Upswing Poker 3 Bet Ranges

• Upswing Poker 3 Bet Ranges Real Money
• Upswing Poker 3 Bet Ranges Poker
• Upswing Poker 3 Bet Ranges 2019

The 3-bet (or more specifically, light 3-betting) is an advanced concept that adds an extra weapon to a game that has likely become repetitive and stagnant, even if that current game strategy is winning you money at the tables.

3-betting will shake up a mid-stakes player's game about as much as the continuation bet did when you first found out about that when you were starting out.

The range charts from The Upswing Lab indicate that we can either 3-bet or call with A♠Q♠ against a UTG open in 6-max. In this case, the clear choice is to 3-bet for value. Think of the three possible outcomes when we 3-bet: UTG folds and we win the $9 pot. I believe that you can get full preflop charts at upswing poker if you sign up. Maybe they have a free trial? If you sign up for PokerCoaching.com, they also have full preflop charts. They are in the Tools menu item and you can sign up for a 7-day free trial so you can get them for free. Your defending range depends on your opening range, I encourage to define your Std opening range from each position figure out your total number of hand combos, you will want to be defending about 1/3rd of your opens facing standard 3 bet sizing to avoid being exploited. Two-time WSOP bracelet winner, high-stakes cash game regular and Upswing Poker coach Doug Polk recorded an exclusive strategy video for Card Player viewers on four-betting preflop in no-limit hold'em. This time, I used the ranges from The Poker Lab to estimate a 44% Button opening range and a 12.37% Big Blind Vs Button 3-bet range. The minimum 44% button opening range recommended by The Poker Lab A 12.37% 3-bet range from the big blind when facing a button open.

This concept is going to be most useful in mid-stakes games between $50NL and $200NL.

What is 3-betting and 3-betting light?

3-betting.

First of all, what is a 3-bet before the flop?

A 3-bet is when there has been a raise and then another raise after that.

Simple enough, but let me give you one quick example to drive it home: After the SB and BB post the $1 and $2 blinds, lets say there is a raise to $8 from a player in MP. If another player in LP raises it again to $24, this is called a 3-bet.

For a quick guide to good 3bet sizing, watch the 3betting section starting at 13:39 in this bet sizing video.

As you can imagine, the guy (or girl) making the 3-bet probably has a very good hand. You would normally expect them to be holding something like QQ+ or AK to make this second raise before the flop.

You might be wondering why it's called a 3-bet if there has only been two raises. Well, the BB is actually considered to be a bet in itself, and so the first raise is the 2nd bet and the second raise is the 3-bet.

3-betting light.

As mentioned, you would expect the player making the 3-bet to have a very strong hand like QQ+ or AK. Therefore, 3-betting light is when you make a 3-bet with a less than premium hand like 67, 78 or any suited connector like that.

3-betting light is where you make a 3-bet with a less than premium hand before the flop.

Seems crazy and dangerous I know, but I'm sure you thought the same thing when you first heard about continuation betting. 3-betting light can be an incredibly +EV move when used correctly, so don't underestimate its strength.

Why 3-bet?

Players these days will make preflop raises with a wide range of hands. If a player makes a raise before the flop in LP, they could have almost any hand under the sun. That's how all decent TAGs play.

Calling these raises with a strong hand of our own (or even with a drawing hand like 78s) puts us at a disadvantage because our opponent will have the initiative in the hand. When the flop comes, we are only really looking to fold unless we hit top pair or better. Even then, we are not going to feel great about our hand.

3-betting when in position will regularly put loose raisers in a position where it is -EV to call a 3-bet because of their wide opening range. Not to mention taking away their initiative.

The advantages of 3-betting.

• Players open with a wide range of hands, which means calling 3-bets is -EV for our opponents.
• 3-betting can often be far more +EV than just calling in some cases.
• Players almost always fear AA when they face a 3-bet. This gives us tremendous leverage for the flop (so cbet!).
• You take back the initiative in the hand.
• Opponents will call you down with much weaker hands in future if they see you 3-bet so lightly (metagame strategy).

Sure, making an extra reraise before the flop is going to be pretty damn scary, especially if you are 3-betting light. However, if its going to be a +EV play you need to show some balls and play in the way that is going to make you the most money.

Don't get me wrong though, 3-betting light isn't just to try and punish the loose raisers and hope that they fold. There will be times when we get called when we 3-bet light, but that's not a problem. There are still advantages to 3-betting light when we reach the flop.

When and where to 3-bet light.

So we've discussed the advantages of the simple 3-bet, but when should you 3-bet light?

• You want to 3-bet light with mid connectors/suited connectors like 67, 78 and 89, or 1 gap suited connectors like 68 and 79.
• You should 3-bet light in position. Playing a 3-bet pot out of position is tricky (although not impossible).
• You should mostly 3-bet raisers from LP. Raisers from EP are more likely to turn up with a strong hand.
• You should try 3-betting light against TAG (Tight-Aggressive) and semi-TAG players.

An optimum spot to 3-bet light is when a TAG from LP makes a raise when you are on the button or in the CO.

Apologies for the God-awful diagram, but you should get the idea. These sort of players are likely to be raising with a wide range of hands in this position, and so are fully capable or folding when they come up against aggression. This is why 3-betting gives us an edge.

An important point to remember is that you do not want to 3-bet light against players who are either:

1. Super tight and are only going to raise with supreme hands. Hence our 3-bet definitely gets called.
2. Super loose and will call regardless. We lose all of our fold equity in the hand with these players.

This is not the only ever spot that you can 3-bet, but if you keep these guidelines in mind you should be able to get a feel for when it's a +EV spot to 3-bet.

How to 3-bet.

In a nutshell, when you 3-bet light you ideally want your opponent to fold. This gives you an instant and nicely-sized pot and will usually force your opponent to tighten up the hands they open with from late position.

If we get called and miss the flop, we are almost always in the perfect situation to make a continuation bet and take down then pot. So don't be afraid to make that cbet, it's a +EV move over the long run. That's the basics of it, but allow me to explain a little further.

Hands not to 3-bet light with.

The type of hands that you do not want to 3-bet light with are lower tier broadway hands like; KQ, KJ QJ and also weaker aces like AJ (definitely not rag aces either). The problem is that if you are 3-betting with these cards, the hands that your opponent is going to call with are going to have you dominated (e.g. AQ+, JJ+).

However, if you have a lower suited connector like 78s, you still have two 'free' cards that you can do damage with. It also makes post-flop play easier as you are less likely to get tied in with a marginal hand where you hold something like top pair weak kicker.

Stick to 3-betting premiums (QQ+, AK) and lower suited connectors (56 - 9T) only.

You are better off calling with less than premium broadway hands rather than 3-betting with them preflop.

What to do on the flop if you are called.

If you miss the flop, make a continuation bet of about 2/3 the size of the pot. Simple as that.

A pot size bet is unnecessarily large in a 3-bet pot. 2/3 does the job and saves us money for when it doesn't work out.

The beauty of 3-betting is that it gives you supreme power in the hand. Your opponent is always going to have the fear that you have pocket Aces or pocket Kings at the forefront of their mind, so take advantage of that fear. If on the odd occasion you get called, check/call on the turn and be done with the hand. The majority of the time a good continuation bet will work wonders though.

If on the other hand you catch a piece of the flop but nothing worth value-betting, checking and calling may be the best option. However, a lot of the time you are going to either have a strong hand or nothing at all, and in both of these situations you will want to cbet.

3-betting light example.

Let's say our opponent is 26/18 and raises frequently from late position. This is a simple example:

SB: $200
BB: $200
UTG: $200
MP: $200
CO: $200
Hero (BTN): $200

Pre Flop: ($3) Hero is BTN with 7 8
1 fold, MP raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero raises to $30, 2 folds

Flop: ($66) 2 J 6 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $45, MP folds

Our opponent here clearly made a poor call when we 3-bet, as we represented a very strong hand like QQ+ or AK, so the chances are that he called with a hand like AJ+ and hoped for the best.

Even if our opponent did hold a hand like QQ or AJ, it is very difficult for them to call for the fear of us holding Aces or Kings, which is why the continuation bet brings home so much money due to the 3-bet before the flop.

Evaluation of 3-betting light.

This article is one of the longest I have ever written, yet I still feel that it could have been a bit meatier. Congratulations if you made it this far, and I hope most of it made sense and you can understand the theory behind 3-betting lightly and how it can be profitable.

Just be sure not to abuse 3-betting and you will be fine. 3-betting and 3-betting lightly can be very +EV in the right spots, but they can do a lot of damage to your stack if you are not careful with them. I'd recommend dropping down a level to experiment with 3-betting and to find your feet with it.

It's definitely a skill that is worth perfecting and adding to your game as a mid-stakes player (or for when you reach those levels).

PS. Don't forget to cbet if you miss the flop.

Upswing Poker 3 Bet Ranges Real Money

Related articles.

SplitSuit's When 3Bets Go Wrong (pt. 1) video looks at 9 different hand histories where Hero's 3bet gets called (or when another player 4bets). It's an excellent strategy video for playing in tricky 3bet spots.

Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.

Comments

By Alton Hardin

Introduction

For beginners, 3-betting can be a confusing concept to understand and properly apply at the poker tables. With so much theory being discussed in books, forums, and training videos its easy for beginners to get lost in a fog of poker haze, not knowing when to 3-bet, what range of hands to 3-bet and why. The purpose of this article is to provide a basic framework that beginning and struggling poker players can use to effectively 3-bet.

What Is The Pre-Flop 3-Bet?

First off, lets level set what a pre-flop 3-bet is. A 3-bet occurs when someone open-raises and another person re-raises pre-flop. The re-raise is a 3-bet. This might be a bit confusing to some people because the 3-bet is the second raise, why is this? Well, in Texas Holdem the posted blinds are considered the first bet, the initial open raise is considered the second bet, and the re-raise is therefore the third bet, hence the term 3-bet.

Linear and Polarized 3-Bets

In poker, there are two main categories of 3-bets, linear and polarized 3-bets:

Linear 3-Betting Range

A linear 3-betting range is one composed solely of value-bets. When we 3-bet a linear range, we are 3-betting for value. For example, the image below shows a linear value 3-betting range of JJ+, AQs+, AKo.

Polarized 3-Betting Range

A polarized 3-betting range is one composed of a combination of value hands and bluffs. So, unlike the linear 3-betting range, when we 3-bet a polarized range, we are sometimes betting for value and other times bluffing. The below image shows a polarized 3-betting range composed of value hands and bluff hands. In this example, we are 3-betting TT+, AJs+, AQ+ for value and 44-22, A4s-A2s, 87s, 76s as a bluff.

Why Do We 3-Bet?

Hopefully you’ve already noticed this from the section above, but we 3-bet for two specific reasons:

1. When we have a hand that is too good to call, such as KK or AA for value
2. When we have a hand that is too bad to call, such as A2s or 33

If we have a hand that fits within these two different reasons, then we have a hand we can “potentially” 3-bet.

Linear or Polarized?

So which should you use, the linear or polarized 3-betting model? It depends on our opponents.

Can We 3-Bet Bluff?

You probably heard the phrase, “never bluff the calling station”. Well the same goes for 3-bets. You should only apply the polarized 3-betting model with 3-bet bluffs if your opponent(s) are folding to a lot of 3-bets. If they aren’t, then 3-bet bluffing will only cause you to unnecessarily spew off a lot of chips pre-flop. Conversely, if your opponent(s) are folding to a high frequency of 3-bets, approximately 67% then you can 3-bet bluff profitably.

Therefore, 3-bet bluffing and the polarized 3-betting model works best when you have a lot of fold equity. When your fold equity is low, don’t apply this model and stick with the linear 3-betting model.

How Wide Should We Value 3-Bet Bet?

Again, this is dependent upon how your opponent(s) are reacting to 3-bets. When you are 3-betting for value, the most important factor is your opponent’s 3-bet calling range and 4-betting range.

When you are 3-betting for value, you goal is to maximize your long-term expectation in the hand by having your opponents call your 3-bet with worse hands. For example, if your opponent is folding to 100% of 3-bets (this isn’t really realistic but proves a point), then it does you no good to 3-bet KK or AA. Against this specific opponent it is more profitable to flat his or her pre-flop raise. Conversely, if your opponent is folding to next to no 3-bets, then it is highly profitable to 3-bet a very wide range for value!

So here are some general guidelines on 3-betting for value:

• Always adjust your 3-bet value range to how your opponents react to 3-bets
• Consider your opponent’s 3-bet flatting range and 4-betting range
• The less your opponent is folding to 3-bets, the more you can widen your value range

Low versus High Fold Equity

Therefore, if you have high fold equity you should employ the polarized model. If you have low fold equity, use the linear 3-betting model.

3-Bet Sizing

When sizing your 3-bets, I recommend beginner start with the 3x rule: raise three times your opponents initial open raise sizing.

• When you are out of position to the raiser, make your sizing a bit more, closer to 3.5x. Why? Our positional disadvantage in the hand.
• When you are in position to the raiser, make you sizing a bit less, closer to 2.8x. Why? Our positional advantage in the hand.

Summing Up

Upswing Poker 3 Bet Ranges Poker

This short poker strategy article on 3-betting 101 covered the basics behind 3-betting and linear versus polarized 3-betting ranges. While this article is far from being a comprehensive 3-betting strategy guide, it should help guide beginners in the right direction with their 3-betting game.

Upswing Poker 3 Bet Ranges 2019

For a more comprehensive overview of 3-betting, be sure to watch our The Three-Betting 101 Course!