PREFLOP HERO IS BUTTON

SB 99hands, 36vpip, 25pfr, 2.4af

BB 133hands, 19vpip, 14pfr, 1.8af


DEALT TO BUTTON A9

Button raise to 3BB
SB fold
BB 3bet to 10BB

Call or fold?

Fold. If it's suited, maybe call. What do you beat going to the flop?

fold. plays poorly in a 3bet pot even in position.

4-bet or fold. 4-bet so you ramp up the aggressive pre-flop play pre. I don't hate calling if you have some reads / feel for your opponent here. But mostly I'd advocate 4-bet or fold at these stakes.

Always folding this. Think we have some slightly better hands to 4-bet so I'm not going that route.

Easy fold. Suited call all Axs.

3-handed you're always folding this? What hands are better for you to 4-bet then? I'm calling mid/high suited connectors. We can get AJ/AT to fold to a 4-bet a good amount of the time.

What's wrong with the stuff we'd usually 4-bet from button? Being 3-handed doesn't make much difference.

It should make a difference.

What's your "usual" stuff?

But in fact it (almost) does not. I'd fold this most of the time, never calling. 4bet against a loose 3bettor.

As James said, it would be more optimal to 4bet a slightly better hand (like ATo) in those positions against an average reg.

It makes a difference in that people aren't used to playing three handed as much and do odd stuff like 4-betting weird ranges. It doesn't make much difference to what hands ranges we should play.

Your PFR/VPIP go up because your effectively playing late position all the time, but your RFI should be consistent (bar maybe some teeny tiny card removal effect). If I'm reading you wrong and you'd 4-bet this hand as standard then ok, I don't really like it, but if you're doing it just because it's 3-handed then it's an unnecessary adjustment.

This.

I think I meant what I said, which was 4-bet or fold. And I don't mind calling sometimes either. I'm not calling because A9 is awesome obviously. I don't think you should have a "standard" in 3-handed play because people make incorrect adjustments.

So speaking of, I find that ramping up pre-flop aggression in 3-handed play, people start making a ton of bad adjustments. At 2NL, I doubt there's many Ivey's playing here. And typically speaking, I'd advocate ramping up your RFI from the button because of all the incorrect adjustments people tend to make when tables get short, even "decent" regs. The card removal does play a small factor, and every small factor should make a difference. It is a marginal difference, but it's a difference. Some tables ramping up your aggression pre won't apply as much, and some it will apply more.