Irony at it's finest.

Semi-grunching.

When you are contemplating 3-betting you need to start with the same analysis that you start with whenever you are thinking of making any bet or raise - what is Villain's calling range. This will enable you to determine whether you are 3-betting for value or as a bluff. In order to figure out Villain's calling range, you need to figure out what his opening range is first, since he can't call (or 4-bet or fold) anything that he didn't raise with in the first place.

You can broadly posit 3 reads for Villain in a 3-betting situation:

(1) Villain raises a narrow range. If Villain is only raising premium hands (AA-QQ/AK) then there is very little that you can bet for value. At the same time, there is nothing that you can bluff with, since he is never folding any of that range. One thing you have to think about when using this read is Villain's positional awareness. Villain may be in this category in any position (i.e. he is very passive) or this may be his range when he is in EP only.

(2) Villain raises a wider range, most of which he will continue with after you 3-bet. In this case, Villain's range has expanded to hands that he will not 4-bet with, which widens your value range. For example, if Villain is raising with AJ+, 77+. Now you can add JJ-QQ to your value range. If he'll also raise/call AT and KQ, you can add AQ and TT to your value range. If Villain is raising even wider and he can't let go of hands to a 3-bet, play with pokerstove and see how wide your value range can be. Before you 3-bet though, think about how Villain plays post-flop in a 3-bet pot. Will he play fit/fold? Will he peel the flop with an overcard to his pair? You don't want to negate a positive postflop play with a big mistake postflop, such as a futile bluff, or a value-cutting bet, when you miss. Also think about how you will handle a 4-bet. The hands you are adding to your range cannot handle a 4-bet, so it may be better to keep Villain's range wider and flat rather than 3-bet, so you don't turn a hand like JJ into a bluff And again, when you are putting Villain in this category, consider whether Villain is positionally aware - would he be raising 77 in EP?

(3) Villain raises a wider range and will fold a significant amount when you 3-bet. This is more likely if Villain is in MP or CO. Since you have significant fold equity, there may be a bluffing opportunity. For example, if Villain opens to $10, a 3-bet to $30 has to get a fold 75% of the time in order for a 3-bet bluff to be profitable. Don't overestimate your fold equity here. If Villain only calls/4-bets with the top 5% of hands, then he has to be raising with the top 20% in the first place. Look at the hands that are actually in that range - could Villain really be opening with A4s or JTo here? If you do believe that Villain has that wide of a range and that he is going to fold that often, the hands that I like to 3-bet with are the best of the hands that cannot profitably call the initial raise (Axs and unsuited broadway). You will get folds/4-bets from most of the hands that dominate you, so you don't need to worry about seeing a flop while dominated. And you will often have enough equity on the flop with some sort of draw that you can c-bet profitably. Again, although it is somewhat less important that you understand Villain's tendencies OOP in a 3-bet pot (since your play is supposed to be profitable from the preflop action alone), you need to have that understanding so that you don't **** things up postflop. Remember that you are bluffing here, so you need to proceed with caution when you actually hit the flop.

The best ways to develop those post-flop reads are (1) to 3-bet exclusively for value and pay attention to what Villain does; and (2) to observe his actions in hands that you are not involved in. Don't develop your reads with your 3-bet bluff range just because you wanted to incorporate a 3-bet bluff into your session. Find out that Villain will call OOP with KJs and stack off on a Kxx board when you have AK. Find out that Villain will call OOP and fold on a J73r board (or peel the flop and fold the turn) when you have AA-QQ. If you don't develop the information that you need to define Villain's range and predict his behavior post-flop, then stick to value 3-betting.

Great post.

yeah +1 to ajrenni.. the problem with answering this question is that if we answer it absolutely (I.E. just tell you to 3bet some random hand when you're dealt it), that's absolute spew and not going to help you learn whatsoever.. and if we try to tell you the conditions, it's like trying to teach poker in a single post. if you absolutely have to 3bet some specific light hand, make it one like 78ss or KQ or something, not just any junk, at least...

I strongly suspect ebarnet's account has been hacked... or he got ahold of some really strong weed.

Not because of the strat content of his posts ITT, but because of the tone; usually he's very reasonable and respectful, but he turned into a 13-year-old girl spite-texting all of a sudden.

Sleep it off and come back to us, man!

I like this approach. some other thoughts:

1. Identify the situation or player you want to 3bet light. In addition to the one situation stated above you might find other spots. This is based on what you have observed in your session, it could be, that he is passive and you have seen them fold to 3bets, or that they are spewing chips and you want to isolate.
2.1 Choose a hand that is out of your calling range but close to it for example if you like calling with ATs then choose A9s which strill has some decent equity and has an Ace blocker. or
2.2choose a hand that might help you stack the target if you flop big, but that you can get away from if you hit one pair, like a 56o

3. 3 bet to entice action The way I see it if we only 3bet monsters we loose tremendous value as people will simply fold to all our 3bets or call and try to outflop us with TJs etc....

I am not saying we do this too much but we can add 1-2 hands to our tight 3betting range

This topic has been taken way off topic. Op, please 3-bet ONE TIME with QcJc. I promise it will work out for you. Please come back to topic and let us know how much moneys you made. Thanks.

The whole session didn't go quite as I planned. Shouldn't be surprised by that, really.

There was one table going when I got there. I called ahead, putting my name on the list. I was the first up when I arrived, but had to wait about 90 minutes before I could sit down.

I watched the table, and it was pretty standard stuff. 50% of the time, there was a pre-flop raise. Maybe one 3-bet. Everyone was playing decent enough to hang in there. The only guy to bust out re-bought and ended up being one of the chip leaders by the time I went home.

The guy who had finally had enough was a fairly competent regular who said "tough table, good luck" to me as he left. So, table selection is pretty non-existent at the local Native American casino I frequent.

Didn't have many opportunities to 3-bet, so I didn't. But I did open-raise and raise the limpers with AA once, QQ once, AQ once, JJ once and TT twice. Got two callers with JJ. Ace on the board. First opponent and I checked. Second opponent bet and I was sure he had an Ace. I folded. I asked him a couple minutes later and he confirmed that he did have an Ace (he could have been lying, but I doubt it).

Both times I raised with TT, there was only one over card on the flop - a Jack. Both times my opponents had a Jack in their hand. However, the first time I was up against a really young kid who seemed to have read a book or two of poker but didn't have much experience. He bet, I called, another guy folded. The turn was a blank. He bet and I raised. He considered calling but folded instead. I asked if he had a Jack. He said "yes". He asked me if I had an over pair, I said "probably". So, it helped that I raised with the TT instead of over limping.

The second time with TT, I was up against a looser calling-station type regular. I checked the Jack high flop. He bet. I folded. He showed me QJ.

The other hands, I c-bet the flop and took it down. Would have made the best hand about a dozen times when I threw away my marginal holdings pre-flop. That irritated me, even though I know it's stupid to get emotionally attached to hands I could have won if only I had called the $10 pre-flop raise with 42 suited.

A bit of speculation and misadventure over the next couple hours saw my stack at about $150 from $200.

Unfortunately, I made a bad call at the end of the session. I put the guy on top pair with a worse kicker. I bet small compared to the pot on both the flop and river. I checked the river when the third heart came and he bet $25 so fast that I thought it was extremely fishy (as in, weird). Either a bluff or two pair or the flush. I fell for the "there's no shame in folding" routine which made me even more suspicious. I paid his nut-flush off after a minute or two of deliberation. That was dumb. Stack now at about $100.

The very next hand, I made an even worse call for all my chips when I turned two pair on a flush and straight drawy board with a short stack who was all-in and the looser calling-station I mentioned before. The short stack had top two pair and the station had bottom set. I can almost always fold in a spot like that when I bet and there's a raise and an all-in, but I was probably a bit tilted from the previous hand. Either that, or I subconsciously wanted to feel like Jamie Gold on HSP.

I had played enough for one day (about 5 hours), cut my losses and just left... $200 down. My second big loss in 3 months playing about twice a week. The first came when I flopped the nut straight. He bet, I raised him, and he re-raised me all-in. I had the nuts, so of course I called. He had a pair and a flush draw, then made his flush on the river. That's poker.

So, I played some hands good and a couple really bad. I'll chalk yesterday up to furthering my poker education. A couple years ago, that would have been justification enough for me to take a few months off from poker. But now, I know I'll just have to persevere and improve my game.

Thanks again for everyone's advice.


VS

Consider posting these hands separately, or better yet, doing a search for similar situations, playing with poker stove, and evaluating your decisions. Many of the choices you made in these hands may benefit from further scrunity.

Grunch: Try picking a spot, instead of a hand. For example, look for someone who likes to make pot sweetner open raises in your 1/2 game (i.e, the player who makes it "5 straight" or $7 or something similarly stupid). Confirm that such a raise is never a big hand, but more often some middling hand that he just wants to raise and make sure you have good position relative to the rest of the table. 3-bet that player, and squeeze the dead money from the callers in between.

Just make sure that no one is so short-stacked that they have to call. If you're image is reasonably tight and your raise is big enough, you'll rarely have to play a flop, let alone past a flop.

So you never picked up QcJc the entire session?