Fwiw, I would rather not 3 bet AJ vs most opponents. If I was to do that though, villain would have to be a maniac, not a lag. Some players will pick up on what I am doing but I think there is more to a polarized range than that as well. It just helps me avoid really gross spots that can become -EV very quickly.

Party 50NL has gone 3bet crazy preflop.

haven't played at FT recently tho I imagine it's much the same.

Firstly the word POSITION does not appear once in the OP.

POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION POSITION

OOP you should 3bet a solid range with the OCCASIONAL s/c type of hand IF the LP opening villain is Attempting to steal lots and thus has a wiiiiide opening range.

Playing dominated hands OOP is just bad - in NL poker blinds don't matter - insomuch as if someone steals your blind and you don't have a hand - just give them the blind and steal someone elses back again a couple of hands later.

IN POSITION 3bet lots more often with hands like AJs+ AQ+ JTs QJs sc's suited 1 gappers 54-JTo CB flops that are very likely to have missed villain if you get called (as you normally would in a normal raised pot) or that you have hit yourself - BUT do NOT commit your stack agaist all but hte loosest of villains with just a TP type hand if you 3bet a broadway holding. i.e. if you 3b JT or QJ and flop TP or MP then felting it isn't a great idea unless you gots a read that says otherwise.

3betting stuff like AJ and KQ and felting TP seems to me like a recipe for disaster.


The basic premise I think behind 3betting more is to advertise so as to get more action on your bona fide big hands. And to steal more pots preflop and force the villains you are playing against to have to adjust their game and play more on your terms.

3betting seems to have become te latest trend at uNL tables (certainly at 50NL not so much lower down) I think knowing what hands to CALL 3bets with and how to play postflop would be another good topic for debate.

matix, not saying you are ness. wrong, but a lot of people say that position matters less in rr pots because stack: pot ratios are small hence less room to be outplayed. thoughts?

even good players aren't really going to be able to accurately define your 3betting ranges either, because there are so many variables in play, and your ranges are based on your own assessment of the situation and your opponents. i could make a detailed chart of exactly what i 3bet, when, and why, and give it to a guy, and he's still not really going to have a clear picture of what i'm doing against him, because its going to be highly dependant on what i think about him and anyone else in play in that situation. if i think a guy sucks post-flop, or is really weak, i'll flat him with a really wide range of hands, which is also going to alter what hands i'm 3betting him with.

besides, it doesn't usually matter that much when it comes down to it anyway. people think more in terms of how wide your range is when you 3bet than they do in terms of what two cards that you have. if i 3bet a guy and he's sitting there oop with a QJ or a 66, he's not going to say to himself "lets see a flop and play some poker!". he's either going to 4bet me light, based on how wide he thinks my range is in that situation, or he's going to give up.

fwiw, i'd rather call a loose opener with an AJ than 3b with it, and i'd rather 3b with a 56s than call with it, although i'd usually be folding it, but whatever.

Position is a huger advantage cos in 3b pots there is only usually one street to play and therefore one mistaka to maka (and others mistakes - our mistakes = our profits) - the SPR being smaller is counterbalanced I think by the fact that the pot to win is bigger and more desirable.

The more information we can have before we get to act the less chance there is to make a mistake.

Unless you are DEEEEEEEP then only playing one street effectively makes the postflop play much simpler I think - it certainly imo doesn't in anyway negate the importance of POSITION.

if you make a 3bet oop that's profitable on its own, then troublesome scenarios post-flop shouldn't matter, because you're not committed to doing anything post flop to make your original bet worthwhile.

I think that if I 3b a dominated broadway I almost have to felt it when I hit top pair. To say otherwise seems contradictory to me. When we 3b we are throwing pot control out the window but yet you want to pot control top pair in marginal spots?

Oh along with what I said just now, I dont even know HOW to pot control once I am in a 3b pot, I honestly thought that was impossible. And as far as not 3 betting light out of the blinds just because our blinds arent worth much, I think there is more to it than that. I dont 3b only because I want my .5 so bad, I also do it because I can pick up the opening raise from the guy who steals alot.

Awesome post. When 3-betting, you are trying to accomplish one of two things:

1) Make the villain call with a worse hand.
2) Make the villain fold a better hand.

So basically, your decision should be based on the hands your opponent calls 3 bets with. When raising for value, ask yourself, "Is my hand ahead of his 3-bet calling range?" If the answer is yes, then 3-bet away! But if you think the majority of hands your opponent will call a 3-bet with are ahead of you, then you might just consider calling (with marginal hands like AJ, KQ etc.***)

***You can consider 3-betting these hands for value against AGGtards, or turning them into a bluff raise if you're image is tight vs. a nit.

When 3-bet bluffing, I prefer doing so with non-dominated hands (67s etc.), as you stated, for a couple of reasons:

1) If you flop anything, chances are they did not.
2) If they did have you crushed with an overpair and you flop huge, they may not give you credit for the hand you have.
3)You end up with easy decisions on later streets*

*It is a lot easier to decide to fold your 56 after you c-bet and get raised on a K72r board than having KQ on the same board.

Now, if you do decide to 3 bet a hand like AJo, get called and the board comes AT8r and your villain takes it upstairs on your c-bet......remember that you only ave 1 pair(with only an okay kicker), which should be an easy fold for all you 2p2ers.


EDIT: I've also started throwing in some Ace-rag hands from the blinds versus an open-button raise. The ace is a blocker and lessens the chances of the villain having a big ace in his hand (obviously, this is a bluff and I am looking for a fold). If I get called and flop an Ace, I'm still c-betting, but I am pretty much shutting down to any further action. And in the rare occasion you flop two pair, whilst the villain holds a big ace, you will most likely stack them.