I play 2/5 and 5/10 NL with average stacks between 100-200bb
Problem I run into is deciding whether or not to three bet hands like AJo, KQo, etc....
What type of player should I be three betting with these hands? Just LAGS?
Should I even be flatting these hands vs tight players with tight opening ranges?
I feel like flatting is bad vs LAGS or spewy players because I am gonna miss flop most of the time and have to fold. But three betting puts me in some awkward spots post flop and also leaves me open to being four bet off the hand.
So much goes into this. Are you in position or oop? How do your opponents respond pre flop; do they fold too much? Call too much? 4bet? How do they play post flop in bloated pots?
In general, you want to 3bet light for value with hands like AJ or KQ against players who both open a wide range and respond to 3bets by calling too much. This is not always a LAG like you describe. In fact, against a LAG who 4bets often 3betting a wide value range would not be good.
Think about player types and how they are likely to respond and then tailor your ranges to exploit the opponents weaknesses. Post more specific HHs when you run into trouble.
Which hands to select for 3bet depends on position and villain, players behind us. AJo may be great 3b SBvsBTN or stupid MPvsUTG.
When constructing linear 3b range we always look for suited hands that have better playability, esp oop where we can expect more calls and less 4bets.
Ofc linear 3bet is better against players who often call and rarely 4bet, but rarely we have good enough read on this.
In general, you want to 3bet light for value with hands like AJ or KQ against players who both open a wide range and respond to 3bets by calling too much. This is not always a LAG like you describe. In fact, against a LAG who 4bets often 3betting a wide value range would not be good.
+1.
Against a LAG we actually would generally be 3 betting a polarized range. I hope you see why.
3 bet that non polarized range vs stations and fitnfolders.
Against a LAG we actually would generally be 3 betting a polarized range. I hope you see why.
3 bet that non polarized range vs stations and fitnfolders.
In addition to the preflop dynamic vs a lag, there are post flop consequences.
By moving strong parts of our flatting range to our 3! Range we weaken our flatting range. Specifically against a Lag we will want a decent flatting range that can flop well enough to call down.
AJo is not a super strong hand in the majority of FR situations. It would even be very non-standard for me to 3! 3-handed; hell, even HU I mix in flats a significant %age of the time.
If it plays poorly in a flatting situation, then it's going to play even worse as a 3! hand (unless it's just a pure blocker bluff, unless villain needs to be folding preflop so often that you make immediate profit off the play). You're only going to be isolating yourself against a stronger range, pushing out players behind you (who are generally trash at poker) who would improve your pot odds on hitting your 30% hands, and you're creating reverse board coverage effects (A-high flops are generally bad for flatting ranges, so AJo helps with that; T-high flops are generally bad for the 3!er and 3!ing AJo doesn't help with that).
Good hands to expand your 3!ing range against loose openers is things like T9s, AQs and JJ. But even if 3!ing "light" is the sexy adjustment to make, sometimes the opener and/or players left to act behind are bad enough in single raised pots that you're best off flatting a very strong range. It all depends on what you're trying to exploit, obviously.
