I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Trying to up my game at the lower limits.

Two articles I found interesting:

3-Betting Light Discussion
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/15...g-3bet-988213/

Polarization
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/78...zation-802045/


1/2 NL at Foxwoods has a very large player pool. During the week, there's always 10+ tables, weekends 28+ tables. Including a bad beat jackpot. From my understanding, the players are a mixed bag of fish and grinders. Lot's of limped pots, loose raising, and weak players.

If I were to sit down and scope out the table for a bit and figure out who the weak players are (fit or fold the flop, weak/passive players), would 3-betting light in position with a polarized range be profitable.

Strategy would be to fold to a 4-bet (90% of the time it's KK+) and c-bet most boards if called. If they call the flop, re-evaluate the turn.

Hands I would 3-bet: Suited connectors, suited 1-gappers, Jxs, Qxs, Kxs, Axs... 1010+

From the articles I read, 3-betting hands like KQs, AJs, AQs, AKs (Unless isolating 9 limpers or a raiser and 7 callers) is a mistake because flatting will net you more money since they play well post-flop.


In your opinions, would this kind of strategy be +EV or -EV if performed in a well-thought out manner. (Scoping out the table, creating an image, and targetting the weaker players.)



My personal opinion:

If you create a looser image at the table by 3-betting weaker hands against bad players, the better players might pick up on your 3-bet frequency (Which won't be too ridiculous) and when you actually get a hand like QQ+/AQs+, they might play back at you pre-flop or post-flop.

[QUOTE=LuckyAceFour;34012979]
There are cases where light 3-bets are good but vs specific villains. Now this not something you find out in your first orbit.[/QUOTE]

I would only apply this strategy if I saw I saw a weak villain who seems to be calling a lot preflop and then check/folding the flop.


So you think 3-betting a larger range in general since the players at these low limits aren't that great in general is a better strategy?

A general scenario:

2 limpers EP, MP raises, 1 caller, hero is on the button with 78s. If I flat here, sure, I get like 5:1, but I must hit the flop. If I 3-bet, most of the time it'll go heads-up with the original raiser which gives you a better shot at winning. 2 reasons: 1, you 3-bet showing strength, 2, you are against 2-cards instead of 10. Weak players in these spots generally play fit or fold on the flop.

Hero makes it $22. 2 callers. ($70)
Hero bets $50 on the flop. 1 caller. ($170)
Hero bets $120 on the turn and takes it down. They need the nuts to continue putting big money into the pot.

The key to this strategy is BIG raises IN POSITION - always $15 and more with limpers - 3-bets of $30-$50 - followed by 2 barrels. At $1/$2 I've seen a few guys do this and they build up monster stacks even after they lose $300 in a hand. They take down pot after pot after pot uncontested. Eventually this turns from a 3-bet strategy into a raising strategy because the table becomes afraid to raise.

The people that I see fail don't respect position at all - oh I has 84s in MP after 1 limper - $15....Small blind with 73o and 4 limpers? $19....

I wouldn't push the action like this at FW. In my last 28-30 hours there I was at 5 tables, a total of 2 guys I flagged as decent-average. If you make a point of 3betting a lot, people will either 1) get mad and play back at you because they want "to stop the young guy at the table" and their lines will becomes unpredictable 2) only go past the flop with the nuts which forces you to lose most of these pots or only get paid off via coolers.

I 3bet twice in those 30 hours, cleared easily over $20/hr, not a brag, just saying nothing has to be forced and it's easy to let your opponents make all of the mistakes.

So I'd 3bet as needed, not purposely force it to create more frequent big pots.

I only read the title, and my instinct is "Don't 3-bet light at 1-2"

After reading the post and the thread. "Don't 3-bet light at 1-2 often".

I've seen players run this strat, 3-bet, barrel-barrel, and while they can sometimes run up big stacks quickly, it often backfires on them. Many players in these games begin to call the 3-bets reasonably light, so some pots get very bloated very quickly with 3-4 callers for your 3-bet. Then you're back to playing against 10 cards with a low SPR.