There are 3 main reasons why you want to 3 bet. Before you 3 bet you should have one of
🍌 them in mind:
For value
As a bluff
To set up a post-flop steal (or pre-flop
steal)
Value
We 3 bet for value because we 🍌 believe our hand to be stronger than our
opponents hand, so we want to milk as much money out of 🍌 our opponent as possible. The
best players to target with value 3 bets are those with a low fold-to-3 bet. 🍌 This means
that they will call your 3-bet with a decent amount of worse hands. A common mistake is
to 🍌 3 bet a hand which may seem like a strong hand, but against the range that villain
continues with, is 🍌 relatively weak.
In a 6-max game, especially at lower stakes, you
should only be 3-betting premium hands for value: 99+, AJss+. 🍌 Please note that this
range will widen if you face a loose opponent. So if you're facing up against an
🍌 opponent who's going to call all of your 3-bets no matter what hand he is holding, then
you need to 🍌 widen your 3bet range, 3bet more hands and raise it up more.
Generally you
want to 3 bet less often for 🍌 value against early position opens. 3 betting vs early
opens looks very strong and you may end up isolating yourself 🍌 against a range you don’t
do well against. Even with the top end of your value range, you may be 🍌 getting folds
more often than you’d like, and flatting becomes a very viable option. Even hands as
strong as QQ 🍌 and AKo, you can strongly consider flatting vs an UTG open-raise.
To
summarize you want to be value 3 betting against 🍌 players with a 'low fold to 3 bet
(Ft3bet)' and a high 'Attempt to steal (ATS)'.
You want to be 3 🍌 betting a value range
of premium hands, and rarely/never bluffing. Flatting is often a good option against
early position opens.
Bluffs
You 🍌 want to target players with a high Ft3bet and a high
ATS. If a player is not folding often enough 🍌 to 3 bets then you will not have a
profitable 3 bet bluff. A high ATS means villain’s range will 🍌 be wider in general and
he will find it harder to combat 3 bets.
Most often you will want to play 🍌 3 bet poker
as a bluff against positions where your opponent's range is going to be traditionally
wide, i.e - 🍌 BU, CO, and SB opens. However, a better player might perceive your 3 bets
to be lighter against these positions 🍌 and will play back more frequently. Against
better opponents you can make advanced plays such as 3 bet bluffing vs 🍌 UTG or MP opens.
They won’t expect you to be bluffing here and may make some very tight folds.
The hands
🍌 you 3 bet bluff with should be those not quite strong enough to call, but still with
some potential. Hands 🍌 like Q9s, T8s, Axs, Kxs. If a hand is strong enough to call, you
should not be 3 betting it, 🍌 for the reasons given in the KQo example. If villain is the
type who will adjust by 4 betting light, 🍌 you will also want to include some of the top
value hands in your 3 betting range. 3 betting the 🍌 top end and bottom end of your range
is referred to as 3 betting a polarized range.
You will also want 🍌 to 3 bet bluff
in-position more often than out-of-position, simply because you will have more You will
also want to 🍌 3 bet bluff in-position more often than out-of-position, simply because
you will have more fold equity in position.
To Set up 🍌 a Steal
Perhaps villain is the
type that calls a lot of 3bets but plays fit-or-fold on the flop. You can 🍌 3 bet with
the intention of taking it down on the flop. You can 3 bet pre-flop with both bluffs
🍌 and value-hands, but it will possibly be easier and higher EV to do it with a
merged-value range. (You won’t 🍌 lose EV by not flatting your medium value hands when
villain has a low Ft3bet)
In slightly more advanced games you 🍌 can also 3 bet with the
intention of setting up a pre-flop steal. Perhaps you know villain is going to 🍌 be 4bet
bluffing you a ton, so you can 3bet with the intention of 5 bet jamming as a bluff.
🍌 Good hands to choose are those that have the best equity if they do end up getting
called, eg pocket 🍌 pairs like 88, or Axs type hands. The situations you can profitably
do this at the micro-stakes are somewhat rare, 🍌 but they do exist.
I am ready to take my
poker game to the next level! via Email via Facebook
The preflop 🍌 3bet/4bet/5bet 'mind
game' battles:
This is an entire pre-flop game in itself. The objective is to adjust
the ranges you 3bet/4bet/5bet 🍌 in an attempt to find an edge against your opponent’s own
3bet/4bet/5bet ranges.
The idea behind the 3bet/4bet/5bet game can be 🍌 demonstrated
using a simple example:
Let’s suppose player A opens on the button. Player B who is in
the big-blind knows 🍌 player A likes to open an extremely wide range from the Button.
Player B decides to 3 bet bluff.
player A 🍌 likes to open an extremely wide range from
the Button. Player B decides to 3 bet bluff. Player A however, 🍌 by now, knows that
player B knows that he is open-raising wide. Player A decides player B’s 3 betting
range 🍌 is wide enough and light enough to put In a 4 bet bluff. Player B though, knows
that player A 🍌 knows his 3 bet range might be light, and decides to 5 bet bluff assuming
player A’s 4 bet range 🍌 is sufficiently light.
that player B that is open-raising wide.
Player A decides player B’s 3 betting range is wide enough 🍌 and light enough to put In a
4 bet bluff. Player B though, that player A his 3 bet range 🍌 might be light, and decides
to 5 bet bluff assuming player A’s 4 bet range is sufficiently light. Usually the
🍌 3bet/4bet/5bet game ends here, because 100bb deep the stacks will often be all-in. Just
because player A and player B 🍌 are assuming each other is light though, that doesn't
mean they are. Perhaps player B, knowing player A likes to 🍌 4 bet light, started 3
betting purely for value. Or, perhaps player A, knowing player B is capable of 5 🍌 bet
jamming light, started 4 betting purely for value. If either player had made such an
adjustment, they’d find themselves 🍌 in a very profitable spot.
For the above situation
to take place, first the correct game dynamic needs to be established. 🍌 At micro-stakes,
a dynamic conducive to 5 bet-bluff jamming is pretty rare. The majority of players
aren't 4 betting light 🍌 enough for a 5 bet-bluff to be profitable. People do 3bet light
a decent amount however, so you should still 🍌 be focusing on your 3 bet/4 bet ranges.
Usually you only want to 5 bet shove for value. This might 🍌 sound “unbalanced”, but in
reality it isn't. You are just selecting the appropriate 5 bet frequency to exploit
your opponents, 🍌 i.e 95% value 5% bluffs.
