Adjusting to opponents ranges

md261 on 12 March 2010

People tell me about hands they have played, and ask me if I think they played it well. Even if they remember the stack sizes correctly, it is often hard to give a definitive answer without more information.

Unless it is clear they have played the hand terribly, I am left wondering: How aggressive is the opponent? How has he played the last few hands? Has he recently won or lost a big pot? What are his Tracker stats?

Without this context, a bad move can appear good, and a good move can appear foolish.

In the hand below the villain had raised 5xBig Blinds from both the button and the big blind 4 out of the last 5 hands of Heads-up.

PokerStars Game $35+$3 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200)

Seat 2: Villain (4289 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero (4711 in chips)

Villain: posts small blind 100
Hero: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ks Jh]
Villain: raises 800 to 1000
Hero: raises 3711 and is all-in
Villain: calls 3289 and is all-in

Without knowing how the previous few hands had been played by theVillain, reraising all-in looks like a foolish move, it's for 21 Big Blings, and usually an opponent who raises this large is not intending to fold. The range which the Villain will raise 5xBig Blinds is so wide, I had to adjust my repushing range. With knowledge of the previous few hands a move which looks bad, is actuallly correct.

Against his range, KJ is a very robust hand, although it will be slight underdog to a low/medium pocket pair and weak ace, it is unlikey to be domimnated when called and behind.

Run good


md261