Breaking Down 3-Betting and 4-Betting in Texas Hold’em What’s the most important strategy to learn in Texas Hold’em? There are many ways to skin a cat, but if you think about poker from a financial standpoint, you have more incentive to perform better as the pot gets larger (read our Texas Hold’em Betting Basics Guide for more). The following table shows my power rating for each initial 2-card hand in a 3-player game. The numbers are on a 0 to 40 scale. Use the top table if you have a pair, the middle table if your cards are suited, and the bottom table if your cards are unsuited.
Here we examine the more complicated concept of defending against tricky opponents who mix up their pre-flop 3 betting range.
3)Defense vs Polarised Ranges
A polarised range is one that contains both strong made hands and bluffs, but none of the hands in between. The bluff hands won’t be the weakest possible hands (like 72o) but rather hands like 75s or Q9s or 22. Hands that wouldn’t typically be considered a value-raise but still have some potential if they get called.
Assuming a 8% polarised 3bet range is equally weighted between value/bluffs we can establish that it would only have half the value hands that would appear in a merged 8% 3bet range.
As a result you are typically going to have more equity vs a polarised range than you would against the merged range.
Example:
Let’s take a medium strength hand (AJo) and see how it does against the different ranges:
Merged range.
AJo vs merged 8% range:
(Equity win tie pots won pots tied) (from pokerstove)
Hand 1: 61.707% 55.76% 05.95% 973811988 103933464.00 { 88+, AJs+, KQs, AJo+, KQo }
Hand 2: 38.293% 32.34% 05.95% 564871164 103933464.00 { AJo }
----------------------------------------------------
Polarised range.
AJ vs polarised 8% range:
(4%value – 4% random assortment of bluffs)
Hand 1: 52.035% 51.01% 01.02% 943335984 18947118.00 { TT+, AQs+, A4s-A2s, K8s-K7s, Q7s, J8s-J7s, T7s, 97s-96s, 86s, 75s-74s, AKo }
Hand 2: 47.965% 46.94% 01.02% 868058100 18947118.00 { AJo }
Assuming we were to 4bet against that polarised range however, we’d effectively be getting our opponent to fold all his bluffs and only continue with the 4% value part of his range (assuming he even continues with all of his value range). Our equity then looks like this:
Hand 0: 71.860% 70.73% 01.13% 566813712 9046254.00 { TT+, AQs+, AKo }
Hand 1: 28.140% 27.01% 01.13% 216452052 9046254.00 { AJo }
So what does this tell us?
We can see that 4betting AJ against a polarised range would often be a mistake, while flatting would quite possibly be ok. With 47% equity and position it could easily become profitable. This is assuming our opponent’s 3betting range is completely balanced; it could easily be weighted towards bluffs, making the situation even more profitable. We can deduce our first rule that we want to flat mid-strength hands vs polarised 3betters. Things like AJ/AQ /KQ or 99. Hands that do very well against our opponents bluff-range but do poorly against the range that continues to a 4bet.
If we are flatting mid-strength hands our 4betting range should logically be polarised. We can take a hand with a blocker like K5ss and 4bet it as a bluff. If we get 5bet it’s a very easy fold. If we take down the pot we’ve turned a hand we’d normally have folded into a profitable one.
The other part of our range is the strong value hands which help to balance our 4bet range. If our opponent is not perceptive and folds to 4bets a lot, we can literally have our 4betting range consisting entirely of bluffs. (Premiums like AA/KK make excellent flatting hands vs a wide polarised 3better assuming you are not using them to value 4bet). Against better opponents you need to occasionally show up with a hand like AA/KK/AK when you 4bet to prevent them from being able to insta-5bet any two cards for automatic profit. You can still flat with them occasionally though, especially if your opponent has a tendency to barrel postflop. Your 4betting range needs to be polarised but it can be weighted towards bluffs if you think your opponent is folding more often than he should.
A final point on the problem with 4betting mid-strength hands like AJ. Polarised 3betters will often be 5betting or folding. Flatting your 4bet will happen somewhat rarely. If you have to fold when re-raised, and your hand strength is irrelevant when you take the pot down, you are turning AJo into a bluff. You might aswell have 72o – the EV would be pretty much the same assuming your opponent never flats (and disregarding any card-removal effects). Of course, there is nothing wrong with bluffing. The problem arises when you bluff with a hand that may have otherwise been profitable to call. By doing so you are literally throwing EV into the muck.
Cliffs of defense vs polarised 3bets:
- Flat mid-strength hands vs wide polarised 3betters (preferabaly 8% 3bet or more, preferably weighted towards bluffs)
- 4bet polarised vs wide polarised 3betters
- 4bet more often out-of-position
- Flat more often in position
- Flat speculative hands vs very wide 3better with the intention of stealing postflop
- Don’t 4bet bluff with hands that might be profitable to call
- 4bet merged vs merged 3betters with low Fold to 3bet
- Continue to 4bet polarised against merged 3betters with high Fold to 4bet (maybe weight towards bluffs)
- Flat value hands vs merged 3betters to limit variance and maximise postflop playability
- Flat more often in position
- 4bet more often out of position
- Flat speculative hands vs very wide 3betters with the intention of stealing postflop.
I am ready to take my poker game to the next level!
4) Defense vs Merged Ranges
As demonstrated above, a merged range contains only value hands and zero bluffs. It also contains hands that your opponent thinks are value hands but are actually not; hands like 67ss and 44. You have the same options at your disposal – you can flat, you can 4bet-bluff, or you can 4bet for value.
4bet bluffing should often be used sparingly against wide merged 3betters. Often these players will be less competent than the polarised 3betters (unless they are 3betting merged because they suspect you are a fish). Given that they are 3betting for value it often doesn’t make sense in their mind to fold to a 4bet, even with hands that are not actually value-hands like 78ss.
78ss is not a value 3bet, because it’s 8 high. If a good player 3bets 78ss 100bb deep he is doing it as a bluff and folding to 4bet. Much of the time you won’t even want to 3bet a hand as nice as 78s, given that a flat-call may be profitable. When fish 3bet 78ss however, they are doing it for “value”. It doesn’t make sense in their mind to then fold to a 4bet without seeing a flop.
Overall it equates to a reduction in fold-equity with your 4bets. This is usually a pretty good reason to not 4bet bluff vs merged 3betters. Some merged 3betters will fold very often to 4bets, in which case you can still take trash hands and bluff. A lot of merged 3betters will just not be folding anywhere near enough for it to be profitable.
The value of 4betting for thin value then goes up. While 4betting a hand like AJo is often terrible vs a polarised 3better, 4betting a hand like AJ against a player who is going to continue with hands like QJss or 78ss or QKo is going to be fine.
In other words you want to merge your 4bet range vs merged 3betters with a low Ft4bet!
There are several reasons you might choose to flat against a merged 3better:
1) You want to capitalise on your postflop edge by playing in a 3bet pot rather than a 4bet pot. (The lower the stack to pot ratio, the less your skill-edge is relevant). You may be able to maximise your postflop fold-equity this way also.
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2) You have a hand that is not technically a value hand i.e 78ss, 44 and you want to call as a result of your postflop steal equity combined with your potential to hit (ie preflop float). Normally you could 4bet bluff with these hands, but against someone with a low fold to 4bet it’d be a bad idea. Flatting/folding would be a better option.
3) Your opponent is 3betting merged with the intention of 5bet jamming, and you have a hand that can’t comfortably call a 5bet but may be in good shape against your opponents 3betting range given that you also have position.
Cliffs of defense vs merged 3bets:
The 3-bet (or more specifically, light 3-betting) is an advanced concept that adds an extra weapon to a game that has likely become repetitive and stagnant, even if that current game strategy is winning you money at the tables.
3-betting will shake up a mid-stakes player's game about as much as the continuation bet did when you first found out about that when you were starting out.
This concept is going to be most useful in mid-stakes games between $50NL and $200NL.
What is 3-betting and 3-betting light?
3-betting.
First of all, what is a 3-bet before the flop?
A 3-bet is when there has been a raise and then another raise after that.
Simple enough, but let me give you one quick example to drive it home: After the SB and BB post the $1 and $2 blinds, lets say there is a raise to $8 from a player in MP. If another player in LP raises it again to $24, this is called a 3-bet.
For a quick guide to good 3bet sizing, watch the 3betting section starting at 13:39 in this bet sizing video.
As you can imagine, the guy (or girl) making the 3-bet probably has a very good hand. You would normally expect them to be holding something like QQ+ or AK to make this second raise before the flop.
You might be wondering why it's called a 3-bet if there has only been two raises. Well, the BB is actually considered to be a bet in itself, and so the first raise is the 2nd bet and the second raise is the 3-bet.
3-betting light.
As mentioned, you would expect the player making the 3-bet to have a very strong hand like QQ+ or AK. Therefore, 3-betting light is when you make a 3-bet with a less than premium hand like 67, 78 or any suited connector like that.
3-betting light is where you make a 3-bet with a less than premium hand before the flop.
Seems crazy and dangerous I know, but I'm sure you thought the same thing when you first heard about continuation betting. 3-betting light can be an incredibly +EV move when used correctly, so don't underestimate its strength.
Why 3-bet?
Players these days will make preflop raises with a wide range of hands. If a player makes a raise before the flop in LP, they could have almost any hand under the sun. That's how all decent TAGs play.
Calling these raises with a strong hand of our own (or even with a drawing hand like 78s) puts us at a disadvantage because our opponent will have the initiative in the hand. When the flop comes, we are only really looking to fold unless we hit top pair or better. Even then, we are not going to feel great about our hand.
3-betting when in position will regularly put loose raisers in a position where it is -EV to call a 3-bet because of their wide opening range. Not to mention taking away their initiative.
The advantages of 3-betting.
- Players open with a wide range of hands, which means calling 3-bets is -EV for our opponents.
- 3-betting can often be far more +EV than just calling in some cases.
- Players almost always fear AA when they face a 3-bet. This gives us tremendous leverage for the flop (so cbet!).
- You take back the initiative in the hand.
- Opponents will call you down with much weaker hands in future if they see you 3-bet so lightly (metagame strategy).
Sure, making an extra reraise before the flop is going to be pretty damn scary, especially if you are 3-betting light. However, if its going to be a +EV play you need to show some balls and play in the way that is going to make you the most money.
Don't get me wrong though, 3-betting light isn't just to try and punish the loose raisers and hope that they fold. There will be times when we get called when we 3-bet light, but that's not a problem. There are still advantages to 3-betting light when we reach the flop.
When and where to 3-bet light.
So we've discussed the advantages of the simple 3-bet, but when should you 3-bet light?
- You want to 3-bet light with mid connectors/suited connectors like 67, 78 and 89, or 1 gap suited connectors like 68 and 79.
- You should 3-bet light in position. Playing a 3-bet pot out of position is tricky (although not impossible).
- You should mostly 3-bet raisers from LP. Raisers from EP are more likely to turn up with a strong hand.
- You should try 3-betting light against TAG (Tight-Aggressive) and semi-TAG players.
An optimum spot to 3-bet light is when a TAG from LP makes a raise when you are on the button or in the CO.
Apologies for the God-awful diagram, but you should get the idea. These sort of players are likely to be raising with a wide range of hands in this position, and so are fully capable or folding when they come up against aggression. This is why 3-betting gives us an edge.
An important point to remember is that you do not want to 3-bet light against players who are either:
- Super tight and are only going to raise with supreme hands. Hence our 3-bet definitely gets called.
- Super loose and will call regardless. We lose all of our fold equity in the hand with these players.
This is not the only ever spot that you can 3-bet, but if you keep these guidelines in mind you should be able to get a feel for when it's a +EV spot to 3-bet.
How to 3-bet.
In a nutshell, when you 3-bet light you ideally want your opponent to fold. This gives you an instant and nicely-sized pot and will usually force your opponent to tighten up the hands they open with from late position.
If we get called and miss the flop, we are almost always in the perfect situation to make a continuation bet and take down then pot. So don't be afraid to make that cbet, it's a +EV move over the long run. That's the basics of it, but allow me to explain a little further.
Hands not to 3-bet light with.
The type of hands that you do not want to 3-bet light with are lower tier broadway hands like; KQ, KJ QJ and also weaker aces like AJ (definitely not rag aces either). The problem is that if you are 3-betting with these cards, the hands that your opponent is going to call with are going to have you dominated (e.g. AQ+, JJ+).
However, if you have a lower suited connector like 78s, you still have two 'free' cards that you can do damage with. It also makes post-flop play easier as you are less likely to get tied in with a marginal hand where you hold something like top pair weak kicker.
Stick to 3-betting premiums (QQ+, AK) and lower suited connectors (56 - 9T) only.
You are better off calling with less than premium broadway hands rather than 3-betting with them preflop.
What to do on the flop if you are called.
If you miss the flop, make a continuation bet of about 2/3 the size of the pot. Simple as that.
A pot size bet is unnecessarily large in a 3-bet pot. 2/3 does the job and saves us money for when it doesn't work out.
The beauty of 3-betting is that it gives you supreme power in the hand. Your opponent is always going to have the fear that you have pocket Aces or pocket Kings at the forefront of their mind, so take advantage of that fear. If on the odd occasion you get called, check/call on the turn and be done with the hand. The majority of the time a good continuation bet will work wonders though.
If on the other hand you catch a piece of the flop but nothing worth value-betting, checking and calling may be the best option. However, a lot of the time you are going to either have a strong hand or nothing at all, and in both of these situations you will want to cbet.
3-betting light example.
Let's say our opponent is 26/18 and raises frequently from late position. This is a simple example:
SB: $200
BB: $200
UTG: $200
MP: $200
CO: $200
Hero (BTN): $200
BB: $200
UTG: $200
MP: $200
CO: $200
Hero (BTN): $200
Pre Flop: ($3) Hero is BTN with 7 8
1 fold, MP raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero raises to $30, 2 folds
1 fold, MP raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero raises to $30, 2 folds
Texas Hold'em 3 Bet
Flop: ($66) 2 J 6 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $45, MP folds
MP checks, Hero bets $45, MP folds
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Our opponent here clearly made a poor call when we 3-bet, as we represented a very strong hand like QQ+ or AK, so the chances are that he called with a hand like AJ+ and hoped for the best.
Texas Holdem 3 Bet
Even if our opponent did hold a hand like QQ or AJ, it is very difficult for them to call for the fear of us holding Aces or Kings, which is why the continuation bet brings home so much money due to the 3-bet before the flop.
Evaluation of 3-betting light.
This article is one of the longest I have ever written, yet I still feel that it could have been a bit meatier. Congratulations if you made it this far, and I hope most of it made sense and you can understand the theory behind 3-betting lightly and how it can be profitable.
Just be sure not to abuse 3-betting and you will be fine. 3-betting and 3-betting lightly can be very +EV in the right spots, but they can do a lot of damage to your stack if you are not careful with them. I'd recommend dropping down a level to experiment with 3-betting and to find your feet with it.
It's definitely a skill that is worth perfecting and adding to your game as a mid-stakes player (or for when you reach those levels).
PS. Don't forget to cbet if you miss the flop.
Texas Holdem 3 Bet Range
Related articles.
SplitSuit's When 3Bets Go Wrong (pt. 1) video looks at 9 different hand histories where Hero's 3bet gets called (or when another player 4bets). It's an excellent strategy video for playing in tricky 3bet spots.
Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.
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