Hi all,

Recently, I've been playing online while I wait until I have access to a casino that has 1/2 tables with a reasonable rake. I was playing on 888 but I felt I wasn't getting challenged so now I've moved on to better sites. 3- and 4-betting ranges are wider, and the players are generally better, so I've been adjusting. One way is by opening up my own 3betting range. Since this has happened somewhat organically, I'm curious if I'm making good decisions and if my thought-process is a profitable one.

Before, I was sticking to a very tight range with few exceptions: JJ+ and AK. Now I've added AQs, AJs, and ATs which I use vs MP and LP opponents generally (that is, regardless of who they are). ATs, KQs, KJs, 87s, 76s, and 65s are also in my arsenal, but I've found that I tend to use them only in specific situations. I generally consider 3 factors for these hands (not in order of importance): 1) position relative to OR, 2) table position of OR, and 3) who is in the hand.

I usually only employ these hands vs opponents in LP. Ideally, I'd like to also have position on them (especially for the SCs), but in practice I find it's rare to satisfy both conditions. I also tend to use them to pick on players I think get themselves into uncomfortable situations by calling too much preflop and on the flop and then fold on later streets.

I will also very occasionally use them vs players at my level or slightly better, even if they are in EP or MP, because I know they are paying attention and otherwise my perceived range is way too small (than it already is lol).

As a side, vs players at my level or slightly better with wider ranges I'll call their 3bets with AXs type hands and 4bet with AKs and sometimes even AQs. Unless there are multiple players in the pot or it's a player who I know will put their entire stack in the middle with an overpair, I generally don't set-mine in 3bet pots.

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks in advance.

stopped reading here through fear of dying laughing if i continued reading

Why, because 888 is so soft?

solarglow: why would you leave a site that is soft? Is your objective to make money, or to play against harder fields and lose?

I need to keep improving somehow. When I was playing live, I found that was the best forum for learning. And I'm looking forward to going back to it soon.

At 888, I was playing 20NL and eventually just crushed the game. It was great for my bankroll, but in the end I felt I got as much out of it as I could. There were a few decent players and the rest were either agrodonks (just call them) and loose passive (just value bet them).

My goal is to keep improving. At small stakes, I can make up for any damage to my bankroll with what I'm earning. Eventually, I want to be a winning player at 2/5 live. After that, I want to focus on tournament play.

I'm just going to answer based on the title:

My preferred way to either open or close any range is to attempt to adjust on the margins. Think about a very frequent situation such as co vs btn with 100 bb effective. It's your turn on the button. Your order of preference for seeing profitable cards should look something like this:

AA obv
KK
AKs
QQ

these are naturally the most profitable 3 bets.

Here there's a crossroads:

With JJ-99 there's a margin of profitability that is not necessarily an (unprofitable/profitable) margin, but a margin of (profitable/very profitable).

With the stronger unpaired hands, such as AK, AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo, A5s, KQs, A5o, KJs, A4s, KTs, QJs, A4o, JTs,* A3s, QTs, A2s, T9s, J9s, 98s, T8s, 87s, 76s.

* this is where the offsuit hands disappear from my range in the co vs btn battle.

I tried to list these hands in order of preference of profitability. It's not gospel, but it lays the groundwork for understanding the sliding margin of profitability depending on your two ev sources:

a) the money you win when you show the best hand at the end.

b) the money you win when everyone folds.

As you read the range I listed you'll notice that there's a regression of profitability coming from (a). This means that as your opponent's folding frequency increases or decreases, the margin will slide to the right or to the left.

Bob, thanks, this is exactly the kind of response I was hoping for. I really like the "visuals" of your explanation. You've got a range sorted by (profitable/more profitable) and you adjust the lower end based on how often your opponent folds. It sounds like you have a distinct range for each SEAT vs SEAT possibility. Do you adjust your ranges tighter when you are OOP?

I find it interesting how you sorted those hands. In normal, once-raised preflop pots, I don't usually place AQo and AJo higher than KQs (or even QTs for that matter). For example, I'll raise KQs UTG 9-handed but usually fold AQo. But maybe that's because I'm still playing pretty tight in EP.

Do 3bet pots operate differently in that the value of an A goes up significantly? I would assume that's why you have A5o and A4o in your range. Looking again, your state range is mostly composed of AX and SCs. Makes me think I should include higher SCs in the LP vs LP battles, too.

Not really. I've studied more 3 and 4 handed spots than I have 8 or 9 handed spots though.

It's dependent on the starting positions and the range I put my opponent on and how many players are left to act.

I'm not sure on this point. You could be right here.

I think 3 bet pots behave differently in terms of profitability once someone has raised.

Perhaps.

Actually I just read some posts by players that I thought were good; they suggested including these hands.

I'd say most definitely QJs+ in a co vs btn battle.