Hand Reading System
Hand Reading System
Hand Reading System
Alec
THE HAND RANGE FUNNEL
When a This represents the truth that any time a player is dealt in, they 100% of
Players is can theoretically have 100% of possible hands, or all 1,326 Potential
Dealt In the combinations of holdings.
Hands
Hand
Whether a player calls, raises or folds, their potential Ranges vary by player.
holdings change because they took action. Preflop is Here are some preflop
typically where hand ranges reduce the most, since guidelines:
Tight Players: 10%
Preflop your average opponent will only play somewhere Loose Players: 25%
between 10-25% of their preflop holdings. Maniacs: 50%
An aggressive play
When this process is done
like an All-In bet correctly, it’s possible to reduce
River dramatically your opponents holding down to
reduces holdings. one or two possibilities.
QUICK START GUIDE
In other words, the possible holdings that your opponent can have only gets smaller
as the hand progresses.
That’s good news, as your goal is figure out his precise two cards.
Sometimes your opponents hand range may narrow dramatically, and then plateau.
PREFLOP
FLOP
TURN
RIVER
This happens in cases where players show aggression early, and then play their
entire range the same on later streets.
We often see this in practice when a player calls a raise preflop, and then checks the
flop, turn, and river when out of position.
Most players will do this with their entire range of hands, allowing the preflop
aggressor to continue with the lead in the hand.
Our opponent (Villain) calls a raise preflop from the Big Blind.
Flop: A 8 2 Villain check-calls a bet.
Turn: 2. Villain check-calls another bet.
River: 4. Villain checks.
Literally nothing has changed about the Villain’s range between his turn call and
river check, since he will check the river 100% of the time in this situation.
Other times our opponent’s hand range may remain broad until the river, at which
point it narrows dramatically.
PREFLOP
FLOP
TURN
RIVER
You will encounter this situation when your opponent check-calls a bet on the flop,
both players check the turn, and the Villain comes out firing with a big bet on the
river.
Our opponent (Villain) calls a raise preflop from the Big Blind.
Flop: 9 6 4 Villain check-calls a bet.
Turn: J Villain checks, and we (Hero) check behind.
River: Q Villain bets huge, the size of the pot or more.
In this situation, the Villain’s range on the river has changed dramatically, due to the
cards that came and the size of his bet.
The only hands with which he bets this big for value are likely to be flushes.
Otherwise he has probably missed a straight draw and is bluffing.
The reason his range shrinks so much is that most of the hands with which he could
have potentially check-called the flop, he can no longer have: any small pair or
hands containing a 9, 6, 4 in them. The reason being he would check the river with
these small pairs, and hope to win at showdown.
It’s also unlikely he has two pair, since there are very few hands with which he could
theoretically call preflop, check-call the flop, and then bet the river which contain
some combination of two pair. (The only real possibilities being J9 or Q9, and many
opponents fold those hands preflop).
It’s also very unlikely he has three of a kind, since most of the time players will opt
to check-raise the flop or lead out on the turn on these draw heavy boards to
protect their hand and build a pot.
Thus, the Villain’s range on the river is comprised of mostly flushes and missed
straight draws.
To figure out whether or not we should call or fold, we simply weigh the possibility
that he’s bluffing against the possibility that he has a flush.
Don’t worry if you can’t do that just yet, I show you exactly how to do this
entire process in my workbook, ‘The Four Steps to Beating Anyone at Poker.’
I make it super simple and fun. If you prefer to learn through video and join a
community of motivated players, I built an entire course dedicated to
mastering the art of hand reading called “Hand Reading Foundation”, which
is just one of the many features of the Conscious Poker Membership.
Have you ever found yourself in a tough situation and didn’t know whether or not
your opponent could have a specific hand?
Simply replay the action in your head and see if he would likely play the specific
hand exactly like he played this one.
Let’s say you are holding As7s and you raise on button. Your solid, tight,
straightforward opponent calls from the Small Blind.
The flop comes down: T 6 2 He checks, you bet big, and he calls.
Turn: 8 He checks, you bet again, and he calls a second time.
River: 9 He checks, you bet a third time, and now he raises you!
You guys are both super deep stacked. It’s your turn...
...
But shoving seems a little too aggressive. After all, he’s never calling with a worse
hand and there’s a higher straight out there.
Wrong!
The best hand our opponent can have is a ten-high straight, meaning his hand
contains some sort of 7 in it: pocket 7’s being the most likely.
He cannot have QJ or J7 because he wouldn’t have played those hands in this way
on previous streets.
What’s more is we can have QJ and J7, making this a ideal spot to bluff, and force our
opponent to fold a chop.
Our tight, solid opponent called a raise from the small blind preflop! It’s impossible
he would do that with J7 (even if it’s suited), and QJ may either 3 bet us or fold as
well, depending on the player.
Never.
And as you recall from rule #3, once you rule out a hand at any point, it’s gone
forever. Therefore, because we know for certain that our opponent would never
call preflop with J7, and never call the flop with QJ, we can eliminate it from his
range on the river.
You can see how with a little analysis that we can be certain that our worst case
scenario is a chop.
Equipped with this new information, we shove all in for a monster stack.
And rightfully so, at best he’s chopping with a 7. At worst he’s losing to J7 and QJ.
He shouldn't have raised in the first place, exposing himself to a tough situation,
but he didn’t know you were such an expert and going to put him to the ultimate
test!
Congrats! You just made it through your first hand range funnel.
Had you been at the table, you would have just won yourself a boat
load of cash in a spot where few players in the world are taking
advantage of.
As you can see using the hand range funnel is an extremely powerful
tool. When done correctly, it will help you win money money, crush
the competition and move up in stakes.
I hope this guide helped up your poker game, and I look forward to
continuing to help you along your poker journey.
If you want to take that next step and get access to some of our best, most
exclusive video content with strategies, insights and tips that I only share
with our members, check out the Conscious Poker Membership.
www.consciouspoker.com | [email protected]