Training guide
A Repeatable Preflop Training Routine
Practice opening, calling, three-betting, and folding by position without turning a chart into an automatic answer.
Examples are practice prompts, not universal range prescriptions.
Build a decision process
Preflop training is useful because the same inputs repeat: position, action before you, effective stack, blind size, number of players, and the tendencies you are practicing against. A chart can be a reference, but a training routine should teach you to name those inputs before acting.
The six-input scan
Before choosing fold, call, or raise, identify:
- your position;
- every action already taken;
- players still to act;
- the effective stack, which is the smaller relevant stack;
- the amount required to call;
- the purpose of continuing.
Example: heads-up at 10/20, button/small blind holds A♦ 8♦ with 100 big blinds. The button acts first and may open as part of a broad heads-up strategy. If the big blind re-raises, the decision is new: compare the final price, position after the flop, and the three-bet size instead of treating the original open as a commitment.
Separate categories of practice
Run one short session for unopened pots, another for facing opens, and another for facing three-bets. Mixing every branch at once makes it difficult to identify the source of a mistake.
In AI practice, mark hands where you could not state why you continued. In a friend room, agree on one preflop topic before starting and discuss marked hands only after action ends, so coaching does not reveal live private information.
Fifteen-minute routine
- Choose one seat and one action branch.
- Play ten to twenty hands without changing the goal.
- Mark every uncertain decision, including folds.
- Review the amount, position, and effective stack.
- Write one range boundary to test next time.
Common mistakes
- Copying a chart built for a different table size or stack depth.
- Calling because chips were already posted in a blind.
- Ignoring players who can re-raise behind.
- Using the same open size without checking table settings.
- Reviewing only large lost pots and missing repeated small errors.
Use the Position guide before this routine and the Hand Review Checklist after it.
Product Reference
The public path connects preflop repetition directly to the review step that creates the next drill.