is this a viable strategy? Sorry for the long post just really need some help with this!

I haven't seen it mentioned on here yet but https://jivaro.com/ offers free beta access to a HUD that I've been using with some success.
It only shows VPIP, PFR and Aggression at the moment.

You should buy Holdem Manager or Poker Tracker for low limits at first. I heards that on pokerstrategy.de you can find program calls Elephant. The program must view HUD on the tables.
You should play more to understand ranges which opponents play. This skill come to you with experience in poker

Quite a lot of $$$ to start with though?
I've found Jivaro to be great starting out.

I'm afraid it's just like your your times tables when you were a kid. It's practice

there's no simple answer. start with putting yourself in V's shoes and asking yourself what range you would play in his position. this will give you a starting point that will enable you to start thinking about what cards/boards hit your range/your opponent's range. from there it's just practice and seeing a lot of hands...visualizing ranges on different boards is a slow progression that almost feels subconscious. always attempting to define V's range in the context of the board texture before acting, even if it's just "he has a lot of Ax here" or "he doesn't have a lot of Ax here" is what will develop your hand-reading.

All you can do is play and read up. There are progressions for each hand and each street of a hand that you will go through automatically after time.

What does he think I have?
What do I think he has?

Did the Flop hit his range?
Did the Flop hit my range?
Are we sharing cards both in hole and/or on the board?

Did the Turn improve the board or blank?
Will he fold if he didn't connect?
Will he c/c all weak TP/MP type of hands to the River?

Balance between playing 'cards' and 'poker' based on your opponent's tendencies. GL

To save you some time there are several posts on this forum that cover this subject.

A few things to note:

1). Get HEM2 or some hand tracker - this will give you a hand range releative to the actions of your opponent given the right sample size.

2). Determine if the flop is wet or dry (i.e. did this flop connect with opponents range).

3). How does the Turn and River card connect with the flop, and thus with the opponents range?

4). How can I use this information to profit - should you be betting for value, or bluffing etc. All of this will help you in determining the reasons why you are betting.

See: http://archives1.twoplustwo.com/show...fpart=all&vc=1
Also: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/78...exture-442027/

Do you guys not have pre-memorized hand ranges that you apply to different player types or VPIP/PFR and then adjust according to the specific player?

I work with different programs after sessions like Poker Stove to look at ranges based on VPIP/PFR. After thousand such spots understanding of ranges came to me

Observation is the most important thing in the game. Your first 10-15 minutes at the table, observe everything and takes notes on what kind of hands your opponents are playing. You can't go wrong with observation and note taking.

Hand reading and assigning a hand range is something you can do with experience. As you play over time, you will see the same situations happening and you will know what likely range they have.

Thank you Mr. President, sound advice.