Range
A range is the whole set of hands a player could hold in a given situation, rather than a guess at the one hand they actually have.
Thinking in ranges is what replaces reading souls. You cannot know the two cards, but you can narrow what they can be from the actions taken, and then ask how your hand does against that whole set rather than against the one hand you fear.
It also changes how you play your own hands. A range that is easy to describe is easy to beat, which is why the same holding is sometimes bet and sometimes checked, so that neither action gives away a fixed set of cards.
an example
your cards
board
A tight player raises from the first seat and bets this flop. Their range there is heavy in big pairs and big broadway cards. Your pair of kings beats most of it, and loses to the part of it that will keep raising, which is what decides how much you are willing to put in.
This example is made up. The real one is in your own hand history: find range in your own hands and see how often it came up and what it cost you.
related terms
Three-bet
A three-bet is the second raise in a betting round, counted by treating the big blind as the first bet, the opening rais ...
Blocker
A blocker is a card in your own hand that reduces the number of strong hands your opponent can hold, because you are hol ...
GTO
Game theory optimal play, usually shortened to GTO, means playing a strategy so balanced that no counter strategy can be ...
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Knowing the word is not the same as seeing it.
Forty hands against a bot, no account, and your own hand history at the end.