Heads-up on the Flop: 3 Bet pre-flop, OOP
by PokerStrategy.com
| 1 |
Introduction
In this Article
Imagine the following pre-flop action:
Hero raises, Villian 3-bets, Hero calls.
According to the advanced pre-flop strategy we have a hand with less than 50% equity against Villain.
Depending on the blinds, the pot is 6-7.5 SB.
The action on the flop is almost always so:
Flop
Hero checks, Villian bets, Hero ???
Now we don't really have a strong hand. We often have 2 overcards, often a small pocket pair on an ugly board. If we have Q
J and the board is T 7
3
, we will call a bet on the flop because of the pot size. The fact that we should call with weak hands on the flop is dependent on the pot was 3-bet pre-flop.
This often leads to the following correct flop line:
Flop
Hero checks, Villian bets, Hero calls
In consequence, on the turn the following occurs:
Turn
Hero checks, Villian bets, Hero folds
Since on the turn our odds with a weak hand are clearly worse.
So far so good. Now we come to the interesting part of the article:
Since we must play check/call flop, check/fold turn unimproved with many many weak hands, we can play some very good semi-bluf draws with strong hands by playing check/call flop, check/raise turn.
This is good for two reasons:
i) We balance the check/call flop, check turn line
ii) Since the opposition bets more often because of the pot size than in a raised pot, this line works very often with strong hands.
This means that with heads-up hands OOP that were 3-bet pre-flop, we soften the rule c/r flop with good hands and strong draws and instead play c/c flop, c/r turn.
A few examples:
Preflop: Hero is SB with Q
,J .Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.
Flop: (6 SB) T
, 4
, 6 (2 players)Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.25 BB) 7
(2 players)BB bets, Hero folds.
Commentary: The most common case, here take note: make no moves!
Preflop: Hero is SB with J
,T .Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.
Flop: (6 SB) T
, 4 , 6 (2 players)Hero checks,BB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.25 BB) 7
(2 players)Hero checks,BB bets, Hero raises.
Commentary: as discussed in the article, c/c flop, c/r turn with strong hands
Preflop: Hero is SB with J
,T .Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.
Flop: (6 SB) T
, 4 , 6 (2 players)Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.25 BB) K
(2 players)Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls.
Commentary: of course, there is not auto check-raise on the turn
Preflop: Hero is SB with A
,2 .Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.
Flop: (6 SB) T
, A , 6 (2 players)Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.25 BB) 3
(2 players)Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls.
Commentary: Wa/Wb bluff induction
Preflop: Hero is SB with 6
,7 .Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.
Flop: (6 SB) T
, Q , 3 (2 players)Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.25 BB) 2
(2 players)Hero checks, BB bets, Hero raises.
Commentary: c/r bluff on the turn with strong draws
Variations
Preflop: Hero is SB with 4
,4 .Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.
Flop: (6 SB) T
, 4 , 6 (2 players)Hero checks,BB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.25 BB) 7
(2 players)Hero bets.
Commentary: Value play with monsters
,J .Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.
Flop: (6 SB) T
, 4 , 6 (2 players)Hero checks,BB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.25 BB) A
(2 players)Hero bets.
Commentary: donkbet bluff with the scarecard vs. WSD < 35, TAGs only! Why not c/r bluff? 1. too expensive 2. Such a TAG as we could bluff out will often check-behind
| 1 |
Next article: