Poker Ranges: Notation, Types and Hand Reading
A poker range is the set of hands a player could reasonably hold in a particular situation. Instead of deciding that an opponent “has ace-king,” range thinking asks which value hands, draws, bluffs and marginal hands fit all the actions taken so far.
A range is a model, not a declaration of certainty. It changes after every fold, call, raise, check and bet because each action makes some holdings more plausible and others less plausible. The goal is not to guess two exact cards; it is to make better decisions against the full set of credible hands.
How poker range notation works
Texas Hold’em ranges are usually written with ranks, a suffix for suitedness and shorthand for groups of hands.
| Notation | Meaning | Hands included |
|---|---|---|
| AA | A pocket pair | A♠A♥ and the other suit combinations |
| AKs | Ace-king suited | Both cards have the same suit |
| AKo | Ace-king offsuit | The cards have different suits |
| AK | Suited and offsuit versions | AKs and AKo |
| 99+ | Nines or any higher pocket pair | 99, TT, JJ, QQ, KK, AA |
| AJs+ | Suited ace-jack or better in the same family | AJs, AQs, AKs |
| 88–JJ | An interval of pocket pairs | 88, 99, TT, JJ |
| A2s–A5s | An interval of suited aces | A2s, A3s, A4s, A5s |
Before accounting for exposed cards, a pocket pair has six combinations, a specific suited hand has four, and a specific offsuit hand has twelve. Combination counts matter because a range containing several offsuit hands may have many more combinations than it first appears to contain. Known hole cards and community cards remove combinations through card removal.
Reading a range grid
A standard 13-by-13 grid represents all starting-hand classes. Pocket pairs run along the diagonal, suited hands appear above it, and offsuit hands appear below it. This excerpt illustrates the layout; it is not a recommendation to play every displayed hand.
| A | K | Q | J | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AA | AKs | AQs | AJs | ATs |
| K | AKo | KK | KQs | KJs | KTs |
| Q | AQo | KQo | QJs | QTs | |
| J | AJo | KJo | QJo | JJ | JTs |
| T | ATo | KTo | QTo | JTo | TT |
Colored range grids commonly show which hands are raised, called or folded. For complete opening and response references, see the preflop charts; this article focuses on how to interpret and adjust ranges rather than supplying a full chart library.
What shapes a range?
A useful range begins with the situation, not with a fixed list of favorite hands. Four factors are especially important:
- Position: A player acting early normally needs a stronger opening range because several opponents remain. A late-position player can often enter with more hands. See poker position strategy for the underlying positional concepts.
- Prior action: An unopened pot, a raise, several calls and a raise followed by a re-raise create different ranges. A player responding to a 3-bet should not be assigned the same range as an unopened-pot raiser.
- Stack depth: Deep stacks increase the postflop relevance of suited and connected hands that can make strong draws or disguised made hands. Short stacks reduce room for speculative calls and place more emphasis on immediate high-card and pair strength.
- Player tendencies: A cautious player may arrive at the river with fewer weak hands. A loose caller may retain more suited hands and weak pairs. An aggressive player may have more bluffs, but that adjustment should come from observed behavior rather than a stereotype.
Game format also matters. A tournament with antes and changing stacks does not produce the same incentives as a 100-big-blind cash game. State those assumptions before treating any baseline range as applicable.
Linear, polarized, capped and condensed ranges
| Range type | Structure | Typical interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Linear | Strongest hands first, then progressively weaker hands without a deliberate gap | Often used when many hands are raised for value and protection rather than split between raises and calls |
| Polarized | Very strong value hands plus bluffs, with fewer medium-strength hands | Common for large bets or raises when middling hands prefer to check or call |
| Capped | Contains few or none of the strongest hands that are plausible on the board | Earlier actions suggest the player would usually have played the top of the range differently |
| Condensed | Concentrated around medium-strength hands, with relatively little nutted value or complete air | Often created by a calling line that keeps playable hands but raises the strongest holdings and folds the weakest |
These labels describe a range’s shape, not an immutable rule. A range can be capped relative to a particular board yet still contain strong one-pair hands. Likewise, calling often creates a condensed range, but some players slow-play strong hands and prevent it from being completely capped.
How to construct and narrow a range
- Choose a preflop baseline. Account for position, action before the player, effective stack and format.
- Adjust for the player. Add or reduce weight on hands according to credible tendencies. Do not assume one unusual showdown defines the player’s entire strategy.
- Filter through each action. On every street, ask which hands would bet, check, call, raise or fold. Hands do not always disappear completely; some simply become less likely.
- Apply the board and blockers. Remove impossible combinations and consider how the board changes draws, made hands and the available bluffs.
- Compare your hand with the remaining range. Identify what worse hands can call, what better hands can fold, and which hands might bluff.
Postflop ranges can contain several strategic roles:
- Value hands expect to be called by enough worse hands to justify betting.
- Bluffs usually cannot win often enough at showdown and bet to make stronger hands fold.
- Bluff catchers beat bluffs but generally lose to the bettor’s value region. Their profitability depends heavily on how many credible bluffs remain.
- Draws and marginal made hands may bet, call or check depending on the board, sizing and ranges involved.
Worked example: narrowing a range by street
Assumptions: This is a six-handed no-limit Hold’em cash game with 100-big-blind effective stacks. The cutoff opens, the big blind calls, and both players are assumed to be reasonably conventional but not solver-perfect. The cutoff holds K♦Q♦.
Preflop
The big blind’s calling range can include pocket pairs, suited aces, suited broadways, some offsuit broadways and suited connectors. Its exact shape depends on the opening size and the player’s tendencies. Premium hands may be less common because many would re-raise, but they are not impossible if this opponent sometimes calls them.
Flop: K♣ 7♦ 2♣
The big blind checks, the cutoff bets, and the big blind calls. Continue with hands such as Kx, 7x, sets, pocket pairs below kings, club draws and some ace-high or backdoor holdings. Complete misses that usually fold receive less weight. A raise would have represented a different branch; the call makes some very strong hands less common, not impossible.
Turn: 9♠
Both players check. The big blind can still have Kx, 9x that improved, 7x, pocket pairs, slow-played sets and missed clubs. The check reduces the likelihood of hands this player would normally bet for substantial value or protection. It also keeps medium-strength showdown hands in the range, making that part of the range relatively condensed.
River: 3♥
The big blind now makes a large bet. The missed club draws did not complete, so they are natural bluff candidates. Plausible value may include slow-played sets, some two-pair hands and strong kings, depending on how thinly this opponent bets. K♦Q♦ is now primarily a bluff catcher: it beats missed draws and weaker hands turned into bluffs but loses to the strongest value hands.
The correct response cannot be obtained by announcing that the opponent “must have missed clubs” or “always has a set.” You must compare the credible value combinations with the credible bluff combinations, while considering the bet size and the opponent’s river tendencies. Against a player who rarely bluffs, folding becomes more attractive. Against someone known to bluff missed draws aggressively, calling becomes more defensible. The range model organizes the evidence; it does not reveal the hidden cards.
Common range-thinking errors
- Assigning one exact hand: An opponent’s action usually fits many holdings.
- Keeping the preflop range unchanged: Every later action and board card should update it.
- Eliminating hands too confidently: A player can check a strong hand or bet a medium one. Use probability and weighting rather than absolute declarations.
- Ignoring combinations: Three named bluff classes may contain fewer actual combinations than one broad value class, or vice versa.
- Applying a chart without context: Position, prior action, stacks, format and opponents determine whether a baseline is suitable.
- Confusing a capped range with a weak range: A capped range can still contain many hands strong enough to call ordinary bets.
Practice exercises
1. Interpret the notation
What does TT+, KQs and A2s–A5s mean?
Answer: TT+ is TT, JJ, QQ, KK and AA. KQs is king-queen of the same suit. A2s–A5s includes A2s, A3s, A4s and A5s.
2. Identify the range shape
A player makes a large river raise with strong made hands and missed draws while calling with medium-strength hands. What shape is the raising range?
Answer: Polarized. It contains value and bluffs while leaving many middle-strength holdings in the calling range.
3. Update rather than guess
A tight early-position player raises preflop, calls a flop bet on A♠J♠6♦ and raises when the turn is J♥. Should you assign exactly AJ?
Answer: No. AJ is one candidate, but other jacks, slow-played sets, strong draws and occasional bluffs may fit. Start with the preflop range, remove impossible combinations and then weight each remaining hand according to the flop and turn actions.
Good range thinking is an ongoing process: begin with a plausible set, update it after each piece of information, and make decisions against the resulting distribution. The range can become narrower, but it remains an informed model rather than certainty about an opponent’s cards.