Range, Range, Hand (Global Frequencies)

Published on Aug 27, 2024

Recently a podcast discussed the idea of playing it a style that targets global frequencies.

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- On the flop, what does my range want to do?
- On the turn, what does my range want to do?
- On the river, what does my hand wants to do?

Range, Range, Hand

The conversation revolves around the concept of "global frequency" in poker, which refers to the overall betting and checking tendencies across a player's range. The speakers emphasize a step-by-step learning process: mastering individual hands, understanding ranges, and then learning to play against opponents' ranges. The goal is to reach a high level of competence where one's overall range is intuitive. The discussion also covers the importance of understanding the shape of opponents' ranges, trimming down potential holdings, and exploiting indifference points. The final step is to focus on the specific hand's play against these points of indifference.

  • Understand the shape of your opponent's range incredibly well by learning how to advance your range to the turn.

  • Build principles out by starting to think about range versus range and understanding how different portions of an opponent's range may be indifferent to certain bets or lines of play.

  • Learn how to target points of indifference in an opponent's range with different portions of your own range.

Understanding Global Frequencies

  • Global frequency is the overall betting and checking frequencies across various hands.

  • It's important to consider your hand and the opponent's range when making decisions.

  • The discussion highlights the need to start with understanding one's hand and then progress to understanding an opponent's ranges.

Learning the Steps to Mastery

  • There is a step-by-step process for learning to play poker effectively.

  • The process begins with mastering one's hand and then understanding how to play against exploitation.

  • As competence grows, the focus shifts to understanding ranges and how to play against them.

  • The final step involves mastering how to play one's hand against an opponent's range.

Building Range Principles

  • The respondent discusses the importance of starting with one's range and not worrying about the opponent's hand.

  • The conversation covers building principles by considering different bet sizes and their implications on the opponent's range.

  • The process involves trimming down the available options by reasoning about the opponent's likely holdings based on their actions.

  • The goal is to understand how one's range can take advantage of the opponent's range.

Conditioning and Indifference in Poker

  • Respondent explains the concept of conditioning the opponent to certain actions.

  • The discussion shifts to making different portions of the opponent's range indifferent to one's actions.

  • The importance of identifying which portions of one's range benefit from indifference is emphasized.

  • The final step involves targeting points of indifference within the opponent's range with one's hand.

Advancing Range to the Turn

  • The respondent suggests that understanding how to advance one's range to the turn is a way to fast-track progress.

  • The conversation highlights the importance of being able to play one's hand effectively against the opponent's range.

  • The discussion concludes with the idea that as competence grows, opponents will be more handcuffed to playing defensively.

  • The overall focus is mastering the game by understanding and exploiting the opponent's range.