NL SH - microstakes to NL25 - Starting Hands.docx

UTG Default raising range: 22+, ATs+, AJ+, KJs+, KQo (11.3% of hands)

MP Default raising range: 22+, AT+, JTs+, KJ+ (13.7% of hands)

Cutoff he ranges become much more dynamic due to the potential preflop action as well as our reads on the button and blinds.

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Under The Gun (UTG)

This position should be fairly easy to play since you are almost always guaranteed to play out of position postflop. I’ll present the general opening range there and discuss when to deviate from it.

Default UTG raising range: 22+, ATs+, AJ+, KJs+, KQo (11.3% of hands)

brak screenów na forum

You'll notice two major omissions from this: Suited connectors and suited aces. You see those being raise quite a bit in the mid stakes and high stakes games, but a lot of that is for the sake of having a more balanced game. Balance is something we are not at all concern with at 25NL and below simply because regulars won't play with you long enough (you move up or they move up) to exploit your lack of balance. But specifically ...

Why omit (pomijać) suited aces lower than ATs?

You’ll often find yourself (odkryjesz) where you are dominated since a lot of people will call preflop in position with A8 – AJ type hands. You won't flop a flush draw often enough to make this profitable, and most often you'll find yourself with a really weak pair or a top pair with no kicker and those are tough to play.

What about suited connectors?
They look sexy, but you will be OOP almost always and flop weak, one-pair type hands, or a pair + draw which will cause you to bleed money. You might also find yourself in a multi-way pot with a dominated draw, and those are very tough to play OOP.

Exception to the Rule # 1:

If you have a good read on the table to where:

A) MP, CO, and BTN don’t 3-bet much, fold a lot to your UTG raises.
B) SB and/or BB are playing too many hands and pay off light.
C) You are 170+ BB's deep with the SB and/or BB.

In this case, you can add some suited connectors (78s -QJs) and suited aces.

Dealing with 3-bets:

What to do if you are facing a standard sized 3-bet from MP - BTN?

If you have no read on the player or less than 20 hands on them (and VPIP < 30% and a PFR reasonably close):

• KK+: 4-bet for value
• QQ, AK: 4-bet (to start developing an aggressive image). If they fold, they will feel bad because people don’t like folding. Even if you get it in and you were behind, you start getting information which you can then use for the future.
• Fold everything else to a standard 3-bet size.

Once you develop a read (over 500 hands) and see that someone is 3-betting less than 3% of hands:

• KK+: 4-bet for valuefare

• QQ, AK: These don’t fare (radzić sobieexpext

) that well vs. their 3-betting range of your UTG open, so just give it up and fold it.

What to do if you are facing a standard sized 3-bet from the SB or BB?

If you have no read on the player or less than 20 hands on them (and VPIP < 30% and a PFR reasonably close)

• KK+: 4-bet for value
• QQ, AK: Flat, play Positionally

Once you develop a read (over 500 hands) and see that someone is 3-betting less than 3% of hands.

• KK+: 4-bet for value
• 22 - QQ, AK: We should expect them to play pretty face up and we can often get to showdown vs. AK and be able to fold vs. KK+.

Exception to the Rule # 2:

If you are 200 BB’s deep vs. someone, call any pocket pair to a 3-bet other than KK+ (this is in position - OOP, still fold to a normal sized 3-bet - you are just not likely to get paid off often enough when you hit your set).

What if you have someone at your table who is *getting out of line* (za dużo sobie pozwalaćwhether

) with 3-bets (10%+)?

Simply tighten up your UTG range and evaluate whether (oceniać, szacować czy…) the table will be profitable. A recommended tighter UTG range of 88+, AJs+, AQ+, KQs (6.2% of hands):
brak screenów na forum

Note: As you can see, this is a fairly (całkiem, dosyć) exploitable (przydatne) approach (podejście) to UTG play, but who cares (kogo to obchodzi)? The number of players who will exploit you at 25NL and below is minuscule (bardzo mało).

Middle Position (MP)

This position should play pretty much like UTG with two small differences:

1. Sometimes a player enters the pot ahead of you.
2. You are 10% less likely to be OOP postflop.

Default MP raising range: 22+, AT+, JTs+, KJ+ (13.7% of hands)



Two additions that you might notice are JTs and QJs. Those play well enough postflop to open at this point.

Limpers

This is the first position where you start dealing with limpers. Assuming that the limper has a reasonable stack (65BB's+) you can isolate them with your whole open range. No need to pot it - just make it 4x with whatever you would have opened - even 22 - and go from there. Treat (traktować them almost like if they folded.

If a limper is a short stack, just open whatever you feel comfortable playing all-in preflop vs. him.

Facing an UTG open

By default (domyślnie), you can 3-bet JJ+, AK for value. If you get shoved on, you should fold the jacks. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't have 3-bet them at this level - tons of people will call you with worse, but when you get 4-bet, you will often look at QQ+, AK. As you develop reads and realize that someone's 4-betting range from UTG is KK+ and they either 4-bet or fold, you can start flatting QQ and AK.

Also, by default, you should call 22 - TT, AQ, AJs, and KQs. Those should be pretty easy to play postflop.

What about suited connectors?

Meh (łeee) ... how often do you win a big 4-way pot being OOP with 78s? You remember the times where you've flopped a straight and forget all the times you've bled money. Often you will flop a weak flush draw or pair + draw. Now - HU, those do really well in position, but multi-way OOP not so well.

Facing a 3-bet

Treat this just like if you opened from UTG. As I mentioned - they play almost identically.

So that's it. The really interesting stuff starts happening at the CO. J

Cutoff

Part 1

The cutoff is an exponentially (raptownie) tougher position to navigate preflop than both UTG and MP. The ranges become much more dynamic due (z powodu) to the potential preflop action as well as our reads on the button and blinds. Ideally, we want a tight player directly to our left whose button we can steal liberally and thus   (tak więc, dlatego) play ~1/3 of our hands in position.

As a general rule, you don't want to be at a table with an aggressive player on your left. It really shrinks (zmniejszyć) your CO opening range. Refer to my article on Common uNL Mistakes, Part 1 for more on this.

In fact, even a player two seats to your left, if aggressive, can make your life tough by 3-betting your CO opens and squeezing if the BTN calls. If you have one of those at your table, as with the case above, evaluate the totality of the situation and see if it's still +EV.

Opening Readless from the CO:

It's important to get a sense of how much the button is going to let us raise. For the first 3-4 orbits, open most playable hands and see how he reacts: brak screnna

Once you get a sense for how loose/tight the button is when you are in the CO, you'll have to adjust your range to target the blinds. I'll discuss what type of ranges will be +EV for opening vs. different type of players in the blinds.

Range vs. Loose/Passives

If one or more players in the blinds is loose/passive and the BTN is tight (VPIP < 15, 3-bet less than 3%), you'll want to open a range which is very TPGK heavy. Vs. these guys you will get paid by making a pair and having them out-kicked.

So it's possible and profitable to open a hand like Q7o in the CO if the BTN is a nit and folds a lot, but the blinds are calling with hands like T7, J7, 78, 57, 67, etc. This is also why we don't open hands like 57 vs. these guys ourselves - they are calling with hands like J7.

The thing to keep in mind is that pretty hands like 56s can win big pots, but in reality their power comes from potential fold equity. A lot of loose/passive players like to go to showdown, and a hand like Q7o is much more likely to be good at showdown than 56s. This is also why we want to isolate these players with a range similar to the one shown above when they limp instead of popping up (pojawić się) hands like 68s (something I used to be guilty of doing).

On the other hand, if the BTN is loose/passive himself, we'll need to remove a big part of our range since we are likely to be OOP. We'll need to be much stronger

Cutoff, Part 2

If UTG, MP Opens:

Most players cold-call too much to UTG and MP opens. You are much better of 3-betting or folding in a lot of situations. Hands like 89s looks really pretty to cold-call a UTG open because "I can hit big in so many ways and I have position", but once again - how often do you really hit big with 89s?

There are good hands to call an open with - mostly pocket pairs 22-99 (sometimes TT-JJ), and AJs, KQs, and AQ. All of them play much better IP.

If the opener opens a lot and then folds to 3-bets, 3-bet them wide. Do it with hands that have post-flop IP playability (mid SC or OG like 78s, QTs, J9s, etc) or card removal + bluffcatchers (A4s, KJo, etc). Make sure that you don't have a 60/50 type player yet to act who just must see a flop. If that's the case, just 3-bet for value.

Typical value 3-betting range for a UTG open will be JJ+, AK. Vs. some players who only 4-bet or fold, and when they 4-bet, they have KK+, AK, 3-betting JJ-QQ, AK won't be profitable. There are not many of those though. On the other hands, many players will call your 3-bet with a wide range. Thus, by default, JJ will be good enough to 3-bet.

Limpers:

We want to isolate with a range which plays well postflop and is TP heavy:


Of course if someone limp-calls pre-flop and then c/f a lot of flops, you will show a profit isolating ATC (any two cards?), but you should be ok sticking to the range listed above.

Suited aces are included because you can cooler people and they have a lot of showdown value unimproved. Small pocket pairs are included because:

1. You don't want the button or blinds to isolate both of you - something you are asking them to do when you limp behind.

2. You want to play big pots if you hit a set. Can't win a big pot if you don't build a big pot.

Facing a 3-bet:

The BTN/CO dynamics are something which will require a whole new article of discussion. You are often best 4-betting a range which adjusts to the frequency of the BTN 3-bettor or folding. At the beginning, start with QQ+, AK. Add a few bluffs to this once you have a feeling that the BTN is a regular. Suited aces work great there! Without a read, don't 4-bet light! Once you learn more and more, adjust this range. If they are 3-betting you too much, leave - you won't get the better of them unless they spew like crazy.

On the other hand, if you get 3-bet from the blinds and you are both 100BB's deep, 4-bet KK and flat with AA, QQ, and AK. Once you learn more about the blinds frequencies and tendencies, you can start changing your own range. You should be 100% fine at uNL if you simply fold to 3-bets and play your value range.

uNL Superstar: Fold 99 in position to a 3-bet???
Me: Sure.
uNL Superstar: Isn't that too weak tight and exploitable?
Me: Sigh (westchnienie).

Now - with very specific reads, you can change this (they will fire 1-barrel with AK if they miss and then give up. If they have an overpair they will barrel), but this is overall a good rule to live by.

If you are 170 BB's deep, you can call any pocket pair to set mine.

Playing the Button, Part 1

In this part, we'll talk about playing the button when the action folds around to you. When that happens, our main concern is who the players in the blinds are. We'll address different opening ranges and play based on that.

Nits:
Anyone with a VPIP of under 16.

If you have two of these guys in the blinds, you can open any two cards for 2.5x and show a profit. If they 3-bet you, you can 4-bet KK+ and flat AK, QQ to see a flop. Fold the rest unless you are 170+ BB's deep, then you can call and set-mine.

Loose/Passives:
Plays a lot of hands even out of the blinds.

If you have a LP in the blinds, you'll want to play a range of hands which is more top-pair/good-kicker heavy. This is a modified range that we used to isolate them with from the CO:



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