12 Mar 2024 Beginner This material is for beginner players 3-bet 4-bet hand charts open raise position steal Every inexperienced poker player asks himself the question: «Where do I start learning the game?» The desire is for the learning and first steps in the game to be as successful as possible, and for it to take as little time as possible. Once you have mastered the basic rules of the game of poker, we advise you to start studying the tables of starting hands in poker - the so-called «preflop charts». In poker, the term «starting hands» refers to the two cards that you receive in your hands at the beginning of the hand. The choice of starting cards plays a fundamental role in forming a strategy throughout the hand. The correct choice of starting hands can significantly affect the outcome of the game and your financial success in the long term. Why are Starting Hand Charts so Important? Poker strategy starts before the cards are dealt. Choosing the right starting hands is one of the key moments that determine a player's effectiveness. Beginner poker players often have a hard time figuring out which cards to play (and how), and which ones are better to fold right away and not get involved in unclear situations without a vision of how to win. As a beginner and inexperienced player, you need to carefully select the hands to participate in the hand. The earlier you are at the table, the stronger the starting cards you need, because the more players are behind you, the higher the probability that someone has been dealt a very strong hand (and sometimes several), and therefore your starting cards should be «filtered» in advance for such unfavorable scenarios. In addition, the earlier your position is, the more often you will play «out of position» relative to the majority of players. Since playing out of position is much more difficult and much less profitable than playing in position as you will rarely reach the showdown and realize your equity, you need to make your game easier in this position in advance by using stronger cards from the preflop. 3 Factors That Determine +EV Play in Any Hand You must understand from the very beginning that the effectiveness of play in a hand is determined by 3 factors: Aggression (pressure on opponents), Position (you act after opponents), Hand Equity (its value and prospects). You will play with a positive result when you have at least 2 of these components: Aggression + Position, Aggression + Equity, Position + Equity. The only exception is a monster preflop hand like AA or KK. However, without aggression, even these hands win very little money against most opponents, who are passive and don't like to build up the pot without a strong hand (and those are very rare). Also, if you let your opponents see all the cards coming on the flop-turn-river easily (or cheaply), then your opponents will quite often hit two pairs and stronger combinations, thus winning money from you, which is definitely not what you want when you get AA or KK. Now let's move on to examples of specific starting hand charts in the format of a normal 6-max cash game, which is the most common format of poker. Open-Raise Charts by Positions Let's use 2x WPT Champion Jonathan Little's GTO charts regarding how to open-raise in different situations on each position at a 6-max table and with a 100 bb stack. There you will clearly see the trend: the earlier the position, the narrower the opening range and vice versa. Explanation: All red cells represent hands that we should open-raise to 2.5 BB if everyone folds before it's our turn to act. Reactions In Position vs Open-Raises This means that somebody has open-raised before us, and it's our turn to choose an action and a hand. As in the charts above, there will be a similar trend here: the earlier we sit at the table and, accordingly, the more players have not yet acted, the narrower our ranges will be - but now not open-raises, but reactions to open-raises of the previous player(s). Explanation: The hands in red we 3-bet in position against an open raise, and the hands in blue we call in BTN position - mostly when there are 1 or 2 fish in the blinds who will play out of position. If there are no fish, then these hands are better 3-bet or folded. Our main play will be 3-betting IP in the free positions such as MP, CO and BTN, however on the button we can afford to have a calling range since we have guaranteed position on all 3 streets after the flop. Furthermore, in case someone squeezes us in the blinds (3-bets our call and open-raise), we will have an easier time calling with good hands due to the aforementioned advantage of absolute position on all. But generally we can only call profitably if there is a fish in the blind(s) who is playing out of position, in which case we can get maximum value from him when we hit a good hand. Reactions Out Of Position vs Open-Raises This happens usually on blinds vs free positions with the only exception, when you are on BB and facing open raise from SB - there you will still be in position. Explanation: Here we are playing one of the blinds against an open-raise from a free position. We will be acting out of position postflop. Therefore, we should choose our hands in advance based on this disadvantage. We can only call from the big blind due to 2 factors: a large discount for participation and the fact that we are closing the betting round. From the small blind, we only play 3-bet or fold, and this will be a fairly narrow and linear range. Blind vs Blind Situations Explanation: The battle of the blinds is usually a clash of 2 very wide ranges, with plenty of 3-bets, wide OOP calls to 3-bets, and even extended bluff 4-bets. Yellow cells are fold to 3-bet, blue cells are call OOP to 3-bet (because BB usually has a wide 3-bet range against SB), and purple cells are 4-bet sized 2.5-2.7x. Playing by these charts will make your game a lot easier - especially when you have little experience in poker - it will save you from many marginal situations where it is difficult to win a lot of EV but easy to lose, and will also provide you with a good win rate at the cost of little effort. Knowing the starting hand charts helps you build a foundation for successful play by providing a clear guide to when to jump in and when to hold back. Let's take a look at the basic principles and strategies that will help you choose your first cards wisely and win at the poker table. Your opponents who take poker seriously will be selective in their starting hands and will filter out all weak starting hands in advance. So if you continue to play weak hands, you are guaranteed to lose money against them. Understanding which starting hands are more playable and which are less playable helps you make more informed decisions during the game. Starting hand charts are designed to help players determine when to jump in and when to fold. This strategy will minimize losses and maximize your chances of winning in the long run.
