Hello TPE,

Forums and videos are teaching me that I need to get better at putting villains on hand ranges consistently, every time I'm in a hand.  It feels like I sometimes do it but others I don't, especially if I'm playing more than two tables.

I feel more capable of ranging a villain after playing them for a while and getting their style somewhat somewhat figured out.  Before that, I find myself often in a position when I don't know what to make of the villain's action.  This comes out in different ways on different streets, but especially treacherous are the ways in which I'm unsure of a villain's style preflop, considering that we need to start narrowing ranges from the beginning of a hand.

My question(s) is/are:

When narrowing a villain's hand range, how do you account for not knowing yet a villain's tendencies with their different categories of hands that make up their flatting ranges, raising ranges, flop floating ranges, etc.?

For example if it's early, we raise from mid position with 50bb and the button flats with 40bb, but has already shown a likeliness to play passively, how might we range him and how do we react if we seem to have been wrong?

Do we assign him a full range that includes everything he might flat with, but make note that we weight it againt premiums and a certain marginal range, then eliminate those outlying possibilities later in the hand?  “22-AA, A2s+, A8o+, K9s+, KTo+, 56s-QJs, JTo, QJo, but TT-AA are unlikely as are K9s, 56s-78s, JTo, QTo, QJo”

Or do we say, “premiums and very marginal hands are unlikely and not in his range,” range him on what we think he probably flats with, (say  “22-99, A2s-AQs, A8o-AQo, KTs-KQs”) and then be ready to change that range on the turn if we seem to be wrong and now it looks like he has something we didn't put in his range, like 56s or AA?

Perhaps the answer is sort of both, or maybe it's something totally different.

I could the answer being “yes, be willing to change his range as the hand continue, even when you do think you've figured out a villain and it's the late stages.”

Thanks for reading.