Some players three-bet way too wide a range and some way too tight a range. Both
extremes can be very🌧️ exploitable and understanding the underlying reasons behind
three-betting will help you do it much more effectively. There are essentially two
🌧️ types of three-bets:
The Value 3-Bet
The Light 3-Bet
The Value Three-Bet
The value
three-bet is the “traditional” three-bet and is the same as🌧️ any other value bet. You
believe you have the best hand, and you’d like to get more money into the🌧️ pot while you
have the advantage. Which hands deserve to be value three-bet is up for discussion. It
really depends🌧️ on a variety of factors – the table dynamics, your table image, your
opponent’s image/playing tendencies, etc.
The key ingredient is🌧️ that you have a hand
that figures to be best against your opponent’s range.
Against a standard
tight-aggressive player your three-bet🌧️ for value might be fairly tight – something like
AA-JJ and A-K.
If instead you’re up against a loose-aggressive player or🌧️ a fish who you
know likes to call reraises light, your range might be much wider – something like
AA-99,🌧️ AK-AQ.
The problem with three-betting too tight a range is that you risk
becoming predictable. If you play with the same🌧️ opponents they’ll catch on that when
you three-bet you have a monster hand.
If they can accurately put you on four🌧️ to five
hands every time you re-raise they’ll be able to make perfect decisions against
you.
The “Light” Three-Bet
The “light” three-bet🌧️ is when you reraise a pre-flop raiser
with a hand that does not rate as the best at the moment🌧️ but that still has value for a
variety of reasons.
A light three-bet is a semi-bluff. Basically your first goal is🌧️ to
win the pot immediately. You would like your opponent to fold to your reraise.
Thus,
your ideal opponent to three-bet🌧️ light is a player who is loose with their opening
raises.
You know that they raise light and thus you can🌧️ reraise them light, because you
know that for the most part they are going to have to fold. This will🌧️ win you the pot
without even seeing a flop.
How 3-Betting Light Helps Your Image
If you have the image
of a🌧️ super tight player, you’ll have a hard time getting paid off on your big hands.
That’s because they know you’re🌧️ tight and that if you’re coming out firing, you must
have a hand.
When you start three-betting light your image of🌧️ being a nit will be
thrown out the window.
Let’s say you three-bet a guy with 8♠ 7♠ and end up🌧️ showing down
two pair. Now your opponents will start to look at you in an all-new light.
They’ll be
thinking, “Man,🌧️ this guy isn’t a nit after all. He just three-bet me with eight-high. I
am going to call that guy🌧️ down more often. He’s clearly FOS.”
Three-betting counters
whatever tight image you might have established and allows you to play a🌧️ more rounded
game. If your opponents believe you’re full of it then you’re going to make thin value
bets all🌧️ day long until they readjust.
How to Balance Your Range with
3-Bets
Three-betting light is essential to making sure your re-raises are🌧️ more
balanced. If you only three-bet a tight range – say AA-QQ and A-K – your opponents know
that when🌧️ you three-bet you can only have one of four hands.
Obviously, that’s not a
balanced range. When your re-raising range is🌧️ so narrow your opponents can always make
the right decisions.
When you add the light three-bet to your arsenal your opponent
🌧️ can’t be as certain what you hold. You could have Aces or you could have 4♠ 3♠. They’re
left guessing.🌧️ And when they’re left guessing you leave the door open for them to make
mistakes.
They’ll end up calling you when🌧️ you have the goods and folding when you have
nothing.
What’s a Good Hand to Three-Bet Light With?
There is no one🌧️ “good hand” for
three-betting but there are certain types of hands better than others. When you
understand that the light🌧️ three-bet is basically a semi-bluff it makes it easy to
determine which is which.
Your goal is to win the hand🌧️ without showdown but obviously
that isn’t always going to work. So when you’re called you want to have a hand🌧️ that can
play poker on the flop.
Suited connectors are great light three-bet hands because those
times you do get called🌧️ you can flop a strong draw and potentially stack a guy. This
just isn’t going to happen if you’re three-betting🌧️ T♥ 4♣.
Another way to look at it:
The best hands to three-bet light with are at the very top of🌧️ your folding range. Say,
for example, that a good player in the cut-off raises and the worst possible hand you
🌧️ could profitably call with is A9o.
Your best possible three-bet light hand would then
be A8o. But if I can’t call🌧️ with A8o, why can I three-bet with it?
Your Goal is to Make
Your Opponent Fold
It’s different because when you call🌧️ with it you’re playing
post-flop poker. You either have to hit and somehow extract money from a worse hand or
🌧️ you have to make him fold after the flop.
When you 3-bet instead your goal is to make
your aggressive opponent🌧️ fold. But if he doesn’t you still have your hand strength to
fall back on. Which is why we choose🌧️ the very top of our folding range to three-bet.
It’s our back-up plan.
If we think about our opponent’s likely calling🌧️ range it makes
perfect sense. Our opponent is going to four-bet AK and AA-JJ and he’s going to call
with🌧️ AQ and some smaller pocket pairs. Everything else he’ll fold.
When we three-bet
the best portion of the range we would🌧️ normally fold we have that back-up. If our
opponent is going to call with TT we can still flop an🌧️ ace and win. If we choose to
three-bet a hand like 56o we’d have to hit both our cards to🌧️ beat TT. So we pick the
hand with the best possible equity should we be called.
How often does our opponent
🌧️ have to fold to make our three-bet profitable? If your re-raise is 3x the original
raise your opponent only needs🌧️ to fold 66% of the time to make your re-raise
profitable.
That means instantly profitable with no more streets. If your🌧️ opponent
folds to more than 66% of your 3-bets then the second you 3-bet him it’s a profitable
play. That🌧️ doesn’t even take into account those times he calls and you either out play
him on the flop or you🌧️ hit your hand and win.
So take a look at your opponent’s “fold
to three-bet” stats before three-betting.
Don’t 3-Bet Too Much!
Remember,🌧️ most of the
value from the light three-bet stems from the fact that it’s a semi-bluff. You’re
relying on your🌧️ opponent to fold the majority of the time.
If you start three-betting
too often, your opponents will stop giving respect to🌧️ your three-bets and start looking
you up more often.
When that happens your fold equity is gone and there is less🌧️ value
in three-betting light. Now would be a good time to switch gears and benefit from your
confused opponents paying🌧️ you off light.
3-Bet = Value
The primary reason to three-bet
is for value. Everything else is just a product of that.🌧️ You want to get value out of
your good hands.
But if your three-betting range is too tight your opponent will🌧️ adapt
and just fold every time. Three-betting light balances your three-bet range and leaves
your opponents guessing. When they’re left🌧️ guessing, they make mistakes. And those
mistakes are numbers added to your bankroll at the end of the night.
How to🌧️ Size Your
3-Bets Properly
As mentioned above there are two reasons to three-bet:
1) for value,
i.e. you have a good hand🌧️ (AA, KK etc.) and would like to get value from worse hands,
or
for value, i.e. you have a good hand🌧️ (AA, KK etc.) and would like to get value from
worse hands, or 2) as a bluff/semi-bluff – in which🌧️ case it’s known as a light
three-bet
When you three-bet light you’re making a semi-bluff at the pot. You know that
🌧️ your opponent is raising light, you can three-bet him light and have him fold, winning
you the pot immediately.
This leads🌧️ to you winning more pots without showdown as well
as getting action on your real, three-bet-for-value-type hands.
Bet Sizing Not Equal🌧️ to
Hand Strength
But although the practice of three-betting light is commonplace these
days, many players still routinely size their three-bets🌧️ incorrectly.
Some players size
their re-raises on the strength of their own hand. They bet a bigger amount when they
have🌧️ a weak hand and want their opponent to fold and bet less when they are betting for
value.
This is incorrect🌧️ thinking. A skilled opponent will pick up on this and exploit
you. Your bet sizing should not be determined by🌧️ the strength of your hand.
Position
Dictates Everything
So if hand strength isn’t the deciding factor, what is? The answer
is position.🌧️ You hear it over and over again – position dictates everything in
poker.
For determining the size of your three-bet it’s🌧️ no different. When you’re in
position you can get away with a smaller three-bet size.
This is because you will be
🌧️ last to act for the entirety of the hand. Since acting last is such a huge advantage,
you can punish🌧️ the out-of-position player often, regardless of your hand strength.
When
you are in position a good re-raise size would be around🌧️ 3x to 3.5x the original raise.
It’s big enough that your opponent does not have an automatic call, yet it🌧️ doesn’t risk
an unnecessary amount of chips.
An example:
Six-maxR$1/$2 No-Limit game; effective
stacksR$200. You’re on the button with A♥ Q♥. Action🌧️ is folded to the cut-off, who
makes itR$6.
You re-raise toR$18. Your opponent calls and you see a flop of J♥🌧️ T♠ 3♦.
Your opponent checks and you betR$24. He folds.
Since you’re in position you gain
information with him acting before🌧️ you. This is such a massive advantage that you do
not have to raise as much as if you were🌧️ out of position.
Up Your 3-Bets Out of
Position
When you’re out of position, life is always tough. Your decisions need to🌧️ be
made without the advantage of knowing your opponent’s action.
Since he always has the
last say he’s in control and🌧️ you’re at a disadvantage. To make up for this you always
want to reraise more from out of position.
Whereas 3x🌧️ the original raise was fine in
position, out of position you want to make it 4x or more. You essentially🌧️ would like to
charge him for the privilege of playing in position against you.
When you’re in
position, you don’t mind🌧️ seeing a flop and letting your edge manifest itself. When
you’re out of position, you want to discourage him from🌧️ calling as you will often be
left guessing post-flop.
Giving your opponent good odds and position is a mistake so
let🌧️ them know you mean business with larger out-of-position raises. The larger raise
helps negate your positional disadvantage.
Another example:
Six-maxR$1/$2 No-Limit
game;🌧️ effective stacksR$200. You have Q♥ Q♣ in the big blind. Action is folded to the
button, who makes itR$6. You🌧️ make itR$26.
TheR$26 bet is going to get the job done a
lot more effectively than theR$18 bet is. You want🌧️ to minimize your time playing out of
position, so with the bigger re-raise you’re saying, “Fine, if you want to🌧️ play this
pot in position, you’re going to have to pay.”
3-Bets in Multiway Pots
If you’re
re-raising a raise and a🌧️ call, you have to make your re-raises even larger. That’s
because your re-raise will have to make it through two🌧️ players instead of just one.
You
don’t want to size your 3-bet so that the original raiser calls and then the🌧️ other
caller overcalls. In that case you would have to play the hand versus two opponents –
seldom a good🌧️ idea.
When you’re in position versus a raise and a call you should add 1x
the original raise for every caller🌧️ in the pot. So if one player calls the first raise,
go 4x; if two, then 5x; etc.
If you’re out🌧️ of position and against multiple players add
1x for every caller and then at least another 1-2x the original raise🌧️ for being out of
position.
Remember: In today’s games you’ll be 3-betting fairly frequently. If you
routinely make mistakes with your🌧️ 3-bet bet sizing you make it more difficult to win.
Keep your 3-bets sized properly to your position and to🌧️ the number of players left in
the hand and you’ll make it easier on yourself in the long run.
How to🌧️ Play 3-Bet Pots
With the Lead
There’s a ton of money to be made in three-bet pots by exploiting some
very🌧️ obvious weaknesses in your opponents. If you’ve played six-max No-Limit Hold’em
online you know how aggressive the games are.
There’s very🌧️ little limping and every pot
is typically raised or even re-raised. With so much three-betting going on you’d think
everybody🌧️ had mastered play in three-bet pots. Far from it.
As we’ve discussed above
the idea behind three-betting is to counter-balance an🌧️ opponent raising a very high
percentage of his opening hands. Of those hands only a small percentage can continue on
🌧️ to more action. Meaning he’ll be raise/folding a ton of his range before the flop.
That
alone creates enough dead money🌧️ to make three-betting profitable. But that’s not the
only reason. Three-betting also balances your range.
Take the Initiative with a
3-Bet
When🌧️ you three-bet preflop and get called you have the initiative. You have the
lead in the hand and with it🌧️ comes the advantage.
You’re the one with the perceived
strong hand. You chose to re-raise and he chose to just call.🌧️ Now what happens if you
miss the flop completely?
Use that initiative. Look at the situation and think about
his likely🌧️ holdings. Know your opponent. If you know (or have a good idea) what his
three-bet calling range is, then you’ll🌧️ know exactly how much heat his hand range can
take.
Your opponent’s breaking point is the most important factor in three-bet🌧️ pots
when you have nothing. You have to know your opponent and how he plays. Get a feel for
what🌧️ kinds of hands he will felt in three-bet pots and which ones he won’t. In
three-bet pots with the lead,🌧️ you play your opponent’s cards more than your own.
An
Example
$1/$2 six-max online;R$250 effective stacks. Your opponent raises toR$6. You
three-bet🌧️ toR$18 with T♠ 8♣. He calls and everyone else folds.
Your read on your
opponent is that he is a thinking,🌧️ but not great, regular. He tends to over-estimate
his implied odds and plays too ABC.
The flop comes J♦ 3♥ 5♠.🌧️ He checks. You fireR$28.
He thinks and calls. The turn comes 2♦. He checks.
A mistake a lot of players make🌧️ here
is checking back. Checking back in this spot is lighting money on fire.
If you c-bet
that flop you have🌧️ to bet almost 100% of turns. Why? Because your opponent will be
peeling with an extremely wide one-pair range.
Think about🌧️ it. Say you raise 99 before
the flop and your opponent re-raises you. If you decide to call, are you🌧️ ever going to
fold on a jack-high board for one bet? No.
The “standard” play is to peel one street
and🌧️ hope your opponent shuts down. But when you’re the opponent, don’t slow down. Fire
that second barrel. Most of his🌧️ flop-peeling range is not strong enough to call a
second bet.
Players like this are a dime a dozen. They call🌧️ out of position, hoping to
flop a set, and when they don’t they resign themselves to calling one street and
🌧️ folding to further action.
These players are free money and are going to donate 25bb to
you every single time in🌧️ this spot. When you three-bet pre-flop and bet two streets,
your opponent is regularly going to be putting you on🌧️ a big hand.
So exploit it and
fire more second barrels. Think about your opponent’s range and his playing tendencies.
You🌧️ want to put him outside his comfort zone.
Well-Timed Aggression in the Right
Spots
Like everything in poker, this is situation and🌧️ player dependant.
You can’t just
fire every street on every board and hope your opponent folds. That just doesn’t work.
You🌧️ need well-timed aggression in the correct spots.
For example, if your opponent is
on the tighter side and only flat-calls three-bets🌧️ with JJ+, you probably shouldn’t
bother trying to barrel them off on a seven-high board. It’s just not going to
🌧️ happen.
By all means though, if the turn brings an absolutely perfect second-barrel
card like a king or an ace, then🌧️ fire a second barrel. But if it keeps coming off
bricks you should probably stop firing without a very specific🌧️ read.
Your edge
manifests itself in three-bet pots when you multi-barrel these multi-tabling, ABC TAGs
who are just hoping you’ll shut🌧️ down after you fire a c-bet.
They’re easy to spot too.
Watch how players act in three-bet pots even when you’re🌧️ not in the hand. Chances are
there are a few at every table you play it.
Put them on a range🌧️ and find the breaking
point for their hand. Then bring them to it. it’s that simple.
Related Poker Strategy
Articles:
