Hand Ranging / Reading for Beginners

[Herr Someone]

Hello!

This is my first post here after gravitating from a PokerStars only forum, and I hope you can help!

I've been playing almost a year, and I feel I've got a handle on certain concepts and fundamentals.  I am constantly reading and trying to learn and improve, yet find it tough to incorporate these concepts into my game sometimes.  Lately I have had another of these situations.

I realise that I need to begin ranging my opponents, and have read a lot of articles on the subject.  However, I'm really struggling to get a handle on it.  I've narrowed it down to two sticking points, and any help would be appreciated.

First of all, it appears that the action runs too quickly to be able to digest everything that has happened and run through the possible outcomes.  This makes me sounds really weak I know, and it frustrates me because Im not exactly slow witted.  By the time I've digested whats happened pre-flop, it's already the turn.  Then everyone mucks their cards and I'm none the wiser.  There's an article on hand reading in the March 2011 edition of WPT Poker, but after going through the example scenario I got the answer completely wrong.  After reading the explanation, it made perfect sense and it was very clear - this is a common problem with some of the harder concepts I try to incorporate.

Secondly, Im struggling with what game to play that gives me a good chance to learn ranging and reading.  My thought process is that No Limit isn't going to show me enough showdowns (or hands), and heads up will show me too many and be too loose to be useful in beginning learning.  I have an idea of playing Fixed Limit as a good middle ground, but is this the right thought to have?  I'm actually thinking that I may play Fixed Limit exclusively as a learning ground.  If it was good enough for everyone for 50 years to come up through, then surely it's good enough for me?

As an aside, I can only play $2NL and .5/.10 FL with my bankroll atm.  I also have Poker Tracker, but Im not going to play with the HUD as it's probably a good idea to get the fundamentals down without the stats (Im looking to play live in the future), and I'm only playing one table while Im learning anyway.

I hope this is not too TL; DR, and thanks for any advice in advance.

Cheers
Tom

[redarmi]

On your first point get yourself a copy of pokerstove and take a look at the hand ranges on there.  You really want to be giving yourself an idea what kind of hands players will be raising and limping with.  For example if you see a player raising about 10% of the time then it is fair to put them on a range of 88+ A9s+ QTs+ Ajo+KQo+.  You should obviously expect them to be tighter from early position and wider from late position.  From then on throughout the hand you should be able to narrow the range based upon his actions throughout the hand ie. if the flop comes A54 rainbow and he calls a bet then it is fair to discount hands like QTs, KQo etc.  Get into the habit of assigning players ranges during hands you are not involved in so when you actually are in the heat of the action it comes as second nature.  It isn't a precise science so don't worry too much about assigning perfect ranges but you should be able to have an idea of the kinds of hands your opponent will have.

On your second point I wouldn't play limit if you want to play no limit eventually.  The game plays so different and at the lower stakes you want to play online I don't think it will be a massive help especially since you want to play live in the long run you are going to be playing NLHE so learn that now.  It is the toughest game to win at these days but it is what is spread everywhere so learn that first.  Limit is basically a totally different game.

[Herr Someone]

Cheers redarmi.  I forgot to mention that I use PokerStove (actually I've just bought Slice as it is compatible with my Mac).  I'm finding without a HUD though that I'm struggling to clock the VPIP PFR etc while trying to concentrate on everything else, and with the HUD I'm playing too mechanically and looking only at the figures.  Plus, as I said, I would rather learn without aids like this in order to get the skills down pat.

I'm always watching and trying to grab notes - it just seems like my deductive reasoning isn't as quick as the game itself, making me feel about 75 and 'special'.  I was thinking about recording a random table not involving me and leaving the Mac for an hour or so then going through each hand in my own time where I can stop and start at will.  But I don't know if this would help reduce the time it takes me to read the board etc.

As for your second point, I understand where you're coming from.  I will look to stick to NL for now, so I suppose it's just the speed issue I'm getting stuck with.  It's a bit frustrating as I know that as soon as I clock this, then it will really open my game up - but right now this is the hardest thing I have had to look at.  I do wonder whether I have gotten too far ahead of myself, but I think that's just me being a bit passive.

[redarmi]

You don't really need to try and remember their vpip and pfr though.  When they get down to showdown make a note of the hands that they are showing up with and then try and marry that info up with generally how often you see them raising or limping pre.  Also certain plays are a giveaway of a certain type of player ie.players that open limp in ep/mp are generally pretty bad and seeing too many flops.  Similarly a player that has opened from early position with JQs is probably LAG.

[JK]

Hi there!

Great post with some good points. These are things in the game that aren't widely published (to my knowledge), because authors assume you can do them.

Assigning hand ranges comes with time. It's difficult at times and even pros don't get it right all the time (probably more like narrowing to 4-5 hands and one of those being correct). You just have to learn what factors to take into account, eg did they raise pre? Did they bet the flop? If not what does this tell us? If you feel like NL is going too fast, just take your time. You have a timebank and it's there for you to use.

As for what to play, really, stick to NL. 50 years ago, NL and FL were much the same preflop. The game has evolved more in the past 5 years than ever before. They couldn't be more different now and may as well be different games entirely.

(didn't read replies, just posted, sorry if I repeated)

[Herr Someone]

You don't really need to try and remember their vpip and pfr though

I think part of the trouble is that you have to remember whether someone has 'entered once in the last ten hands?  Or was it 20?  Oh, did they raise, like, 4 of those times?  I can't remember if it was early or mid position...ahh I've been put all in....' Like 8 times.  I suppose these are what I take notes for, but it sometimes seems like I'm akin to working as a data recorder in court, by which time I've missed a load of action.

I like the route of marrying hands up first rather than trying to make a manual VPIP calc on the fly, so will look at that.  I suppose that experience will give me the same knowledge as you would when PokerStoving a 30/15 player and comparing them to a 40/20 player.  They are subtle differences, but then that would be the nature of a 'natural' read.

I do feel like I'm being rushed, and this is my money after all (even though it's not too much of it).  I think I might do my table recording thing and see how that goes.

Thanks for the replies so far, keep 'em coming!