The positions at the poker table and range syntax

Basic considerations

For the analysis and study of the game, it has proved to be a good idea to use a standardized terminology for the positions at the table and the notation of ranges (i.e. possible sets of hand combinations).

In this chapter, you will learn how to name positions at the poker table and how to notate ranges.

Positions at the poker table

There is a de facto nomenclature for the terminology of the positions at the table in the poker literature, but you will still find different terminology from time to time. In the context of these articles I will use the description of the positions shown in the figure.

This representation has the advantage that it is equally applicable to Full Ring tables(10 max) and Short Handed tables. You can see this in the following table.

Positions at the poker table

Position	Full Ring games (FR)	Short Handed games (6-max)
Small Blind	SB	SB
Big Blind	BB	BB
Under the Gun	UTG
Under the Gun +1	UTG+1
Under the Gun +2	UTG+2
Middle Position 1	MP1
Middle Position 2	MP2	MP2
Middle Position 3	MP3	MP3
Cutoff	CO	CO
Button / Dealer	BU	BU

This also shows that with regard to the positions on the table, a 6-max table is treated in the same way as a FR table, where the first four players have already folded.

Range syntax

Before you learn how to notate ranges, I would first like to establish a common understanding of what a range is.

The term Range describes a set of possible hand combinations.

Ranges are a useful. For example, if you want to describe how you play with Aces in a given situation, regardless of color, you can either refer to all six hand combinations A♠ A♥, A♠ A♦, A♠ A♣, A♥ A♦, A♥ A♣, A♦ A♣ or simply use the corresponding syntax (in this case AA).

I will use different notations for of different type of ranges, the underlying concept can be illustrated by the following two examples.

Example 1 – Pocket Pairs

The displayed range contains the total of all possible pocket pairs. With 13 card values (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, T, J, Q, K, A) with six possible combinations to a pair, this means a total of 78 different hands as shown in the following table.

All Pocket Pairs

Value	Syntax	Cards
22	2h2d,2h2s,2h2c,2d2s,2d2c,2c2s	2♥ 2♦, 2♥ 2♠, 2♥ 2♣, 2♦ 2♠, 2♦ 2♣, 2♣ 2♠
33	3h3d,3h3s,3h3c,3d3s,3d3c,3c3s	3♥ 3♦, 3♥ 3♠, 3♥ 3♣, 3♦ 3♠, 3♦ 3♣, 3♣ 3♠
44	4h4d,4h4s,4h4c,4d4s,4d4c,4c4s	4♥ 4♦, 4♥ 4♠, 4♥ 4♣, 4♦ 4♠, 4♦ 4♣, 4♣ 4♠
55	5h5d,5h5s,5h5c,5d5s,5d5c,5c5s	5♥ 5♦, 5♥ 5♠, 5♥ 5♣, 5♦ 5♠, 5♦ 5♣, 5♣ 5♠
66	6h6d,6h6s,6h6c,6d6s,6d6c,6c6s	6♥ 6♦, 6♥ 6♠, 6♥ 6♣, 6♦ 6♠, 6♦ 6♣, 6♣ 6♠
77	7h7d,7h7s,7h7c,7d7s,7d7c,7c7s	7♥ 7♦, 7♥ 7♠, 7♥ 7♣, 7♦ 7♠, 7♦ 7♣, 7♣ 7♠
88	8h8d,8h8s,8h8c,8d8s,8d8c,8c8s	8♥ 8♦, 8♥ 8♠, 8♥ 8♣, 8♦ 8♠, 8♦ 8♣, 8♣ 8♠
99	9h9d,9h9s,9h9c,9d9s,9d9c,9c9s	9♥ 9♦, 9♥ 9♠, 9♥ 9♣, 9♦ 9♠, 9♦ 9♣, 9♣ 9♠
TT	ThTd,ThTs,ThTc,TdTs,TdTc,TcTs	T♥ T♦, T♥ T♠, T♥ T♣, T♦ T♠, T♦ T♣, T♣ T♠
JJ	JhJd,JhJs,JhJc,JdJs,JdJc,JcJs	J♥ J♦, J♥ J♠, J♥ J♣, J♦ J♠, J♦ J♣, J♣ J♠
QQ	QhQd,QhQs,QhQc,QdQs,QdQc,QcQs	Q♥ Q♦, Q♥ Q♠, Q♥ Q♣, Q♦ Q♠, Q♦ Q♣, Q♣ Q♠
KK	KhKd,KhKs,KhKc,KdKs,KdKc,KcKs	K♥ K♦, K♥ K♠, K♥ K♣, K♦ K♠, K♦ K♣, K♣ K♠
AA	AhAd,AhAs,AhAc,AdAs,AdAc,AcAs	A♥ A♦, A♥ A♠, A♥ A♣, A♦ A♠, A♦ A♣, A♣ A♠

But it is much easier to represent the range with the syntax 22+ or also 22-AA.

Example 2 – Composite Ranges

Ranges can be joined together by placing commas.

In the example the range TT+,A9s+,KTs+,QJs,ATo+,KJo+ is shown. Note, that the hands of the same color contain an s (suited), followed by a +, indicating that all higher ranking hands are included in that order. Hands of different colors contain an o (offsuited).

Completely disassembled, the range would look as follows:

2h2d, 2h2s, 2h2c, 2d2s, 2d2c, 2c2s, 3h3d, 3h3s, 3h3c,3d3s, 3d3c, 3c3s, 4h4d, 4h4s, 4h4c, 4d4s, 4d4c, 4c4s, 5h5d, 5h5s, 5h5c, 5d5s, 5d5c, 5c5s, 6h6d, 6h6s, 6h6c, 6d6s, 6d6c, 6c6s, 7h7d, 7h7s, 7h7c, 7d7s, 7d7c, 7c7s, 8h8d, 8h8s, 8h8c, 8d8s, 8d8c, 8c8s, 9h9d, 9h9s, 9h9c, 9d9s, 9d9c, 9c9s, ThTd, ThTs, ThTc, TdTs, TdTc, TcTs, JhJd, JhJs, JhJc, JdJs, JdJc, JcJs, QhQd, QhQs, QhQc, QdQs, QdQc, QcQs, KhKd, KhKs, KhKc, KdKs, KdKc, KcKs, AhAd, AhAs, AhAc, AdAs, AdAc, AcAs