One of the changes I've noticed since getting back into poker recently is that at least online something like 4x the RFI amount seems to be standard when 3-betting out of SB and BB.

Do solvers favor this across all realistic 100 BB preflop scenarios or does it depend on:

1. The RFI size being in the new standard size of 2-2.5 BB, and/or
2. Rake?


Or to use a concrete example, in a live time charge game where standard opens are 3x, are 4x OOP 3-bets still solver approved? What about with 4x opens?

To me it feels like they would tighten your 3-betting range in both blinds to degree exploitable by button openers, but IDK. Not trying to fight the trend just curious if there is some public domain solver work that illuminates it a bit.

4x is pretty small still generally.
Just what solvers came up with, 11-12bb from SB, 12-13bb from BB vs 2.5x ish opens

Is it rake dependent at all?

Seems like a larger 3-bet size with a tighter range would particularly benefit with high rakes.

Happens across rake structures

Not really. Even though bigger sizes allow you to “dodge the rake“, your opponent will also be 4betting more and calling less if rake is high. And this is actually something that makes you want to 3bet smaller.

These 2 effects cancel each other out, and the optimal 3bet size stays around 4-5x.