Yet another preflop range post

In the past I have played way too loose. Today I set out to create a range for myself to rein in my craziness and make my postflop decisions (especially out of position) much easier. One change that I'm liking a lot (and am pretty proud of, actually) is open folding 22-88 and AQo UTG. I was getting tired of throwing money away and getting coolered with those hands. Anyways, this approach seems to be working nicely so far, but my sample size is not at all reliable.

My raise amounts are as follows: from early and middle position I raise 4x + 1 for each limper. From the HJ, I raise 3x + 1 for each limper, but if no one has limped in I raise 4x. From the CO and the button I raise 3x + 1 for each limper. Obviously I'm not raising my entire range over multiple limpers or EP limpers, basically tightening my raising range up as if I was sitting one seat to my right. On a passive table, I'm also limping behind with some hands that I would open fold (low pocket pairs and suited connectors). I've given up the idea of open limping until I get to much higher stakes.

With no further ado, here's my tentative range:

UTG: 99+, AK, AQs (4.2%)
UTG+1: 88+, AQ+ (5.6%)
UTG+2: 77+, AQ+, AJs, KQs (6.6%)
MP: 55+, AJ+, ATs, KQ (9.7%)
HJ: 22+, AT+, A9s, KJ+, suited broadway, 54s-T9s (16.4%)
CO: 22+, A8+, Axs, K9, broadways, K8s, Q9s, 54s-T9s, 75s-J9s (27.3%)
Button: 22+, Ax, broadway, K8+, Q9, J9, 54-T9, K7s, Q8s, J7s+, 85s-T7s, 64s-T8s, 43s-T9s (43.6%)
SBvBB: add K7, Kxs, Q7s, Q8, J8, T8 (49.0%)

That averages out to open raising about 20% of the time when it folds to me, so my PFR should be somewhere in the teens (prob 15/12 or so? I don't have PokerTracker yet). My attempt to steal would likely be in the 30-40% range. Obviously if I'm getting reraised or floated a lot, I'll tighten up my late position and SB range. I also throw in some random squeezes from the button or the blinds with any two if the pot seems big enough to warrant it (not always of course, and not if someone is limping monsters).

One thing I've considered but I'm not really doing yet is adding 54s-98s to my UTG and UTG+1 (but not MP) range. This helps to make set mining against me less profitable, takes advantage of the credit that early positions raisers get, and balances my early position range somewhat. It increases the hand percentages to 5.7% and 7.1% while making my holdings more unpredictable. That is, my ranges would appear to be {88+, AQ+} and {66+, AQ+, AJs, KQs}, but in reality they would be different. Of course, I don't think that's really worthwhile at 10NL and probably not even 25NL, so for now I'll be mostly sticking with what I have here, perhaps throwing in a suited connector now and then just to add some randomness.

So... any comments? Is my range still too wide?

Hey I bet alot of the regulars around here can go in depth about you with all that you posted. One article that is a must read if your playing too loose is Renton's Small Stakes NLHE Ring Strategy: Preflop (And his other ones about postflop are VERY useful as well) He goes over what ranges you should open with from certain positions and discusses additional factors such as what hands to play against specific opponents. Sorry I can't post the link since I don't have 10 posts yet but you can find it under the Poker Strategy tab next to the Forum tab at the top of the page.

Thanks for the tip. I checked it out, and I was happy to see that my hand ranges actually look pretty close to what he was describing

Personally i think your button range is too much wider than from other positions. Adding 15% of hands in is asking for trouble, altho if your paying attention to the tendencies of the ppl in the blinds then it can be good (as u yourself noted). Conversely tho if any of your opponents are paying attention your button raises will get 3-bet a shitload. I'd realllllly tighten up the SB range as well unless the BB is a ridiculous nit, you'll be OOP with shitty hands way too often opening nearly 50%. I'm not convinced it's even remotely profitable being that loose from the SB unless you are a postflop god. You'll be lost or giving up on the flop so so much.

BTW i play 6max and not full ring so i've no idea how often it gets folded to u in the SB, so I guess it's possible you won't look too loose since you'll be mucking most of that range to a raise anyhow.

IMO, you're EP ranges are a little tight and your LP ranges are way too loose.

Seems about right to me, given that you make adjustments based on stacks and reads.

Nice post DD. I tend to play too nitty so stuff like this is pretty useful.

Originally Posted by spoonitnow

Seems about right to me, given that you make adjustments based on stacks and reads.

Do u open lighter from the SB than u do from the button as a general rule? If so I'd be interested to know if it's profitable over a decent sample. I just can't see it against someone that aggressively defends their BB. And ya i know we'd obv adjust if the opp was being a pain in the ass, but since this thread is about general PF ranges and all i'm interested...

Of course I don't do this against someone who aggressively defends their BB. If they raise me, I'm tightening up to like my CO range. If they're calling me a lot, I'm fine with that because they are folding a lot of flops, or getting their money in bad postflop since I'd rather be me out of position than them in position. Note that the raggedy-looking K and A hands I'm raising are ahead of BB's random holdings. If I'm really having a lot of trouble, I'm going to have to start completing with my nice postflop (suited, connectors, etc.) hands and tightening my raising range. If they start raising my completes, I'll have to start completing a few big hands. etc. etc. So yeah, this range is in no way static.

Originally Posted by kettleofish

Originally Posted by spoonitnow

Seems about right to me, given that you make adjustments based on stacks and reads.

Do u open lighter from the SB than u do from the button as a general rule? If so I'd be interested to know if it's profitable over a decent sample. I just can't see it against someone that aggressively defends their BB. And ya i know we'd obv adjust if the opp was being a pain in the ass, but since this thread is about general PF ranges and all i'm interested...

I'll refer you to this post I made a while back http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...01-t66573.html.

For me personally, playing the SB is mostly dependent on who is in the big blind and the stacks.

The preflop ranges you specified align with what I play NOW, after a year of playing tighter than this (not UTG obviously), and slowly adding in various combos in special situations. I think it's the right target, but just know that lots of these hands are tough to play depending on whose to your left. Be careful about when you get involved with the weakest parts of your range.