Whether you’re a beginner, an intermediate or professional player, playing poker online means playing against hundreds (even thousands) of other players from every corner of the globe – each with their own playing style and strategy. Over time you will come up against a variety of playing personalities, some aggressive and some more conservative.
When playing poker it is very important to remain elusive throughout the game and to make sure that your opponents can’t identify your playing personality. Through raising, bluffing, betting and folding, maintaining a level of spontaneity is the best way to achieve this. Once an opponent figures out your playing style you become very easy to read and exploit. We explain what range balancing in poker is and why it’s so important.
What is Range Balancing?
Before discussing the specifics, it’s important to understand the fundamentals. From a pair to a royal flush, a range in poker is the entire selection of hands that you or your opponent can have in any given situation. For example, if the flop produces a three of hearts, three of clubs and jack of hearts, then the achievable range is anything from a full house and three-of-a-kind to a flush. Semi-bluffing is often done in order to chase the possibilities.
Balancing your range in poker is the continuous process of playing with good and weak hands. Moreover, it’s when a player bets with a wide array of hands. A great way to balance your range is by playing a straight the same way you would a flush or a full house. By doing this your opponents become unclear as to which one you may have and therefore you become unpredictable.
How can I balance my range?
There are two ways in which you can balance range in live poker:
- Play the same strength hand in a different way.
- Play different strength hands in the same way.
It’s important to remember that you do not have to settle on one of the approaches. Since poker games can take several hours, you can alternate between the two. For beginners, maintaining a balance in the poker range is a great way to get one up on experienced players. Being unpredictable is highly advantageous at any stage of the game. Once a player knows how you react to certain ranges, it can be a very grueling game from then on.
A great Texas Hold’em poker range is pairing up the hand rankings. For example, playing a straight and flush the same, or playing a pair the same way you would a three-of-a-kind.
Advantages of range balancing
By balancing your poker range, you instantly become harder to play against because people find it more difficult to understand your playing personality. It’s crucial that you should always remain aware of how you’re playing and your opponent’s reactions to the way you’re playing. Regardless of their skill level, players tend to leave a trend as each player bets according to their own style. The difficult part is minimizing repetitive calls in order to maintain a level of unpredictability. For example, if you’re playing with weak and strong cards through semi-bluffing, bluffing, betting and raising you’re broadening your range and making it hard for other players to predict what cards you have. By contrast, if an opponent always folds and only bets when receiving strong cards, opponents know to be cautious when going head-to-head because this is a very unbalanced range.
Balanced vs unbalanced ranges
If you play certain hands such as re-raising a flush or a straight in a consistent manner, your range is unbalanced in that specific hand range and players will easily predict what cards you’re holding and adjust their game accordingly. Balanced ranges are ones in which your range is not weighted too differently from one another and you play a variety of hands in the same way.
It’s vital to be conscious of your ranges as playing with unbalanced ranges will put you on the back foot after the first few rounds. Once opponents find a theme in how you approach different hands, it becomes considerably harder to end the game with a profit. Games such as Texas Hold’em online (which remains the most popular) will have players of all skill levels which means that finding a way to differentiate yourself from the rest is a great way to ensure longevity in the game. So, remember to limit repetitive bets and don’t be scared to play aggressively when holding weak hands. If you lose while bluffing, it may lead to a big win in the later stages because someone will think you’re doing it again.
Range protection
Range protection shares the same characteristics as balancing ranges and game theory optimal. Essentially we protect our range when we are trying to stop opponents from making large bets on us in the later stages of the game. Range protection in poker is the process of evenly distributing the different holdings across your overall game, from your strategy to the lines you take. Performing this effectively is crucial to ensuring that you’re not exposing yourself and that you avoid opponents taking advantage.
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