Preflop charts. Keep our GTO preflop ranges right in your pocket. Preflop charts

 
 Keep our GTO preflop ranges right in your pocketPreflop charts  Learn from the pros and perfect your strategy with our advanced training materials

52s. In smaller poker games, players tend to include far too many hands into their preflop ranges. The player on the button is next to act, and folds. Big cards are king. In Texas Hold’em, understanding preflop play is crucial. These charts are meant for study purposes only and may not be legal or safe to use in some poker rooms. Preflop opening charts are also the easiest to memorize, as you only need to remember a single range for each stack depth. If you've got super foldy blinds, you can raise more hands in the CO and BTN. With any starting hand, be it 72o on SB or JJ in middle position, you will know for sure which decision will be the best. Preflop Mistake #1: Limping. Like many of the courses on the site, this one is also aimed at more advanced players who are looking. You will be introduced to an open raising range and how to continue with this range when facing a 3-bet. There are poker charts for the three most common types of preflop situation. . Preflop+ is THE best app to improve as a poker player. preflop ranges by position pot limit omaha preflop guide for raising first in back to main index non-pairs: btn rfi (47. 3-betting reduces the average number of players in the pot. All of this may not seem too relevant to someone completely new to the idea of solvers but it. Also, there is a simple, free tool made by a guy from Russian Pokerstrategy forum. Poker Ranges Charts. How you adjust your opening ranges will depend on the tendencies of your opponents. they work! Get the Charts. Avoid limping with mediocre hands. In a nine-handed game, this player is said to be Under-the-Gun (UTG), one of the three early position spots at the table. The 3betting charts saying when to call/fold/raise is where I’m getting stuck. Finally, note that strategy with these more speculative hands, and play in general, will be altered according to your. Preflop mistakes compound into bigger mistakes later in the hand and can cost you. The positions around a table in an 8-player game, clockwise from the. 7%, 222 combos;Preflop Starting Hand Ranges. The first thing new PLO (Pot Limit Omaha) players notice is that they need to adjust to being dealt 4 cards instead of 2. It’s a much more thorough preflop strategy than these old PDFs supply, and also much better IMO. 2. Improve your hand evaluation skills to a world-class level. If you are good at visualizing things, this method will surely be the best if you want to memorize a preflop chart. . Download now! Example: Assigning a Range. (I. Get started for free. Example: AKs are: A♥K♥; A♦K♦; A♣K♣; A♠K♠ (four possible combinations). As far as pattern memorization, it seems there is a rule of 9’s among different charts, particularly RFI. Recognize When Someone’s Making a Mistake. Bet Sizing: The RFI ranges assume a 2. Preflop Strategy. Fernando “JNandez87” Habegger put together an excel sheet for PLO University members — probably the closest thing to a starting hand chart that exists in PLO. Discover a fresh perspective with BBZ ICM Preflop Charts & Trainer, equipped with essential poker tools such as pre-flop Charts, Range Viewer, and Trainer. 5-1 against. Keep our GTO preflop ranges right in your pocket. 000x. For poker charts, "s" means cards of the same suit (from "suited"), and "o" means offsuit (from "off suited"). 2bb from the HiJack and we are in the small blind with 25bb, playing 9-handed with a 10% ante. 1. Learn how to play fundamentally sound poker preflop by signing up to get my preflop charts. Raise your edge and know the exact EV of the decision to make the best GTO snapshove runout range analysis and practiccalle them. By improving your pre-flop strategy, you will set yourself up for success in poker! Download my Preflop Charts at are poker charts for the three most common types of preflop situation. Preflop. You will have Preflop Charts for all games and stack sizes to make optimal preflop decisions. Make solid 3 or 4 BB raises when entering an un-opened pot. You’ll want to adjust your strategy. Utilize all of our charts, including battle-tested simplified GTO ranges, to solidify your entire strategy. That's the reason why there is no simple starting hands chart for Omaha. The charts cover opening, playing vs an open, 3-betting, 4-betting, and more for three different stack depths: 50 big blinds ($249 value) 100 big blinds ($379 value) 200 big blinds ($399 value)Here are some charts that I made to help you out: 2NL 6max suggested starting hands, play the hands marked in yellow (20% range). ). 2x, 2. Open-raising too tight. Here, if you fold preflop, you’ll become the shortest stack at the table, and thus your. Let’s consider an example. Use a smaller raise size from early position and increase your size as you get closer to the Button. Steps to Redeem Your PokerGO 12-Months Subscription Step 3: Since you’ve been gifted a 12-Months subscription, please select the Annual Plan for $99. GTO STRATEGY WHEN SQUEEZED. You will see some hands like A5s or QTs here and there. You make the most decisions preflop of any street. 1. Online Cash Ranges Live Cash Ranges MTT Ranges Advanced Solver Ranges Advanced Tourney Ranges Heads-Up Ranges Preflop Charts Guide. So you RFI A5s 100% of the time and fold the others. So you can seamlessly switch between games knowing that your preflop strategy is correct. Haxton faced plenty of preflop decision-making as he navigated to a first-place finish in the Poker Masters $10,000 Short Deck event last fall for $176,000, overcoming a field of 55 entries. It has five main panels: The range viewer: This is where ranges with multiple sizings and actions are displayed. 5bb raise from every position except for the small blind. Cold Callers panel: Here you can choose. 5% opening range: If you are opening to a larger size (3x) versus a loose opponent, it is usually best to open somewhere between 70% and 80% of hands. Live Cash Preflop Mastersheet Situations. When looking at poker ranges, you can. The hands with the letter “s” next to them represent suited hands, for instance KTs could be K♠ T♠ or K♦ T♦. Whether you’re facing a single opponent or multiple players, this chart aids in understanding your chances of winning and guides your preflop strategy. Monker was used in over-call and squeeze situations while Snowie was used to check the results (and vice-versa). Live poker tip 3: Flat more playable hands on the button. Push/Fold is a common strategy used in tournaments in which you either go all-in preflop or fold. Mar 26, 2021. The Tournament Preflop GTO Bundle includes preflop charts for 8-max tournament games. This PDF contains charts, examples and tips to help you master the most complex and exciting poker variant. Preflop range charts show every possible hand preflop with pairs running from the top left to bottom right diagonal, the suited varieties of hands being above that diagonal, and the off suit varieties below. It has charts in it for 200BB Cash games. com. Downloadable preflop charts for 100bb; Push fold charts for 12bbs and less; Check out your free 19-lesson poker training course. F a ci n g R F I vs U T G UT G + 1 / + 2 v s UT G RF I L J / HJ v s UT G RF I CO v s UT G RF I BT N v s UT G RF I 6 Learning Tracks that will help you learn crucial concepts and win at any No Limit Hold'em game type. Part 1: Preflop – Deciding When to Enter a Multiway Pot. I would like to point out to OP that these charts are far from optimal, it seems way to. A 3-Bet is the act of reraising a pot preflop that has already been raised by another player. This table was created by enumerating through every possible board and opponent hole card combination for each of the 169 texas holdem preflop starting hands. The remaining 40% are mostly calls. AKo is 12 possible combos of ace and. The cutoff now has the option to call, putting $25 more in the pot to match the big blind's $35 bet. vs HAND #2. Now, with any chart purchase, you can take your poker skills to the next level by testing your game and studying GTO in an efficient and enjoyable manner. The $7 Postflop Playbook for No Limit. 52s. Above is a poker hand ranking chart, something essential to anyone looking to study poker. Nick’s tournament course comes with his Preflop Mastersheet, which contains 260+ charts that cover almost every preflop situation you can imagine at 6 different stack depths. Pushing vs pulling in Pot Limit Omaha. 1) Nit - tightest player at the table, small winners at best, not recommended. ). Access high-level preflop charts that will boost your win-rate when you join the Upswing Lab training course. About this app. The Advanced Solver Ranges cover: Raise first in ranges for all positions in a 6-max game. PLO Launch Pad by Dylan Weisman. Using. Focus on the pot size, not your opponent’s stack sizes. Thus we would raise to $10, $12, $14, or $16 as the number of limpers. Note that it should only be considered an RFI situation when there are no limpers before us. Make it a 98 rectangle, add the 1-gap suited down to four. We updated the Tournament Masterclass with more ICM content! Bencb takes you through the intricacies of preflop ICM, showing you how to begin fully mastering. The ultimate tool to elevate your game. I show you almost every scenario you will face. If you’re new to limit hold’em then study our starting hand chart and follow the guidelines given in this lesson. 62s. The answer is the Preflop Mastersheet, created specifically for the purposes of the Smash Live Cash Course using MonkerSolver. e. made a simple interactive GTO preflop range chart - looking for feedback. The stacks are insanely deep with over $300,000 effective between the two. zip file containing everything you need to browse the full preflop strategy. Before we go into these ranges, let us consider the scenario where another player has called the raise in front of you. Training. If you need to know some of the odds and probabilities of common poker hands, take a look at our poker odds chart to quickly learn which hands to play. Matt Berkey, High Stakes Cash Game Player and Founder of Solve For Why Academy says "Preflop+ is a great tool. 1. Included in the Spin & Go Preflop Charts & Trainer Package are 256 different Preflop charts, along with access to an interactive Trainer, Chart, and Range View. It's the perfect compliment to this article. PLO Launch Pad by Dylan Weisman. If you’re a No Limit Hold’em player. He. For any questions regarding this hand chart or interest in a deeper understanding in preflop and postflop play, feel free to join our discord study group @Shortdeck BootcampReading the chart: If your hand is unsuited, match your hole cards in the lower left half of the table. Featuring 36 hours’ worth of content as well as advanced preflop charts for 6-max cash games, this is probably the most comprehensive cash game course available right now. It displays all the possible hands you could be dealt preflop without accounting for individual suits. For tournaments, I'm extremely close to the RYE charts. It covers every common preflop situation so you are prepared for deep stacked play, short stacked play, and everything in between. As a fast reference on your mobile device while playing, these baseline hand range percentages have been created. GTO Charts are meant to be used for study purposes. This 6-max Preflop Chart was developed by our coaching team, after analyzing 15 million hands – so you can rely on it fully. There are 6 different ways to form a. This gives you ample opportunity to find bluff 3bets, +EV preflop calls, and to be proactive in your postflop line creation. These charts make it easy to assess the likelihood of turning your hole cards into a pot winning hand by showdown. Learn from the pros and perfect your strategy with our advanced training materials. The play starts with 25 big blinds, but with levels only lasting three minutes, you’ll be in the shove or fold mode before you. HAND #1. HUNL Preflop-only Charts. e. Learn More. The most efficient way to find your leaks - see all your mistakes with just one click. You are certainly allowed to look at or makes notes on a tablet or phone between hands. There are so many 3betting charts for each position it’s just a lot to memorize. Or, in some cases like if you were looking at a 30bb 3bet range in MTTs, you might include a hand like Q7s. Use our Preflop Trainer to practice ranges and memorize your strategy. If you’re not sure how to gauge the strength of your preflop hand, consider studying a preflop chart. UTG, UTG +1, UTG+2 and LJ are gone and HJ could be considered your minimum starting range. AKo is 12 possible combos of ace and. But first, let’s take a look at what an ante is. 50, Cutoff 3-bets to $8, btn & blinds fold. The easy-to-use browser app covers:The Ultimate Guide to Squeezing in No Limit Hold’em. MTT Poker Basics: Learning Preflop Ranges. Hyper 6-Max Preflop Charts & Trainer. I'm now starting to use GTO Wizard a lot and the charts are slightly different including some different things from a strategy perspective (the CO has. Preflop+ is the only GTO poker equity odds calculator trainer app you need to upswing improve and drill your preflop range analysis when you are shortstacked and facing snapshove decision at the tables. A A K K , the best Omaha poker hand, is only 33% to win (41% to tie) against the second-best starting hand A A 10 J . Fernando “JNandez87” Habegger put together an excel sheet for PLO University members — probably the closest thing to a starting hand chart that exists in PLO. Learn and apply your strategy. The stakes are $100/$200 with a $200 big blind ante. The chart below indicates the preflop equities of various matchups of poker hands when two players see a flop heads-up in Texas Hold’em poker. Using preflop range charts Game theory optimal poker 6-max pre-flop ranges. 32s. more suited connectors and less QJ likes). Preflop Online Poker KISS 6max and Full Ring Cash Game Ranges Here are directions for using the ranges. Yes, there are preflop range charts for opening, calling, 3-betting, 4-betting and all-in for all positions. Before using the charts, have a look at the explanations provided in the next paragraphs. The importance of preflop fundamentals: Learn why starting strong can change your game. Pick the poker variation you're playing in the top drop-down menu and the number of players in the hand (you can add in up to five players). Pulling: The act of calling to induce other players to call as well. An overly tight game threatens to turn into losses due to your vulnerability to aggressive and observant rivals. Take a look at AK’s equity vs one, two and three random poker hands: A 3-bet will usually force some players out before the flop, making it more likely that you will win the hand. Many poker books for beginners advocate a set range from each position, and their suggestions are usually quite conservative to keep new players out of trouble. If your table is very passive or the rake is. Founded by Doug Polk, Ryan Fee, and Matt Colletta in 2015 with the goal of helping poker players get better at the game they love, Upswing Poker has grown from a blog offering free preflop charts to the world's biggest poker training company with courses and tools for every popular game type, including cash game poker courses, tournament poker. Use these preflop charts when playing at a 9-handed table 15bbs deep with a 12. Break any preflop bad habits as soon as you can and stick to the preflop range chart. com itself it has the same charts under the Tools section under "GTO Cash Game Preflop Charts". f. zenith. Ex. gtocharts. As an. Here are my top tips for having a better preflop poker strategy. Take a look at AK’s equity vs one, two and three random poker hands: A 3-bet will. ‘Pushing’ and ‘pulling’ describe the two approaches we can take with a hand preflop. 1% Action call Fold 876/966 360 1326 3. The result: 98 easy-to-use, GTO-influenced preflop charts for every position. If you are here for more advanced preflop tips and to push further: Semi-loose is the best chart here, if you want to push your level, aim for it. These charts assume you are playing 100bb deep and that the action is folded to you unless otherwise stated. The question or whether to hold’em or fold’em is the first and most important decision you will make. Try to remember the form of the range. The questions cover the following topics: 3-betting with 40 big blind stacks. In other words, these are the hands you should play preflop when the action folds to you, and you should play them by raising. Push Fold Charts Example: In the Hijack with 12 Big Blinds Jonathan Little Reveals: You make the most decisions preflop of any street. They're broken into two categories: full-ring ranges and six-max ranges. August 12, 2022. It also assumes that your opponent is calling perfect ranges, so if you have specific read that particular player is deviating by calling less or more, you can adjust. 5x-3х, vs all-in) SB vs BTN open shove SB vs BTN min raise (+ vs all-in) SB vs BTN limp (+ vs all-in) SB vs BB (+ vs iso 3x, vs iso all-in, vs 3bet 2. A few months ago I shared a list of 7 tips to help NLHE players win at limit: Play quickly. Memorize These 5 Poker Ranges. We must call $5. 3. Covering No Limit Holdem Cash, MTT, ICM, Spin & Go, Hyper Turbo SnG and PLO poker. 1. Know you're playing every starting hand flawlessly with 286 preflop charts, all accessible in seconds with an easy-to-use range viewer. Also join the zenith poker discord community for free high level content and to make friends. Get the most complete preflop charts for Short Deck Hold'em on the market, painstakingly handmade by Kane, along with 16 preflop theory videos. Poker range charts like this typically cost hundreds of dollars to buy, but you get them as a free bonus when you sign. Live poker tip 2: Isolate limpers looser in position. Infographic: Pre-Flop Ranges. Every hand sees preflop action, and making smart choices here will lead to greater poker success. Preflop Academy is an incredibly powerful pre‑flop tool that includes nearly every preflop spot for a bunch of different stack depths. These tools will help you track your bankroll, find games, and run key calculations. Preflop charts aren’t really helpful. 1 - The Raise First In (RFI) Ranges show which hands to play in each position when all other players have folded to you. These provide your Pre-Flop Ranges depending on your position, as explained below. RAISE: bet more than the player who raised. 00. Here’s a screenshot from the Vs 3bet sheet in his course: The 4-bet size he recommends is circled at the bottom: 2. R a i s e F i r s t-I n (R F I ) UTG UTG+1 UTG+2 Lojack . As a master of exploitative play in large-field tournaments, Darren Elias is uniquely qualified to provide special preflop charts that will help you adjust your strategy like a top pro. Each of the following 5 strategies are general in nature, but I’ve centered them around the example above to help you understand how to apply them in practice. 2. Good equity against a calling range. ACP is one of the most loyal poker rooms with regard to regulars. Memorizing preflop poker charts may seem like a daunting task, but there are a few approaches you can take to make the process more practical and enjoyable. This chart details the Hole Cards that we believe you should open with in an 8-max No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament without antes – such as Match Poker Online’s™ Battle Royale tournament. 5% ante. Preflop range charts outline the hands that constitute a winning shoving range. Raise your edge and know the exact EV of the decision to make the best GTO snapshove runout range analysis and practiccalle them in nash and. Suited wheel aces will almost always have a at least 35% equity against your opponent’s 4-bet calling range. The amount of the time that. 000x. Win the Max in Live Games; Learn Strategies Alongside Brad Owen; Access the One-of-a-Kind Live Cash Preflop Mastersheet; GET THE DETAILS. Also, if somebody has a 6 person NL holdem chart (preferably made by the same people who did the 10 person chart), it'd be awesome. Flop Action. Flop Sims + 175,000 Turns with all rivers. It includes RFI and facing RFI & 3bet, but it doesn't cover facing limpers. 1% 27. This free Preflop Guide includes 8 easy-to-read charts and crucial tips that will help you play like. Get instant access to extensive preflop charts (for cash games and tournaments) when you join the Upswing Lab training course and community. They are dependent on your position, explained below. 42s. Looking at the starting hands chart above, three things should be clear: The stronger your hand (i. Preflop + Poker GTO Nash Charts (Free / $74. The exact opening ranges in the charts for each position are the following: Lojack (MP): 16. zenith. The big blind raises to $35. ICM is used to determine how much a chip stack is worth in real dollars. Browse GTO solutions. (The small blind’s equity needed to limp in tournaments is usually around 20%. These GTO preflop charts are calculated rake free. This chart details the Hole Cards that we believe you should open with in an 8-max No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament without antes – such as Match Poker Online’s™ Scrap game. The advice here is a reflection of my own experience as a non-professional player learning the ropes in 2022, with all the tips. In this lesson, you will find the pre-flop ranges for playing from UTG in a No-Limit 6-max game. Cutting Edge. 5% ante. As more players enter the pot, the equity of your range decreases. Attack weakness right away 3. Easy way to improve your win-rate. Find the best strategies and tips for winning at poker with this comprehensive guide. 1/3 Imagine two guys play HU poker. • Don't follow the ranges blindly. Starting hand selection may differ slightly from pundit to pundit but these are a solid outline for a beginner to embrace. This preflop checklist contains just 6 things that will keep you focused on the right information preflop and help you decide if you should fold, limp-behind, or attack with a big raise. I saw him briefly mention in a video that because GTO assumes everyone at the table is playing 100%. I show you almost every scenario you will face. For example, suppose an opponent is only opening a 12% range (pictured below) from middle position (MP) and you are on the. The pot is $28,400. 1. Sky Matsuhashi. You then simply navigate through the dropdown menu to select the stack depth, position, and action sequence. Preflop in poker simply means “before the flop”. Preflop Charts. 57. It covers tournament poker strategy like. Looking at the preflop charts, I can memorize the opening charts no problem. There are 169 hand combinations in Texas Hold’em, and they can fit nicely on a 13×13 board, with suited hands in the top right, offsuit hands in the bottom left, and pocket pairs running through the top left to bottom right diagonal. I’m gonna show you 4 rows from the “RFI Early Position” tab of the sheet. The cutoff can also re-raise, or fold. Would recommend to anyone looking to improve their 6+ game. Here is how I think about when to 3-bet or fold preflop. 2%. no rake gamesIn the hand from Hustler Casino Live, popular poker vlogger Mariano flopped a straight flush vs stream regular Andy’s nut flush. Think of pre-flop poker as a pie chart. As far as 6-max, just shorten up the starting hand ranges for opens. Bookmark us for updates, deals and latest news on the game. 72s. Training. While these charts will work well in most situations, you should adjust. These charts assume your opponents play a GTO strategy, which will rarely be the case. Jan 9, 2020. Defend Your Big Blind Less Often in Multiway Pots. I'm playing with a simple website idea to display GTO preflop ranges. Squeeze and vs squeeze ranges to help you navigate multiway spots. *Some poker rooms allow you to straddle for more than double the big blind, in which case a Button straddle would more than double the stakes. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the best starting hands in PLO involve 4-cards, Ten and higher. When facing a pot sized opening raise of 3x the blinds from the SB, we in the BB will be risking 2 blinds to win 4 (our 1 blind already posted, and the 3 blinds the SB as put in the pot). Preflop charts – no. These are all the possible hands you could be dealt in No-Limit Holdem. Get free preflop charts here and start playing like a pro before the flop. This module is designed to access every possible BB flatting or 3bet spot versus multiple sizings with and without cold callers. Here at Red Chip Poker, we have therefore developed a collection of such 6-max charts. txt files compatible with PioViewer, Pro Poker Tools and more!Yes, 55 is a good hand to try to get a cheap look at the flop with. 6-Max GTO Preflop Charts. Get The Preflop Advantage now! GTO Preflop 6-Max Cash Game Ranges. Pocket KingsStudying this baseline chart is a necessity for developing a winning strategy in poker. The small blind RFI assumes a 3bb. With the tough poker climate of 2017, a good pre-flop strategy is mandatory for long term success. Can I practice GTO ranges with mixed strategy in the preflop exercise? Not yet, but it is in the roadmap. They are like the bumpers at a bowling alley--very useful when needed but a hindrance later. The starting hand charts provide you with an excellent foundation for building a winning strategy. I would recommend investing in From The Ground Up on Run It Once. Bonus: PLO University Preflop Charts. Your response to a 3-bet should be a fold in 55-60% of cases. blind situation. tiggs • 5 yr. These preflop charts are designed to give you a fundamentally sound starting point for your preflop decisions. This is the more theoretically sound strategy that might be a bit tougher to execute. Hero. Push/fold should be utilized when your stack becomes short — around 15 big blinds (bb) or fewer. Opening ranges vary with how deep you are. I think that having both of these charts available would help me play tornaments, and help. Note: The Postflop Playbook is the revamped version of Upswing's most popular course, The Postflop Game Plan, which over 49,323 poker players have gone through. I flick through the app’s opening, 3-bet, and 4-bet ranges before every session to quickly refresh my. Training. The best way to approach RFI is to pick a range of hands which you believe is strong Use these preflop charts when playing at a 9-handed table 40bbs deep with a 12. The old-school approach to multiway pots was to enter with many speculative hands hoping to win big when you hit. Online Cash Ranges Live Cash Ranges MTT Ranges Advanced Solver Ranges Advanced Tourney Ranges Heads-Up Ranges Preflop Charts Guide. 50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:59:03 ET - 2009/02/26. ICM can be used at any stage in the tournament to determine. It describes a situation where the action is folded around to us preflop, and we raise, being the first player to enter the pot voluntarily. 4% 66. Gets updated regularly. Try not to be afraid of. 5% ante. Limiting Use of Reference Materials. Here is an example-hand to demonstrate how a 5-bet bluff works: Full Tilt Poker Game #10852419747: Table Worron (deep hu) - $0. 5% ante. Use these preflop charts when playing Spin & Go tournaments or heads up short stacked. Eliminate your leaks with hand history analysis. But it doesn’t take long to realise that preflop decisions are more complicated in PLO than in Hold’em. If you happen to have an exceptional memory, then attempting to memorize the charts outright can be a viable option for you. FOLD: end your involvement in the hand and pay no more chips into the pot. 2 - The Facing a Raise (vs RFI) Ranges show which hands to play from each position when one player acting before you raises first in. Preflop. Learn how to play fundamentally sound poker preflop by signing up to get my preflop charts. Far too many small stakes players use the wrong preflop charts, and when they do use the correct ones, fail to deviate from them in necessary situations. ago. Log Out. When you’re reading an article from the Upswing Poker blog, or looking at our free preflop charts, suited hands will be denoted with an “s”, while offsuit hands are denoted with an “o”. The best way to approach RFI is to pick a range of hands which you believe is strongUse these preflop charts when playing at a 9-handed table 40bbs deep with a 12. Most ranges are linear, which means they begin at AA then simply get weaker, however, some ranges are capped so at the same time they’re polar (that means it’s largely large arms or. Download now! Using Blockers to Construct River Bluffing Ranges . Download it for free and improve your PLO skills today. Raise to Gain Initiative. 22. (I. The question or whether to hold’em or fold’em is the first and most important decision you will make.