The villain's range
The 13×13 grid, preflop families, weights, postflop range composition, the Force and Custom views and smart filters. The step that decides how reliable your analysis is.
The equity calculation is exact. The assumption feeding it is not. This chapter is about the only part of the analysis you are responsible for.
One range per action
Each villain action has its own range. Click an action in the timeline, for example “BB: Call” on the flop, and the grid shows the range that took that line. You narrow it street after street without losing what it was before. In multiway pots, each villain has their own ranges and equity tile.
The 13×13 grid
The 169 starting hands: pairs on the diagonal, suited hands above, offsuit hands below.
- Click or drag to add or remove hands.
- Right-click a selected cell: the combo detail opens, so you can exclude some (blocked by the board, or played another way). Preflop, right-clicking an empty cell adds a single combo.
- The percentage field and its slider (preflop) set the width in one move.
- “Reset range” starts over from scratch.
- ⌘/Ctrl + Z undoes, ⌘/Ctrl + Y redoes (a whole drag = one step). The history starts over when you change street, action, villain, hand or board.
Preflop families
Preflop, the panel below the equity sorts the range into families you tick with one click:
- Pairs: high (AA–JJ), mid (TT–77), low (66–22)
- Suited and Offsuit: broadways, Ax, connectors, one-gappers, two-gappers, other
“All pairs, suited Ax, broadways” takes three clicks.
Weights
A villain who only plays a hand half the time should not count it in full. The weight brush, above the grid, turns on at 50%: every hand you paint afterwards counts for only that fraction. Set the percentage with the slider, or with the mouse wheel over the grid (5% steps, from 5 to 95%); Escape puts it back to 100%. Weights apply to a hand, a family or a postflop category, and follow the range from one street to the next.
Postflop range composition
From the flop on, a bar sorts the villain's combos by hand strength: Quads, Full House, Flush, Straight, Trips / Set, Two Pair, Overpair, Top Pair, Middle Pair, Underpair, Broadways, Ace High, No made. Each category breaks down:
- draws: + Flush Draw, + OESD, + Gutshot, + Backdoor Flush, + Backdoor Straight, + Overcards, or No draw
- top pair kicker: Top Kicker, Good Kicker, Weak Kicker
- where two pairs come from: Board Pair or Pocket Pair
Every row has a checkbox. Unticking “No made” on the turn means the villain no longer calls with nothing: range, equity and verdict follow. You reason in categories rather than hands, which is faster and more honest.
The header shows the combos kept (“441 / 453 combos”). “Folds” shows the share of the range that has left the hand, and # / % switches between count and percentage.
This is what drives exploitation: 70% weak hands call for a bet, 40% strong hands for a check, even with decent equity.
The Force and Custom views
The Standard / Force / Custom switch changes the grid's coloring.
- Force colors each villain hand by its equity against yours: crushing, strong, neutral, dominated, dead. You see at a glance how much of the range beats you.
- Custom lets you paint your own categories with named colors (“value”, “bluff catchers”, “to fold”…). The names are remembered from one analysis to the next; the palette is saved with the analysis.
Smart filters
Postflop, “Filter” narrows the range in one move, with a slider to set how far. It offers the filters that make sense in the spot and highlights the one matching the last action:
| Filter | When | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| MDF | you bet | keeps the top of the range, in the proportion pot ÷ (pot + bet): the minimum defense |
| Value range | the villain bets | removes the bottom of their range |
| Polarize | the villain raises or overbets | two sliders, “Top” and “Bottom” |
| Cap | the villain was passive | removes the top of their range, since they did not raise |
The filter needs a hero hand and an action.
The method that works
Start from the villain's preflop range for their position, then remove at each street whatever would not have taken that line.
Be honest, not optimistic. Giving the villain the range that justifies your decision turns study into self-validation.
Model the player, not the theory. A fish does not hold a reg's range. Keep a few typical ranges in your Ranges: “Import Range” (range menu, preflop) applies them to the villain, “Save to my ranges” does the reverse.
If you have hands against this opponent, their stats are one click away: in the My Hands replayer, their plate opens their quick card, and the Tracker's Players page details them. A 45% VPIP player and an 18% one do not open the same thing.
On the Free plan
Equity, the grid, families, weights and the Standard and Force views are free. Postflop sub-filters (draws, kickers), “Filter” and the Custom view open the Grinder window, except on the Hand of the Day, where everything is available. On a loaded hand beyond your one hand of the day, painting the range also opens that window from the third cell.