How to Adjust Your Hand Range in Different Poker Positions

[PHAkash]

In poker, table position is one of the most important factors in defining which hands to play and how to approach them. A well-adjusted range according to the position can maximize your gains and minimize losses. In this article, we'll explore how to modify your hand reach in different positions to improve your strategy. ​

1 . What is a Hand Band? ​

Hand range is the set of collected cards that a player can play in a given situation. This set varies depending on the position at the table, the opponents, and the dynamics of the game.
Generally, the earlier for your position, the tighter your range should be, as there are more players to act after you. In the final positions, your lane may be looser (open), as there are fewer players to compete with.

2 Adjusting the range by position

UTG (Under The Gun) — Starting Positions ​

In this position (UTG, UTG+1, and UTG+2 at 9-player tables), you should play more conservatively, as there are still plenty of players to act after you.

Recommended track:

• High pairs (AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT)
• High cards of the same suit (AKs, AQs, AJs, KQs)
• Some strong offsuited hands (AKo, AQo)

Avoid marginal hands, such as medium pairs and suitable connectors (example: 87s), as it is more difficult to throw them out of position.

MP (Intermediate Position)
In this position (MP1 and MP2), we can already increase the range a bit, as fewer players still have action after you.

Recommended track:

• All average pairs (88, 99)
• More broadways (AJs, ATs, KJs, QJs)
• Some specific hands for connectors (T9s, 98s)
• Some additional offsuited hands (AjO, kQo)

Here, we can now steal more blinds and open the game against tighter players.

CO (Cut) — Aggressive Position
Cutoff (CO)'s position is one of the best, as we are close to the blinds and can exploit more passive players.

Recommended track:

• Small pairs (22+)
• More broadways (A9s+, Kts+, Qts+)
• Weaker suitable connectors (76s, 65s)
• Some medium offsuited hands (KJo, QJo)

If people are nearby, we can steal with a wider range.

BTN (Button) — Best Table Position

At Button, we have the biggest advantage, as we always act last in the post-flop. We can open a much wider range, especially if the stores are passive.


Recommended track:

• Anyone by
• Almost all broadways (A5s+, K8s+, Q9s+, J8s+)
• Many portable connectors and gappers (54s+, 86s+, T7s+)
• Lots of offsuit hands (A7o+, K9o+, QTo+, JTo)

Here, stealing blinds frequently is critical to increasing winrate.

SB (Small Blind) — The Most Difficult Position
In Small Blind, we must play in a balanced way, as we will play out of position against Big Blind and other players if they have a call or a re-raise.

Recommended track:

• For open raise: strong and medium hands (A8s+, KtS+, QtS+, 55+ pairs, suited strong connectors)
• To complete the blind (clear): marginal hands like suit gappers (43s, 75s)
• If the Big Blind is tight, we can open a wider range.

---

BB (Big Blind) — Strategic Defense ​

Big Blind has already invested chips and can defend more broadly, especially against button and cutoff raises.

Defense Tips:

• Against small raises: defender with a wide range (Ax, broadways, suited Connectors)
• Against big lifts: defender with stronger hands only
• Against limpers: raise the stakes with strong hands to punish limp

---

Conclusion ​

Adjusting the reach of your hands according to position is critical to playing a lucrative game. The earlier the position, the tighter your reach should be. In the final positions, you can open the game wider, exploiting opponents and stealing blinds.
Mastering this adaptation will help you avoid pitfalls and maximize your earnings over time. Good luck at the tables!

 

[najisami]

Conclusion ​

Adjusting the reach of your hands according to position is critical to playing a lucrative game. The earlier the position, the tighter your reach should be. In the final positions, you can open the game wider, exploiting opponents and stealing blinds.
Mastering this adaptation will help you avoid pitfalls and maximize your earnings over time. Good luck at the tables!

Hey @PHAkash , a hell of a 1st post I have to say !

Thank you for sharing this. A beginner will find it very helpful; a more advanced player will benefit from it as a great reminder.
In fact, many times, in the heat of the moment, we make some unnecessary mistakes only because we forget about some simple concepts, we let go of our discipline or lose focus.
If we could keep your tips in mind at all times, we'll definitely see some improvement.

Welcome to CardsChat by the way and if you need any help or info about the forum, don't hesitate to ask, anyone here will be glad to help, you'll also discover a great community and meet some amazing people.

 

[dreamer13]

Beginners can often get too fixated on the specific hand they are putting their opponent on in a given hand. However, when making a decision, it is worth considering the weight of each possible combination in our opponent's range.It's important to understand that when we talk about an opponent's ranges, we're not talking about a specific hand set. It's important to learn to think about all the possible sets of hands your opponent could have in any given spot.

 

[infonazar]

In poker, table position is one of the most important factors in defining which hands to play and how to approach them. A well-adjusted range according to the position can maximize your gains and minimize losses. In this article, we'll explore how to modify your hand reach in different positions to improve your strategy. ​

1 . What is a Hand Band? ​

Hand range is the set of collected cards that a player can play in a given situation. This set varies depending on the position at the table, the opponents, and the dynamics of the game.
Generally, the earlier for your position, the tighter your range should be, as there are more players to act after you. In the final positions, your lane may be looser (open), as there are fewer players to compete with.

2 Adjusting the range by position

UTG (Under The Gun) — Starting Positions ​

In this position (UTG, UTG+1, and UTG+2 at 9-player tables), you should play more conservatively, as there are still plenty of players to act after you.

Recommended track:

• High pairs (AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT)
• High cards of the same suit (AKs, AQs, AJs, KQs)
• Some strong offsuited hands (AKo, AQo)

Avoid marginal hands, such as medium pairs and suitable connectors (example: 87s), as it is more difficult to throw them out of position.

MP (Intermediate Position)
In this position (MP1 and MP2), we can already increase the range a bit, as fewer players still have action after you.

Recommended track:

• All average pairs (88, 99)
• More broadways (AJs, ATs, KJs, QJs)
• Some specific hands for connectors (T9s, 98s)
• Some additional offsuited hands (AjO, kQo)

Here, we can now steal more blinds and open the game against tighter players.

CO (Cut) — Aggressive Position
Cutoff (CO)'s position is one of the best, as we are close to the blinds and can exploit more passive players.

Recommended track:

• Small pairs (22+)
• More broadways (A9s+, Kts+, Qts+)
• Weaker suitable connectors (76s, 65s)
• Some medium offsuited hands (KJo, QJo)

If people are nearby, we can steal with a wider range.

BTN (Button) — Best Table Position

At Button, we have the biggest advantage, as we always act last in the post-flop. We can open a much wider range, especially if the stores are passive.


Recommended track:

• Anyone by
• Almost all broadways (A5s+, K8s+, Q9s+, J8s+)
• Many portable connectors and gappers (54s+, 86s+, T7s+)
• Lots of offsuit hands (A7o+, K9o+, QTo+, JTo)

Here, stealing blinds frequently is critical to increasing winrate.

SB (Small Blind) — The Most Difficult Position
In Small Blind, we must play in a balanced way, as we will play out of position against Big Blind and other players if they have a call or a re-raise.

Recommended track:

• For open raise: strong and medium hands (A8s+, KtS+, QtS+, 55+ pairs, suited strong connectors)
• To complete the blind (clear): marginal hands like suit gappers (43s, 75s)
• If the Big Blind is tight, we can open a wider range.

---

BB (Big Blind) — Strategic Defense ​

Big Blind has already invested chips and can defend more broadly, especially against button and cutoff raises.

Defense Tips:

• Against small raises: defender with a wide range (Ax, broadways, suited Connectors)
• Against big lifts: defender with stronger hands only
• Against limpers: raise the stakes with strong hands to punish limp

---

Conclusion ​

Adjusting the reach of your hands according to position is critical to playing a lucrative game. The earlier the position, the tighter your reach should be. In the final positions, you can open the game wider, exploiting opponents and stealing blinds.
Mastering this adaptation will help you avoid pitfalls and maximize your earnings over time. Good luck at the tables!

Considering that this is your first post, it all looks impressively informative. It's hard to imagine what your 75th post will be like.
Welcome to our community

 

[PHAkash]

Olá @PHAkash, uma ótima primeira postagem, devo dizer (e) !

Obrigado por compartilhar isso. Um iniciante achará muito útil; um jogador mais avançado se beneficiará disso como um ótimo lembrete.
De fato, muitas vezes, no calor do momento, cometemos alguns erros desnecessários apenas porque esquecemos de alguns conceitos simples, abandonamos a disciplina ou perdemos o foco.
Se pudéssemos manter suas dicas em mente o tempo todo, certamente veríamos alguma melhora.

A propósito, seja bem-vindo ao CardsChat e se precisar de ajuda ou informações sobre o fórum, não hesite em perguntar. Todos aqui ficarão felizes em ajudar. Você também descobrirá uma ótima comunidade e conhecerá pessoas incríveis.

Thanks for the comment.

I'm a beginner and I find it very difficult to find this type of content, both technical and basic. For beginners, this type of content is essential. With that in mind, I did a lot of research to bring this type of content and help others who are starting out.
If you can contribute to enriching the post, I'm sure it will be of great value.

 

[PHAkash]

Iniciantes podem frequentemente ficar muito fixados na mão específica que estão colocando seu oponente em uma determinada mão. No entanto, ao tomar uma decisão, vale a pena considerar o peso de cada combinação possível no range do nosso oponente. É importante entender que quando falamos sobre os ranges de um oponente, não estamos falando sobre um conjunto de mãos específico. É importante aprender a pensar sobre todos os conjuntos possíveis de mãos que seu oponente poderia ter em qualquer situação.

Yes, of course. However, for a beginner, it is very difficult to do this range analysis. It is very important to practice the hands played and to train ranges of hands in each position, especially pre-flop.

 

[Goggelheimer]

Don´t rely too much on static ranges for each position.

These ranges are a very tight approach.

Also know your players at the table and what they do in different positions so you can adapt your ranges according their play.

I think these are 100 BB cash game ranges for 9 player tables.

They are not very usefull for 6 max or tournament scenarios with different stacksizes and bounty or ICM situations.

Keep that in mind.

Always nice if someone tries to invent the wheel new.

In addition, these ranges can be found in the free GTO Wizzard account too.

 

[dannystanks]

Figuring out which hands play better from which Position is pretty important to learn and study.
What helps is to make your own charts for a binder that you can physically look at and study.

When you start playing more and getting more comfortable with these hands in your range then make sure you open up start playing more hands from different positions.

Also if you are playing tournament poker make sure you have ranges in each Position based on your Stack Size. As this increases and decreases, it affects those ranges big time.

There is a lot of things to consider in playing a hand. Hand range charts are important. How we enter a hand we want to play is important. Do we want to raise, if so how much? Position can influence how much we want to raise or bet post flop. Being Out of Position is way different than In Position.

Keep looking at charts. Also look at responding charts, like what range do we need when they raise, things like that. Look at blind vs blind charts those are fun to study!

Have fun and good luck all! Good 1st article!

 

[dimon4ik89]

It is very commendable that you try to help beginners with the material that you find online and post on the forum. This can really help many, especially those who have recently become acquainted with poker. I can advise you to take the course that is here on the forum https://www.cardschat.com/poker/strategy/become-a-winning-poker-player/ . I took it once, I liked it, there is really a lot of useful stuff there, and I think that after studying it and practicing, you will improve your poker skills at once and will play on par with many players. But in order to gain experience, you need time, it all does not happen so quickly. Over time, when you master the information that is in the poker course and learn to apply it in practice, you will adjust all this knowledge to your level and style of play. After all, playing completely according to the book is also not always entirely correct, in this case it will be easy for your opponents to read you. You need to learn to vary the knowledge you've gained, and then the result of the game should be good. Good luck at the poker tables!

 

[Spielkind]

Thank you, very instructive. I use old tables that I have compiled in various forums, but I also watch live tournaments with their bet sizes.