Range
A range is the full set of hands you would play a given way, rather than one specific holding. Strong players think in ranges, not single hands.
In short: All the hands you could hold in a spot.
- Category
- Game
- Best use
- Session review and bankroll decisions
- Related page
- How to study live cash
Why Range matters
Weight plausible combinations by how often they reach the spot, rather than treating every listed hand as equally likely. Game terms matter because they describe the conditions that make a result meaningful. The same £300 win says different things at different stakes, stack depths, formats and table line-ups. Without the game context, the number is detached from the decision.
Worked example
Your 3-bet range from the button might be a defined set of pairs, broadways and bluffs. The useful part is not the label itself; it is the decision it changes. If the example changes your stake, stop-loss, review queue or next study block, write it cleanly in the log.
How to apply it
Record the table facts before the memory softens: stake, format, stack depth, position, relevant reads and any hand context worth reviewing. Then use the term as a label for the spot, not as a story about whether the session felt good. For Range, the practical question is whether the label changes a bankroll, session or study decision. If it does not change a decision, it belongs in a note, not in the headline read.
Use the current session fields for game context and keep detailed hand or opponent reads separately. A player notebook and dedicated hand review are still in development. Use the same spelling every time, then link it back to how to study live cash so the page, calculator or guide beside the term does useful work.
Common mistakes
- +Logging only the result and leaving out the game texture.
- +Using a term loosely enough that it stops being searchable.
- +Reviewing a hand without the stack, position or opponent context that made the decision real.
Questions players actually ask
How should I use Range in a session log?
Use Range as a decision label, not decoration. Log the raw session first, then attach the term only where it explains a stake, bankroll, variance or study choice you can review later.
What is the common mistake with Range?
The common mistake is reading the term without the sample and context behind it. In live cash, a clean label still needs stake, hours, stack depth, cost and result data before it tells you anything reliable.