Capped range
A range that holds few or none of the strongest hands possible, because those hands would have been played another way.
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- What it means
- A range is capped when the actions taken so far rule out the best hands. A player who only calls before the flop rarely has AA or KK; a player who only calls a flop bet often would have raised a set.
- How it is calculated
- The app marks the strongest 3% of possible hands on the board. A range holding under 15% of those hands is called capped, and one holding 35% or more is not; ranges in between are not asked about.
- Worked example
- The cutoff opens and the big blind calls. On A♠ K♦ 7♣ the big blind has no AA, KK or AK, so the top of its range is 77 and a few two pairs: it is capped, and the cutoff is not.
- Why it matters
- A capped range cannot call big bets with confidence, so the other player can bet large with strong hands and bluffs. Knowing your own range is capped tells you to expect that pressure.
See also: Narrowing a range, Nut advantage, Polarized range, The nuts