Heads Up NL Preflop Hand Ranges

I can almost immediately tell how good my opponent is by their preflop hand selection. A good opponent is aware of the advantages of position. He’ll be aggressive on the button and tight in the BB. Just how aggressive should you be on the button and how tight should you be in the big blind? Well, that’s subject to a lot of debate on the forums of many poker websites.

Some of the best players will raise 100% of the time when they are on the button. Against weak-tight opponents, that might indeed be the best strategy. From the button, I usually throw away complete junk and stick to about the top 70% of hands and I occasionally mix it up a bit.

Preflop Hand Range on the Button:

It’s important to be a lot tighter in the BB than on the button. I typically play around the top 25% of hands from the BB. Position gives you a tremendous advantage and hands that are quite profitable on the button suddenly become unplayable out of position. Position is the most powerful weapon in your poker arsenal. Always remember that. That being said, here is my typical BB preflop range:

Preflop Hand Range on the Big Blind:

So if you’re up against an opponent that is as loose from the BB as he is from the button, you hit the jackpot.

If an opponent is tight on the button, he’s giving up the most powerful weapon in his poker arsenal. You can safely assume he’s not very good.

In my next post, I’ll talk about common mistakes people make when analyzing an opponent’s stats in heads up play.