After this post here https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...anges-1811052/, I now take ideas to build 3b/call ranges from Ed Miller's book.

Like on the other thread as a first step to build and think about these ranges. Unlike the other thread at 1/2 these will contain some amount of inbuilt exploitation, but I am happy to learn about optimal ones if you have a pointer to them that doesn't require a subscription. Any input on range composition, how to adjust them depending on the table, overarching principle around 3betting , heuristics to generate more precise ranges depending on exact positions and personal experience with today 1/2 field is welcome.

The strategy by Miller is broken down in two: what we should do against a strong raise ( a raise from a player who mainly limp and only opens premium hands -- the answer is to only 3! with KK+ and AKs) -- and what to do against a weak raise -- from a player who opens too many hands which are the ranges I will put here.

Assume we have a standard 1/2 table with little 3 betting going on, stacks are 100BB and we face a standard (for the table) weak raise between 3-5bb . Book is silent on the 3 bet sizing.

Book strategies are also simplified so that we are responding to EP,MP,LP opens regardless of where we are vs. the open

vs. EP open


vs. MP open


vs. CO open

Generally ranges should be tailored to the opening players RFI frequency. Say, versus a player who is opening 30% of hands I might 3bet 10-15% of hands, for example. Other factors may cause me to raise lower the raise frequency, eg if there’s a whale in the blinds I might call more hands, for example.

Developing raising ranges is going to be a lot more complicated than the RFI ranges where you have a single range for each position. There are a lot more factors to raising than simply position of openers. For instance if someone else calls the open then it may affect your raising range. Another situation common to low stakes is multiple limps. What range should you limp behind and what range should you raise?

I am not sure I understand your plots. Is the left plot the raising range and the right plot the calling range? Is Hero assumed to be on BTN in all plots? Some of the calls look pretty bad unless you’re on the BTN. Calling T8s in CO versus an MP open is a pretty big leak, for example.

Typically, when I am playing in a serious game, I will play 3bet or fold in all positions except BTN and BB (only in these positions I will have a calling range). There are exceptions of course. For instance if I’m in the SB and there is a whale in the BB, I may develop a SB calling range (consisting for example of pocket pairs), so that I encourage the whale to enter the pot.

That make sense. The assumption here is we are facing bad loose passive player at 1/2.

yes, I forgot to add, left is 3b, right is call, assuming there is just one open and no caller.

Also, position is we are generically EP facing an EP raise the first one. The second one is in CO and the third one is OTB.

I am getting that thinking about this ranges is much more complex now than RFI. What is an avenue to go thinking about this or read about this construction? Would you say these 3b are a good start if playing 3b/fold?

A 1/2 player you have position on is opening 30% of hands and you only three bet 1x or 1.5x every 4 orbits where he opens 11x? That seems tight. Anyone else have a better technical grasp of percentages of 3B vs a LAG IP? Probably another question for the online forum

Im saying to 3bet top 10-15% of hands versus a loose open (30% RFI). If everyone is opening fairly loose that could be 1x 3bet per 8-10 hands (roughly 1x per orbit). I don’t suspect that’s very tight, are you 3betting much more frequently than that?

Im saying to 3bet top 10-15% of ALL hands versus a loose open (30% RFI). That’s roughly a third to a half of their opening range. If everyone is opening fairly loose that could be 1x 3bet per 8-10 hands (roughly 1x per orbit). I don’t suspect that’s very tight, are you 3betting much more frequently than that?

You might be 3B the table once per orbit. But you are only 3B him once every 3 or 4 orbits since he only opens 30%

No. Im generally not 3B close to 15% in full ring. Unless a guy is opening 30% then im 3B him probably close once per orbit. Which might be too much.

If he’s opening 3 times per orbit, and you 3bet him one of those three times, then your 3b frequency versus that player is 33%. So you’re 3betting wider than you RFI in the CO. Which seems a bit strange

I want to play HU pots in position vs a player opening way too wide. Even if that means Im 3B way too wide vs him.

A couple months ago I 3B a guy 4x in one orbit

If you’re specifically playing against a guy who’s opening too wide and playing fit or fold post, you can 3bet ATC pre and just cbet a lot of flops and profit. But I don’t think the answer is to 3bet EVERY player with 100% frequency… your strategy is awful versus calling stations because they’re taking hands to showdown and your range sucks. Anyway, OP was asking for general principles to build a solid foundation for his strategy. Typically you don’t want to 3bet wider than an RFI range, especially if there are players at the table who realize what you’re doing and look to exploit you (more of a problem at higher limits).

Gotcha. I think the ranges look okay. There is probably a typo for the BTN vs CO range, as I think you want to 3bet all your AKo/AQo and probably also a bunch of AJo/KQo (though you can flat these hands as well).

I think the calling ranges are generally too wide. For instance in EP I would not be flatting an open with any suited connectors. Cut 98s/76s and the weakest suited broadways such as QTs. You are going to run into too many domination problems in loose live games where flops go multi-way, and these hands are tough to play in OOP. These hands shouldn’t even be opened in EP, much less calling an open.

I would cut the weakest stuff from the BTN flat range too, even versus a CO open. Fold the 43s/53s/64s/86s stuff. Just put solid hands like suited connectors, good suited gappers, suited aces, pps, and mix some suited broadways in your BTN flat range as well (okay to 3bet suited broadways as well versus an MP/LP open). I would add the K8s/J9s/T8s hands to the BTN flat range (again, okay to 3bet these hands too).

I like to make a guess on the openers RFI frequency (like top 30%, top 10%, etc.) and then tailor my 3bet frequency to be a fixed fraction of that frequency. I usually 3bet between 1/3 and 1/2 of the openers range. I’m not saying this is GTO or anything but it’s a good enough approximation for live raise frequencies IMO.


In a passive game I’ll mix in flats from all positions at the table with some hands that play well multi-way such as suited aces, small-to-medium pps, and suited broadways.

I then adjust away from the baseline based on other factors. For example if there’s a flat inbetween me and the opener, I will fold hands at the bottom of my flatting range, and 3bet hands at the top of the flatting range (generally continuing tighter but 3betting more frequently when I continue). If there’s an aggro player to my left, I tighten up all around and might have 0 flats in a given scenario.

In certain specific situations I will simplify to 3bet or fold. For instance, if there’s a LAG in the blinds whos 3betting a bunch, and versus a loose open in the CO, I might 3bet my entire playable range on the BTN.

One other factor you need to look at is stack size. If the opener started with $100 you probably should cut suited connector stuff out of your 3bet range and just 3bet pure value/big cards (hands that you plan to stack off with if Villain jams on top of you, and hands that can flop good top pairs).

Here is an interesting thread you may want to read OP:https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...iller-1667224/