Poker Thoughts: 3-betting Preflop

Today I've pretty much wasted my day so far: I had to pick up a certified letter from the post office and after driving all the way over there it was closed. I then went to the gym and it was closed also. Apparently today is a holiday in Spain so I haven't been able to do any of the stuff I wanted to do before leaving for Florida.

I've decided to play some poker (yes, I've purchased a legal license of Poker Tracker 3) but before that I'll write the promised post about 3-betting preflop. First of all, for those of you who don't know what 3-betting is, it's the same as reraising. That is, putting in a third bet after someone has already raised.

Usually, poor players don't 3-bet a lot. It's not unlikely to see players with just a 1.5% 3-bet preflop percentage. These players will only 3-bet with AA, KK and sometimes QQ. Therefore, their 3-bet range is hugely polarized, meaning that when they 3-bet you know that they are holding a monster and you can fold your hand without losing any money. By 3-betting only AA and KK players make your decisions very easy: if you raise and get reraised by one of these players you just have to fold and move on to the next hand.

In order to balance your 3-betting range you need to 3-bet not only your premium hands like AA and KK but also other hands that may be a little bit more speculative. This way your opponents will not be able to put you on a monster every time you 3-bet and you'll make their decisions post flop a lot harder.

Here are a couple of points to keep in mind when 3-betting.

1. 3-betting is required in order to balance your range of hands and hide your monsters (if you only 3-bet AA and KK you're helping your opponents make the right decisions when playing against you). A 5% 3-betting preflop percentage is reasonable.
2. 3-betting against certain opponents can be very profitable because they will put you on a very strong hand and usually fold preflop. Aggressive opponents tend to raise a very wide range of hands when they are on the cutoff or on the button. Take advantage of this tendency by 3-betting from the button or the blinds.

Example 1:

$0.50 BB (6 handed)

UTG ($80.25)
MP ($46.70)
CO ($73.50)
Button ($33.31)
Hero (SB) ($52.70)
BB ($46.20)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, 9
2 folds, CO raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5.75, 2 folds

Typical situation: CO is 21/12/3.2 (he will open-raise 12% of this starting hands, meaning that he will probably open-raise up to 20-25% of his starting hands from the CO and button). When he raises from the CO as he usually does I give him no credit and 3-bet from the SB with my connectors (which play well against his range of hands).

CO folds his hand and I take down the pot right there.

Total pot: $4

Results:
Hero didn't show 8, 9 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $4

Example 2:

$0.50 BB (5 handed)

MP ($53.80)
Button ($146)
SB ($49.50)
Hero (BB) ($98.55)
UTG ($39.35)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 10
3 folds, SB raises to $2, Hero raises to $6, 1 fold

Here, everybody folds to the SB, who is once again an aggressive player (25/18/3). He raises trying to take down the pot (with those stats he will probably raise there with pretty much any hand). I give him no credit and 3-bet him knowing that I will also have position over him for the rest of the hand.

Total pot: $4

Results:
Hero didn't show J, 10 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $4

Example 3:

$0.50 BB (6 handed)

SB ($24.60)
BB ($33.75)
UTG ($33.10)
MP ($26.24)
CO ($52.30)
Hero (Button) ($51.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, K
2 folds, CO raises to $1.75, Hero raises to $6, 3 folds

Once again I take advantage of my position against an aggressive player who open-raises a lot preflop (19/17/2.3) in order to 3-bet his raise a take down the pot preflop.

Total pot: $4.25

Results:
Hero didn't show 9, K (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $4.25