Quote:
Originally Posted by purloin
It's totally possible that the answer is to 3bet more often and then start flatting 4bets oop, but... I hope not, because I've never done that and the thought of starting makes me uncomfortable.
I used to be the same way and I still don't particularly like playing bloated pots, as I'm a risk-averse nit. But, to quote Phil Galfond, "a 3-bet pot is just a pot". By extension, a 4-bet pot is also just a pot, so you have to learn to get comfortable playing them.
Against players that have a 4-bet range that isn't solely the nuts, you should have a flatting range. The spots don't come up particularly often, especially in the micros, but I flat 4-bets OOP sometimes, usually with AKo, AJs+, KQs and QQ-99, and hands like that, in SB vs BTN. (i.e. flat with hands that have decent equity when villain's (4-bet) range still contains some weak stuff, but that are in pretty bad shape against a 6-bet jamming range (KK+/AKs). When facing a 4-bet, you often get odds only requiring you to bink the flop 25-30% of the time to break even, so it would often be a mistake to fold something that could flop TPGK or a decent set/overpair. e.g. if you 3-bet AJs and villain 4-bets, you feel stupid when you fold and he shows A3s or ATo, as not only does he win the pot with a hand you crush, but you could have stacked him if you'd both hit the flop.
If your opponents
never 4-bet bluff (and always have QQ+/AK), or they make large/committing 4-bets that destroy your pot odds, it's perfectly fine to fold AQs or even AKo/QQ to the 4-bet.