The Non-4-Bet Strategy with Premium Hands
Introduction
In this article
- Why you should not always 4-bet your premium hands
- How you can maximally exploit your opponents' tendencies with this strategy
- Practical examples
The non-4-bet strategy describes a play where you don't 4-bet your premium hands when you are in position preflop, but only call a 3-bet to disguise your real hand strength. You give up 1 SB preflop and assume that your profit on later streets will overcompensate this loss.
The decision depends on the player type
This strategy has to be evaluated critically and should not be played by default. The most important factor to help you decide whether or not you should 4-bet a hand preflop is your opponent.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with 
Hero raises, SB 3-bets, BB folds, Hero caps, SB calls.
Flop: (9 SBs) 
(2 players)
Villain is a TAG (24/18/2.7/35) and his WTS stat of 35 shows that he is not very showdown bound. In addition to that, you have noticed that he check/folds a very high number of hands after a cap preflop. Even though a 4-bet is of course correct in regard to game theoretical aspects, calling his 3-bet would have been more profitable in this spot. The reason is that your perceived range looks very strong from Villain's perspective. If Villain assumes that you are playing by the ORC, your range will look as follows:
TT+, AQs+, AK
If he has a hand such as 
in this situation, his equity against your range is only 13.01%. Only in very rare cases will this player type call you down all the way to the showdown.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-bets, BB folds, Hero calls.
Flop: (7 SBs) (2 players)
This time you chose to call since you are familiar with the playing tendencies of Villain. Villain will roughly put you on the following range:
99-33, A2s+, K2s+, Q6s+, J7s+, T8s+, 98s, 87s, 76s, AQo-A2o, K7o+, Q9o+, J9o+
Against this range, Villain has 60.73% on the flop. Even if he knows that you won't cap TT+, AQs+ and AK, his equity will still be 55.97%. This considerably increases the chances that the hand will be played until the showdown and that you will win at least 2BBs more (1SB flop bet + 1BB turn bet + 1BB river bet - 1SB preflop) than if you had 4-bet.
Against such players it is therefore good to add weaker hands, such as suited connectors, to your capping range, since these hands are much better to play when you have the initiative and will create a lot of fold equity on good flops.
The strategy is particularly effective on A-high or K-high boards, where Villain's equity against your perceived capping range is very small. On boards such as 
for example, where Villain could raise the flop with hands like A8s, the line cap preflop, b/c flop, raise turn has a higher EV than the line call flop, raise turn.
Premium hands such as AA and KK are best for the non-4-bet strategy. With weaker pocket pairs, such as TT, the probability for an over card on the flop is already 69.5%, while it is only 22.5% for KK. Therefore, when you have smaller pocket pairs, you will more frequently have to play way ahead - way behind, which will postflop not enable you to compensate for the SB that you lost preflop.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with 
Hero raises, SB 3-Bets, BB folds, Hero calls.
Flop: (7 SB) (2 players)
In this example, Villain (70/15/0.8/45) is a fish. It would definitely be a mistake not to cap preflop here, since Villain usually doesn't ask himself what range you represent. He sees the board and his two cards and will make his decisions based on his absolute hand strength. He doesn't care too much about his relative hand strength against your range. In addition to that, Villain's WTS of 45 indicates that he is very showdown bound and will therefore only rarely find tough folds.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-Bets, BB folds, Hero calls.
Flop: (7 SB) (2 players)
In this example, Villain is a thinking regular who you share some history with. He plays (27/21/3.2/39) with a sample size of several thousand hands. He knows that you know that his 3-betting range is fairly wide and that you won't only 4-bet him with strong hands. He has seen you 4-bet speculative hands, such as 65s, or small pocket pairs, such as 55, before. Against such a player it would even be more fatal not to 4-bet than it would be against a fish, because he will put you on a much wider range than the weak TAG will. Especially if the dynamics of the game have been aggressive, you should 4-bet and possibly even induce some bluffs with the line b/c.
The non-4-bet strategy is particularly suitable against weak players who give up too many hands after a preflop cap since they perceive your range to be too strong. When facing fish and good TAGs/LAGs, you should maximise your EV by making a 4-bet preflop.
Flop play
Villain is the same weak TAG (24/18/2.7/35) that you were facing in examples 1 and 2. He 3-bets your button open-raise with the range 22+, A2s+, K9s+, QTs+, A3o+, KTo+. You base your decision whether to call, raise or fold on your equity.
To figure out if you can continue the hand profitably, you can use the following formula:
EV(Call down) > 0, if Equity > Loss / (Profit + Loss)
Profit: As Villain is weak and won't just blindly barrel the turn and the river, the average profit will be 5 BBs (3.5BBs on the flop + 1.5BBs won through the flop and turn bets). The underlying assumption here is that Villain always plays the river without any mistakes, which is of course not the case in reality.
Loss: 2.5BBs for call down (call flop, turn and river)
EV(Call down) > 0, if EQ > 2.5 / (5 + 2.5) = 33.33%
Since you are in position and can therefore always react to Villain's action, you should slightly lower the equity needed for a call. However, if it drops below 29%, you should find a fold. With the range TT+, AQs+, AK this will only be the case on the worst boards.
One example would be:
on a 
board.
This board is one of the few exceptions where you can directly fold an actually strong hand such as TT on the flop. You only have an equity of 22.07% left against Villain's range here.
Even with on a 
board, you would still have an equity of ~36%.
If your equity is over 50%, you could directly raise for value on the flop. This is only profitable however if you expect that Villain will 3-bet weaker hands which you could call in order to raise the turn.
It is usually better to only call the flop in order to exploit the fixed betting sequences (FBS) that are commonly seen in 3-bet pots. In 3-bet pots, a great number of players 3-bets 100% of flops and >90% of turns with the intention to get gut shots and over cards to fold on the turn and to avoid giving out free cards.
Turn play
Equity is also the basis for your decision on the turn. Since the pot is bigger now and you only have to pay 2BB to call down, the required equity drops on the turn. You can calculate it with the formula we have used before (Again we are assuming that Villain plays the river without any mistakes):
EV(Call down) > 0, if Equity > Loss / (Profit + Loss)
EV(Call down) > 0, if EQ > 2 / (6 + 2) = 25%
As a rule of thumb, you can use the following:
- Equity < 25% => Fold
- Equity 25-66% => Call
- Equity > 66% => Raise
The turn card can considerably increase or decrease the equity, as the following examples will show.
With on a board, you get an equity of ~36% on the flop, which is still a clear call. On the turn, the situation changes though:
| Turn | Equity | Action |
 |
21.1% | Fold |
 |
21.8% | Fold |
 |
24.3% | Fold |
 |
27.9% | Call |
|
40.8% | Call |
|
41.7% | Call |
|
58.8% | Call |
 |
67.8% | Raise |
For the decision making process on the turn it is vital that you pay attention to the playing tendencies of your opponent: Particularly when it comes to bad turn cards, , which have borderline equity for a call, you should ask yourself a few questions:
- Does Villain blindly barrel the turn?
- Does Villain tend to fold to the turn card with hopeless hands or does he use it as a barrel card?
- How often will Villain barrel the river?
River play
The play on the river depends less on the equity than on Villain. This is especially true for marginal hands. The following scenarios are possible on the river:
- You call the turn and Villain checks
- You call the turn and Villain bets
- You raise the turn, Villain calls and checks to you
- You raise the turn, Villain calls and donks the river
You can ignore the situation in which Villain 3-bets the turn after you raise. The river card will never cause your equity after a value raise on the turn to drop so much that you would have to fold.
You now have the option to bet as a bluff, to bet for value or to check behind. The basis for your decision is once again your equity. If Villain checks, he is signalling that he doesn't have a strong hand. Depending on the board you can now put him on a range which will influence your decision.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with 
Hero raises, SB 3-Bets, BB folds, Hero calls
Flop: (7 SBs) 
(2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.5 BBs) 
(2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
River: (6.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero ???
Of course, it's time for a simple value bet here.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-Bets, BB folds, Hero calls
Flop: (7 SBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
River: (6.5 BBs) 
(2 players)
SB checks, Hero ???
This is another board on which hero should definitely value bet, since even weak TAGs will still call with A-high on a board like this. Although you will sometimes see better hands, such as A4 or A5 play this line, it is altogether a clear value bet situation for Hero.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-bets, BB folds, Hero calls
Flop: (7 SBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
River: (6.5 BBs) 
(2 players)
SB checks, Hero ???
This is one of the few spots in which you could turn your hand into a bluff. As Villain is weak, he will be able to fold a 6, a 5 or even a 9 here.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-bets, BB folds, Hero calls
Flop: (7 SBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
River: (6.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero ???
With this river card, a check behind would be the best option. To avoid getting raised, villain will likely check/call his pairs such as 77 or 88, and he might not call any more A-highs besides maybe AJ and AQ.
The river is the one street where the most players deviate from their fixed betting sequence (FBS) of the flop and the turn, and re-evaluate their hand. Here it becomes particularly important to have reads on Villain in order to be able to exploit him as much as possible.
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-bets, BB folds, Hero calls
Flop: (7 SBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
River: (6.5 BBs) X (2 players)
SB bets, Hero ???
The equity required for a call on the river can be calculated by using the formula you are already familiar with.
EV(Call down) > 0, if EQ > 1 / (7.5 + 1) = 11.7%
Since you only have to be ahead in 1 of 8.5 cases here, you only need an equity of 11.7%.
River decision depends on Villain
The following extreme cases illustrate the issue:
Villain always plays bet/3-bet, bet/fold or bet/call on the river. He checks in 0% of cases. In this case you should strictly base your river decision on your equity, since Villain's bet doesn't tell you anything about his hand strength. To make a value raise, you would need an equity of 50% on the turn.
| River | Equity | Action |
 |
9.7% | Fold |
|
10.9% | Fold |
|
14.2% | Call |
 |
36.2% | Call |
|
45.3% | Call |
|
59% | Call |
As you can see, equitywise you only have to fold to two river cards on this board, even though the equity on the turn was already close to borderline. Even would still allow you to make a profitable call.
Now the other extreme:
Villain never bluffs and only value bets on boards that have four cards of the same suit if he has a flush => T-high. In this case, your equity is almost completely irrelevant to your decision.
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-bets, BB folds, Hero calls
Flop: (7 SBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
River: (6.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero folds!
Since Villain never bluffs and won't value bet top pair here, you find an easy fold despite your equity of 36.2%.
You will very rarely encounter these two example situations in reality, but you can use the following guidelines to find a decision:
- The more Villain is inclined to bluff on the river, the less equity you need for a call.
- The less Villain bluffs and the thinner his value bets are, the more equity you need for a call.
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-bets, BB folds, Hero calls
Flop: (7 SBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB calls
River: (8.5 BB) X (2 players)
SB checks, Hero ???
In this case you have improved your hand to top pair on the turn and you raise for value since your equity has now increased to 72.1%. After he called the turn, you have to re-define his calling range. This varies from player to player, weak players in particular will also fold hands such as 
on this board, others will take 
to the showdown unless another 
shows up. Depending on the river card, you should only bet here if you expect that => 50% of his calling range or his raising range, respectively, are weaker hands. Unsuitable river cards include every 7, 3 and every .
$1/$2 Fixed Limit Hold'em (6-handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with
Hero raises, SB 3-Bets, BB folds, Hero calls
Flop: (7 SBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB calls
River: (8.5 BBs) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero ???
Just as in Case 3, you raise the turn for value. The river brings the possibly worst card and Villain donks. This is another situation where you have to use reads to make a decison. If you think that Villain might actually bluff more than just in one out of 9.5 cases, you can call. However, against regular TAGs at $1/2, you can usually find a fold here.
Summary
The non-4-bet strategy is a play that you should only employ against players with weak playing tendencies in 3-bet pots. You will need quite a good feel for equities, since you give away the initiative preflop and therefore have to call, raise or fold the flop and usually also the turn strictly based on your equity.
It is extremely important to have reads on your opponent's river play, since you will otherwise be in a losing position. If you have such reads on weak players, the non-4-bet strategy is definitely a profitable way to deviate from the standard lines.
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