I'd say I'm an "advanced beginner" at this point. I know most of the math around odds, I understand position, I can do basic hand reading on opponents who play straightforward, etc etc.
One thing I know I need to start working on is thinking about "what should I do with my range here?" as opposed to "what should I do with this specific hand?"
Does anybody have advice for how to get started with this? Good books, videos, etc? Ways to practice? Anything else?
What hands would this player type (assumptions combined with any reads) play from that position in that way? Is he opening wide in late position, playing any two from anywhere, or is he nitty? This helps you narrow preflop ranges.
Once you narrow those, you have to figure out how he plays post- will he c-bet with his entire range on any board? Does he play fit or fold? Does he only c-bet his air and try to trap with his monsters? Is he only c-betting dry boards? Picking up on his tendencies will help you narrow his range.
Once you get better at ranging other players, you can try to figure out your own perceived range. Ask the same questions, but about yourself. Is your image winning? Tag/lag/nit/maniac? Do you have history with these players? What range of hands would they think you're opening? If you believe you're perceived as a winning tag and you open in mp with 78hh and the big blind defends, you can safely c-bet a khi dry board- you're perceived as a tag, and the k hits your range. If it's a super dry board and villain x/c, then you can generally give up unless you pick some bd draw up ott.
When you get good at it, you will be playing your perceived range against villains range.
Each hand is a story and by the River you need to make sure each 'chapter' makes sense.
Who opened and from what position?
What are the hands he would do this with?
Did the Flop hit those hands?
Did the Flop 'reasonably' hit my believable' range?
How does/do this/these opponent(s) generally bet if they hit or miss a board?
Are we all gong to be sharing cards here, which will eliminate cards that can improve my hand?
How big (or small) do 'my forces' (chips) need to be to be effective in telling my story or gaining an advantage over someone else's story? I don't want to over-commit them until I'm ready to do so.
When you have a story gong on and then someone 'crashes' the story you need to pay close attention to what they are trying to tell and make adjustments.
The more stories you see and/or take part in will allow you to figure out whether the ending is worth sticking around for!! GL
I found all the Harrington on Hold'em books, (especially Harrington on 6-Max Online Cash Games) invaluable in respect to describing hand ranges. I highly recommend you read them cover to cover.
Would TPTK bet this way?
Would the Nuts play like this?
A common play I find doing is cbetting the turn, in position, after my unknown villain checks the flop and turn.
-The villain probably doesn't have the nuts as this would not be +EV for them.
-As you can be confident they don't have the nuts, you can also be confident that they'll fold marginal hands like middle pair, weak pair, missed draws.
-If they raise you should fold most hands
-If they check you should consider c/f the river
As you play more, you'll come across similar spots where it makes sense to play a certain way, things will just become more obvious and you'll start thinking 'he has the nuts here or he is bluffing rarely' (or similar thoughts).
