Range Narrowing
An opponent opens from a seat; a flop comes down. How much of their range actually connects? Learn to read how a range hits a board — the foundation of hand reading.
How much of this opening range makes top pair or better?
How to play
Picture the range. You're told the seat, so you know the full set of hands the opponent opens.
Read the flop. Note the top card and how connected the three cards are.
Estimate the hit. Pick the band — how much of the range makes top pair or better.
The exact percentage is computed from every combination in the range against the flop, then bucketed into value (top pair or better), draws and air. After you answer you'll see the real split, so you calibrate quickly.
Why range-vs-board is the first skill
Hand reading isn't guessing one specific holding — it's tracking a whole range and watching it shrink. That starts on the flop. Before you can put an opponent on a hand you have to know how their range interacts with the cards on the table: what fraction has hit hard, what is drawing, and what has completely missed. A range that connects only 20% of the time is one you can barrel and bluff; a range that smashes a board 50% of the time is one whose bets you must believe. Get this estimate right and every later street becomes readable; get it wrong and you'll bluff into strength or fold the best hand.
Notice how texture drives everything. Ace-high and broadway flops favour the pre-flop raiser because their range is stuffed with big cards; low, disconnected flops favour the caller, whose range holds more small pairs and suited connectors. The button opens a wide, scattered range that connects with almost any board a little but rarely smashes; an under-the-gun range is tight and high, so it either crushes broadway flops or whiffs low ones entirely. Below is a typical button opening range — the kind you're narrowing.
Once you can narrow ranges on the flop, sharpen the rest of the read with Three-Street Reading and Guess the Hand, and study the underlying charts in the Range Trainer and preflop & ranges guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is Range Narrowing?
An opponent opens from a known seat, so you can picture their whole opening range. A flop comes down, and you judge how much of that range actually connects — makes top pair or better. It trains the first and most important step of hand reading: seeing how a range hits a board.
Why does 'top pair or better' matter?
Top pair or better is the rough threshold for a hand strong enough to bet for value on the flop. Estimating what fraction of a range reaches that bar tells you how often the opponent has something real versus a whiff — which decides whether you can attack the board or should respect their bets.
How do I estimate it at the table?
Look at the board's top card and count how many hands in the range pair it or beat it. A high, connected flop (like A-K-x) smashes tight early-position ranges; a low, scattered flop (like 7-3-2) misses most high-card-heavy ranges. With practice the fraction becomes a feel.
Are these standard ranges?
Yes — the widely-taught 'GTO-based' 6-max opening ranges used across the trainer. The connection percentages are computed exactly from every combo in the range against the shown flop.
Is it free?
Yes — free, no signup, runs entirely in your browser.