Hello,

assume MP opened with 3BB, I am on BTN and my equity against his opening range is about 50%.

Are there any "rules of thumb" on which hands are best played in 3bet pots and which hands are better suited for flat calling? What should one consider when deciding between calling and 3betting?

I am specifically interested in situations when the villain doesn't have a high fold-to-3bets%, so that I wouldn' have a significant fold equity from 3betting.

If I call, I will be paying 3BB to play a 7.5 BB pot IP vs. a villain who will have initiative. I will likely be facing a cbet.

If I 3bet, I will be paying 9BB to play a 19.5 BB pot IP vs a villain who will not have initiative. This means I will probably have more opportunities for bluffing postflop, but it will be more difficult to extract value.

I am not sure how to translate this knowledge (assuming it is correct at all) into a decision between a flat call and a 3bet. Are there any examples of hands (apart from AA-QQ,KK) which are best played in a 3bet pot, and any examples of hands which are best flat called, and why? I just don't understand the needed line of thinking - because having initiative vs. a stronger range vs. not having initiative vs. a weaker range seem to just cancel out each other's advantages.

Thanks

#1. calculate if a 3! will get the blinds to fold...thus creating a heads-up hand.

#2. If you determine that you can get heads-up a larger percentage of the time...... what will villain do pre and post flop. Are you up against an agro-tard or a weak-tightie?

#3. If villain can find folds......it does not matter what two cards you hold. Capisce?

#4. If villain is a playah.... fold or hit the flop hard.

edit: I play limit now mostly so my advice may not be current NL strat. But in limit.... cold-calling PF is a rare occurrence. Fold>>>>>>>>raise

If you want to be balanced, you need some light 3-bets to balance the QQ+/AK value hands. In position, pick a few 'bluff' combos from A5s-A2s, ATs, A9s, 87s-54s. Usually flat with JJ-77 and some suited Broadways and AQ.
The light 3-bets tend to do pretty well against villain's flatting range (middle pairs), but pretty badly against his 4-betting range. (So you usually fold to them to a 4-bet).

i look at my hand and look at him and decide if i am going to be outplayed or i can outplay him in these spots where our hands are likely to be close.
that will make my decision.