Mastering pre-flop play is the foundation of a winning poker strategy. The decisions you make before the first three community cards are dealt can set the tone for the entire hand, saving you money on weak holdings and maximizing value with your strong ones. Based on insights from James Sweeney (AKA SplitSuit) , here are eight advanced tips to sharpen your pre-flop game and make you a tougher opponent at the tables.
1. Avoid Calling Too Much Pre-Flop
In today’s aggressive poker landscape, successful players do not have a wide pre-flop calling range. While there are exceptions for players with a significant post-flop advantage, especially in live cash games, pre-flop calling should generally be focused on two key positions: the button and the big blind. The logic is sound: from the button, you guarantee having a positional advantage after the flop against fewer opponents, and from the big blind, you are getting a discount to enter the pot. In fact, GTO (Game Theory Optimal) solvers demonstrate a significant increase in calling frequency from these two positions compared to others. A good rule of thumb is that if you cannot clearly articulate why you are calling a pre-flop raise, your best options are likely to 3-bet or fold.
2. Defend More Often as Opponent’s Raise Sizes Get Smaller
Your defense frequency, particularly from the blinds when facing an open raise or a steal attempt, is a critical component of your strategy. You must adjust based on your opponent’s raise size. When facing a smaller raise size, such as 2, 2.5, or 3 big blinds, you should defend much more frequently. Conversely, you should defend far less often against larger raises of 4, 5, or 6 big blinds, which are more common in live games.
To put it in perspective:
- Against a 2 big blind open, you should defend about two-thirds of the time.
- Against a 2.5 big blind open, this drops to 44% of the time.
- Against a 3 big blind open, your defense frequency should be around one-third of the time.
Interestingly, while you defend less often against bigger raises, a larger portion of your continuing range should consist of 3-bets rather than calls. For instance, against a 2 big blind open, 3-bets might make up 16% of your defense range, but that number could jump to 77% against a 4 big blind open.
3. Stick to GTO Pre-Flop Ranges
While many free pre-flop charts online are designed for exploitative play, they are most valuable when you have reliable information on your opponents. When you’re facing unknown players or an unfamiliar player pool, GTO ranges are incredibly effective. These ranges are sharp, maintain correct frequencies, simplify your pre-flop decisions, and make you a more difficult opponent to play against. Committing open-raise sizes from every position and a good portion of 3-betting ranges to memory can be highly beneficial. GTO ranges help prevent you from playing too tight or getting out of line with the wrong types of hands.
4. Be on the Lookout for Exploitative Opportunities
While GTO provides a solid baseline, you should always be looking for chances to deviate and exploit your opponents when you have information. This means identifying and attacking “strategic kinks” or “frequency kinks” in their game. For example, imagine you are on the button and an under-the-gun player opens; a GTO response might be to 3-bet around 4% of the time. However, if you know this specific opponent folds to 3-bets 75% of the time (when a solver suggests they should only be folding 50%), you can exploit this tendency. You can add more “air” or bluffs to your 3-betting range, applying pressure and generating “pure profit” from their over-folding. Be mindful not to overdo it, as opponents may adjust, but always be searching for these profitable spots.
5. Understand Pre-Flop Ranges Should Be Driven by Equity
Unless you are in a rare situation where an opponent folds an extremely high percentage of the time (e.g., 95% of the time to your 3-bet), the equity of your hand is paramount. If you anticipate seeing a flop, it’s crucial to hold hands that have good potential to improve. Instead of 3-betting with a hand like Queen-Deuce off-suit, you should opt for hands with better playability like Ace-Three suited or King-Nine suited. When you decide to expand your range to exploit an opponent who over-folds, prioritize hands that still have equity, such as more suited aces or high suited kings, rather than complete junk like Jack-Four off-suit or Three-Deuce suited. Don’t go “nuts” with poor hand selection without strong evidence of extreme over-folding from your opponent.
6. Play All Hands to Their Max EV and Avoid “Loss Leaders”
Some poker players operate under the misconception that opening with very weak hands, or “loss leaders” like Seven-Deuce off-suit, can make their range seem wider and thereby boost the Expected Value (EV) of their premium hands like Aces and Kings. This theory has been thoroughly disproven by solvers for both pre-flop and post-flop play. You should always strive to play every single hand to its maximum EV. The idea of a “loss leader” providing a boosting effect to your other hands is a trap; it simply does not work. This principle ties back to the importance of playing hands that are driven by equity.
7. Look for Sizing Opportunities
Many poker players, even experienced ones, fall into the habit of using rote, default sizing for their open raises and 3-bets without giving it much thought. To gain an edge, you should actively seek out opportunities for “atypical sizing”. The three main areas to look for these spots are in your open-raise sizes, 3-betting, and 4-betting. For example, using a slightly larger 3-bet size might increase the break-even point of your bluff, but if it substantially increases how often your opponent folds, it can be a highly profitable adjustment. Likewise, when 4-betting, especially in position, consider if you can risk a smaller amount while still generating the same number of folds. Sticking to a rigid, fixed sizing strategy will cause you to miss out on these valuable exploitative opportunities.
8. Mix in Some Stronger Hands When Calling Pre-Flop
Although a modern strategy emphasizes aggression, it is crucial to recognize that solvers often mix in calls even with very powerful hands. For example, in a live cash game, if an under-the-gun player opens and the action folds to you in the cutoff, a solver will 3-bet Pocket Kings 81% of the time, but it will just call the other 19% of the time. Pocket Queens are also played as a mix in this spot. While simply 3-betting your strongest hands every time can be a viable exploitative strategy, there are times when calling can be more beneficial. For instance, calling might induce a squeeze play from players yet to act, allowing you to trap them. Against an open from the hijack, hands like Pocket Queens, Pocket Jacks, and even Ace-King off-suit can be a mix of both 3-betting and calling, whereas Ace-King suited is more often a pure 3-bet.