Preflop Ranges and Three-Bets
Learning objectiveBuild position-aware starting-hand categories without treating charts as guarantees.
Understand the idea
Group hands by pairs, suited connectors, suited broadways, offsuit broadways, and weak holdings. Early position usually warrants a more selective opening range because more opponents remain. On the button, wider opens may be reasonable. A call keeps the pot smaller; a three-bet reraises an open; a four-bet reraises the three-bet.
Use action history to identify whether an earlier bet was an open, three-bet, or four-bet. Distinguish an actual raise opportunity from all hands dealt. Account for effective stacks and legal raise bounds. A hand chart is a starting hypothesis to test, not a universal optimal policy.
At the poker table
A♠ K♠ can often raise for value, but the correct action still depends on position, prior raises, opponents, effective stacks, and the allowed target range.
Code and decision sketch
Pseudocodeif street == 'preflop' and category(hole) in opening_range(position):
if legal.raise and minTo <= target <= maxTo: return raise_to(target)
return safe_legal_fallback(legal)Common mistake
Do not count a blind posting as voluntary preflop investment or assume every raise is a three-bet.
Try it yourself
Sketch a narrower early-position range and a wider button range, then identify one holding that differs.