Range

A range is the full list of hands a player would take this same action with. Nobody opens from under the gun “with A♦K♠”: they open with a set of hands — big pairs, strong broadways, some suited hands — and your job is to reason against that whole set, not against the single hand your gut assigns them.

Ranges are measured in combos

There are 1,326 possible starting-hand combinations. Each hand class contributes a different number:

• A pocket pair (AA): 6 combos
• A suited hand (AKs): 4 combos
• An offsuit hand (AKo): 12 combos
• AK in total: 16 combos

That’s why “they have AK or AA” isn’t a 50/50: there are 16 ways to hold AK and only 6 to hold AA. Counting combos turns hunches into proportions — and the cards you can see trim them down: that’s what blockers are.

Notation

Ranges are written in shorthand: 22+ (any pocket pair), A9s+ (A9 suited or better), KQo (KQ offsuit). Our range viewer paints any notation onto the 169-hand matrix, and the equity calculator accepts ranges as the opponent: that’s how you train the mental leap from “what hand do they have” to “what range are they representing”.