Light Pre-flop 3-bets

Introduction

In this article you will learn that:

• Making light 3-bets makes you hard to read, which enables you to win more small pots.
  
• TAGs and semi-LAGs are your prime targets.
  
• You need an effective stack of at least 71 BB.
  
• A good measure for defending against light 3-bets, is a broadened 4-betting range.
  

Light 3-betting pre-flop simply means that, based on certain factors, you 3-bet with non-premium hands against exactly one opponent (cold callers unwanted!).

This article will be mainly directed towards explaining the decisive reasons behind making such light 3-bets and what should be taken into account. You'll get more familiar with the basic concepts in order for you to incorporate light 3-betting into your own pre-flop game. This'll enable you to deviate from the tight ABC-Poker, which is not sufficient anymore to play successfully from NL200 upwards.

Through concepts like light pre-flop 3-betting, you are able to shape your game in a more creative way and further develop yourself as a poker player.

Why would you 3-bet pre-flop with a broadened range?

The standard 3-betting range which you have been using up to now, normally consists of hands like JJ+, AQs+ and AKo. This range is basically completely legitimate, but has the disadvantage that a thinking opponent can place you precisely on this range.

This means it’ll be very easy for him to make the right decision post-flop. When playing in a 3-bet pot against a thinking TAG, for example, you have a problem when he plays back at you post-flop.

Because you know you’re up against a thinking opponent who can put you on a certain range, you’ve got yourself into a very difficult situation here. Usually the pot has become very large pre-flop and your hand will generally be strong enough to stay in the hand based on the odds, although you can be fairly certain you’re behind against the opponent’s range.

Broadening your 3-betting range will most certainly result in you showing 97s at showdown at a certain point. The same thinking player will have difficulties putting you on a tight range next time he’s up against you, because you'll have come across as a total maniac. Actively influencing your table image and meta game will surely result in more action compared to only playing with your "so-called" legitimate 3-betting range. Now you'll probably get called down with hands like top-pair / middle kicker, because your opponent may think you could have also 3-betted a “trash hand”.

But this isn't the only reason your long-term winnings will increase. Because of your broadened 3-betting range, you'll also pick up more middle-sized pots either through a continuation bet or directly without even seeing a flop. Starting at NL200, it is very profitable to start implementing the technique of light 3-betting. With this, you can easily exploit multi-tabling ABC-TAGs due to the fact that they fold a lot of their open raising range against a 3-bet. If they don't fold, they'll generally make a 4-bet, in which case you can usually place them on QQ+ and AK.

Additionally, in the mid stakes, there a lot more players which use this exact same concept of light pre-flop 3-betting, resulting in you being exploited without even knowing it, if you don't adapt yourself.

Which factors should you consider?

In the next part, the most important factors which you should consider will be described before you decide to 3-bet light against an opponent. It's very important you don't look at one isolated factor by itself. The whole picture should be considered, as all factors are decisive. It is possible that one factor indicates you should make a 3-bet, while another one contradicts this. You have to look at all the factors together and then contemplate if the most important factors jusitfy a 3-bet or not.

You should remember that the order of importance of these factors isn't the same in every situation. In a certain situation, the opponent can be more important than your position, while in another situation it can be the other way around. It takes some experience at the tables to be able to make a correct determination about this. The more experience you gather with light 3-betting the better you get at spotting situations in which you can 3-bet with the lesser hands. Be careful though, because when you exaggerate, or use it the wrong way, this profitable weapon will cost you a lot of money.

To determine your position, we normally use a full short-handed table as guideline. For position, you have to look at two things.

• a) The position of the open raiser at the table
• b) Your relative position to the open raiser

Depending on the position, the open raiser will have a broader or a smaller open raising range. It is obvious that, when the open raiser is sitting UTG or in MP, his range will be smaller and stronger than when he is in a blind stealing situation, like the CO or on the BU. One of the big advantages with light 3-betting is that, as the the range of an opponent becomes bigger and therefore weaker, he'll have to fold a bigger part of his range on a 3-bet, allowing you to pick up the pot directly.

When your opponent has a smaller and stronger range, you'll regularly see a 4-bet, on which you would usually have to fold. When your opponent calls your raise instead, his range will normally be ahead of yours, meaning you'll have to try to pick up the pot post flop.

There are two possibility's. Either you're in position, or you're out of position. Playing out of position only happens when you're in the blinds and are defending with a 3-bet. A limp/raise is a possibility here as well, but that is a separate play and therefore not a subject of this article.

When you are in a blind defence situation, you'll have a positional disadvantage after the flop. On the other hand, you are able to bet first and can thereby try to pick up the pot with a continuation bet.

Due to the 3-bet, the pot is pretty big, making the positional disadvantage a lot smaller than when you would have cold called in the blinds. The bigger the pot pre-flop, the easier decision you have post flop. Your 3-bet will therefore have to be slightly bigger when you're out of position, around pot size or maybe even a bit bigger.

The continuation bet and the larger pre-flop 3-bet ensures your having the necessary fold equity to make this situation into a +EV-situation. You'll have to take care that you're not being exploited by opponents who like to float 3-betted pots. To make sure this doesn't happen, every now and then you should check/raise your stronger hands against these kind of opponents.

When you're in position post-flop, you obviously have a positional advantage. This means your pre-flop 3-bet doesn't have to be as big. A pot size raise or a bit less, should do the trick.

Your opponent will have to fold a big part of his open raising range due to his positional disadvantage. This means you can 3-bet more hands in this spot, compared to when you're sitting out of position. A great opportunity for this is when you're sitting on the button and your opponent raises first-in from the cut-off. His range will be very large, resulting in a 3-bet being a +EV-move, because he'll have to fold a lot of hands.
Another advantage is that you'll always have more control over the pot when sitting in position. You'll have a far better position to get maximum value out of hands like 87s or 88 if you were to hit a monster, for example.

When considering the stack sizes, we always have to look at the effective stacks. Especially short stacks shouldn't be 3-betted lightly. Due to the good odds, you'll have to call a possible push far too often and when you have to show hands like 53s as a 3-betted hand, you're table-image surely won't improve a whole bunch.

All stack sizes need to be large enough for you to be able to create enough fold equity both pre-flop and post-flop, without actively committing yourself.

To be able to look at this more closely, we'll first have to be clear on what the difference is between a raised pot and a 3-betted pot and how such a hand normally progresses. The size of the continuation bet is an important point here.

It would be a small leak, if you would make a continuation bet of the same relative size in a 3-betted pot, as you would in a normal raised pot. You had to invest a large amount of money with a continuation bet, altough missing the flop most of the time.

In a 3-betted pot, a continuation bet of 1/2 to 2/3 pot size should be sufficient to create enough fold equity and to protect when you've hit a good hand. Because the pot has become very large already, you're not forced into making large bets to get the maximum value out of your hands. If your goal is to be all-in on the river, it would usually be best to bet about 60% of the pot. If you bet 60% of the pot on the flop, turn and river and your opponent calls every time, you'll have invested ~135 BB yourself.

An example calculation of a possible hand would look like this:

0,5 BB - Size of the SB
1 BB - Size of the BB
3,5 BB - Raise size of the open raiser
12 BB - Size of your 3-bet

After a call of the open raiser, the pot would be 25.5 BB (without rake deduction).

After a continuation bet and a call of 13 BB to 19 BB, the pot would be between 51.5 BB and 63.5 BB on the turn.

To create enough fold equity now and to still be able to get some value out of the hand, you'll need at least 40 BB. This way your continuation bet also wouldn't make you committed on the flop.

Your minimum stack therefore has to be 40BB+19BB+12BB = 71BB.

While you can also 3-bet lightly with a smaller stack, you'll have to be clear on the fact that circumstances can arise where you have to make some sort of crying call, while being quite sure you're beat.

As you can see, stack sizes have to be of a certain minimum size to be able to make light 3-betting a +EV move. On the other side, this of course raises the question if a stack can be too large for a 3-bet. This basically isn't the case, though you should contemplate whether there aren't any better alternatives when playing deep stacked. In this case. it would be a more profitable move to cold call with a drawing hand when sitting in position. This is because the opponent will have better implied odds when playing deep stacked and can therefore call a 3-bet more often. Because of this, the positional advantage when playing deep stacked is a bit more important.

With the opponent we have the most important factors which need to be taken into account when deciding whether or not to make a light 3-bet. Against certain opponents a light 3-bet is a little -EV. You wouldn't want to light 3-bet against an opponent who open raises with a lot of hands and calls many 3-bets, nor an opponent who has a very tight opening range, which consists of 95% of premium hands with which he'll 4-bet you. This means players with 70/30- and 32/4-stats aren't really profitable to 3-bet lightly.

The best opponents are thinking TAGs and semi-LAGs, who have a small 3-betting calling range. Especially good targets are multi-tabling regulars, who have the tendency to play poker in autopilot and rarely notice that you're making light 3-bets. They'll fold a lot of their hands without even thinking about what is happening at that moment.

However, it's not just the opponents' pre-flop tendencies which are important. You'll also have to ask yourself to which degree the opponent is inclined to become tricky post-flop. A bluff check/raise on the flop will often make you fold, which you obviously want to avoid in a 3-betted pot.

Your best targets are the so-called Fit-or-Fold-players, who usually fold their hands when they haven't hit anything and call when they have hit. Against these players you can often make a profitable decision on the turn, as you can optimally assess the strength of their hand.

In conclusion, it could be said that the opponent should rather have a small 3-bet calling range pre-flop and should play very weak post-flop, in order for you to often pick up the pot directly through a continuation bet.

A question which, at first sight, seems very important when talking about this subject is: With which hand should I broaden my 3-betting range? Simply adding some random hands isn't optimal. Although 3-betted pots will rarely end in a showdown, unless both players have hit a very good hand. You do want to win a showdown however, when it comes to it. This makes one criteria for choosing hands clear: They should be able to make strong hands and win big pots.

You can rarely win big pots with hands like top-pair/weak kicker. You need straights or flushes. Hands like suited connectors (54s+), middle off-suited connectors (54o+) and suited one-gappers (75s+), are perfect for achieving this goal. Simply playing every suited hand would be fatal though, as you would get into trouble with hands like Q3s, when you would hit a Q-high flop with back-door draws. Folding in this spot would be very hard.

It better suits your needs to hit a middle pair, no draw with a hand like 76s, which you can fold in a 3-betted pot without even a second thought. Because of this, weaker aces (A6, A9...) shouldn't be added to the broadened range either, since these hands have large reverse implied odds. Furthermore you want to take the pot with a continuation bet. If this fails you can be fairly certain that, if you haven't hit two pair or better, your are beaten.

Middle or small pocket pairs are also quite good hands which you can add to your broadened range, as they are very easy to play post-flop. When you hit your set, you can be fairly certain you're good. If you only have a middle- or under pair, you have to fold when running into any action. However, with pocket-pairs you should always consider the option of cold calling pre-flop for set-value. With passive players in the blinds, you should call for set-value, as you'll most probably end up in a multi-way pot. If you're up against a player who likes to squeeze in the blinds, it would be a nice spot to 3-bet, as you would have to fold against a squeeze when cold calling.

Although this is the last factor regarding this subject, it is very, very important. You should always know what's been going on at the table!

• Is someone tilting?
• Are there a lot of new players against whom you haven't got any history?
• Have you made lots of pre-flop 3-bets recently?
• How do your opponents adapt against your broadened 3-betting range?

You should only make light 3-bets when the general table situation offers the opportunity to do so. If you have been 3-betting a lot in previous hands, because of a run of cards, you should be a bit more conservative. After all, one of the reasons for 3-betting more often is that you want to get more action on your legitimate range, containing pre-flop monsters. The trick is to find the balance with 3-betting more hands, leading to more action, while not getting this action when you're holding you're worse hands which you'll often have to fold against a 4-bet.

Next to your table-image, it is also important to consider the state of mind of the other players. If you or another player have just given a bad beat to someone, this could lead to bringing the opponent on tilt. He can be more inclined to 4-bet or even push your 3-bet. You don't want this, unless you are holding a premium hand.

Because all this requires some practice, it is recommended to play less tables in the beginning, so that you can start using this concept and add it to your game at the first opportunity, while still being able to analyse the situation as best as possible. Although it might work, it isn't recommended to keep 6-tabling and simply throwing around 3-bets, as it might lead to a leak, which would later take a lot of time to get rid of.

How do you protect yourself against light 3-betters?

Up until now, we've only been looking at the aggressors point of view considering 3-bets. Especially on higher limits, you'll certainly fall victim to light 3-bets yourself. This leads us to the question of how to best react against these kinds of plays. Should you simply wait for good hands and then take action or should you also broaden your 4-betting range or maybe even simply call and see how your opponent will react on the flop?

Whatever the answer may be, one thing is most important: Don't take the pre-flop aggression personally and don't start focussing on this player by randomly 4-betting or trying to make a fancy move post-flop, in order to win the pot. Always analyse the situation on the table objectively.

In general, you would find yourself in a very difficult situation if you only were to call a pre-flop 3-bet. You would often have to fold to a continuation bet or bluff with your hand and then hope your opponent will fold, although his hand will mostly be the better one. In addition, a float in a 3-betted pot is very expensive and based on the pot-size your opponent would have a very hard time folding hands like top-pair.

Therefore you should only use this line when you are quite certain your opponent is able to fold fairly strong hands post-flop. Your stack also has to be big enough to make a move post-flop without committing yourself or giving your opponent the odds. Next to this, you should think about the post-flop implied odds you'll be getting, because only when these look good should you consider a call.

The bigger the stack sizes, the higher your implied odds will be for your pre-flop call. When you combine this with the fact that you'd be playing in position, it'd be a very good reason to call. A good example of this would be when you raised from the button and the big blind defended with a 3-bet. This offers a great opportunity to either make some sort of bluff post-flop or of having the luck of hitting a very good hand and then extracting maximum value.

Because as a light 3-better you know that you would rather not face a 4-bet, the best answer to the question of, how to protect versus a light 3-bet, is in how you play the hands you hold. You should simply broaden your 4-betting range a bit. You should obviously do this with caution, as a 4-bet already makes you invest a lot of money in the pot, which thereby gives you good odds against a certain range when your opponent 5-bets.

Also note that you should use the same raise-size when 4-betting a monster. If you were to use different raise-sizes, it would enable your opponent to see the difference between a bluff and a legitimate 4-bet. This would give your opponent the opportunity to profitably push or fold against you.

To defend against a light 3-bet it is often better to become the aggressor again yourself and to directly make a pre-flop 4-bet. This changes your table-image again, resulting in a similar effect as previously seen with 3-betting; you'll get more action on your 4-bets in the future.

In case you're having trouble making this aggressive adjustment because you've, for example, got a lot of difficulties making a 4-bet bluff with hands like JTs, you could also consider tightening up your open-raising range. This will ensure you are often holding a legitimate hand for a 4-bet in these kinds of situations.

The problem with this adaptation is that you'd simply become too tight and would be seen as a rock, which won't get you much action on your good hands. This makes the aggressive approach a far more profitable one.

Conclusion

As we have now seen, it isn't simple to say which hands you should use in order to enjoy the advantages of light 3-betting. You should always wait for the right spot and use the 3-bet with care, because this change in your play can quickly have negative consequences,which will be reflected in your win rates.

Here's an overview of the most important points on this subject, in a compact summary:

• Your position:
  • Position of the open raiser at the table
    • Possible broad range => Preferably CO and BU => avoid UTG
  • Relative position to the open raiser
    • IP is better than OOP
    • IP 3-betting range > OOP 3-betting range
    • Make higher 3-bets and more c-bets OOP then IP
• The stack sizes
  • The effective stack counts!!
  • Don't 3-bet short stacks lightly
  • The minimum stack should be around 70 bb
  • The bigger the stack, the more important the relative position
• The opponent
  • Shouldn't be too tight and should not often 4-bet
  • Shouldn't call 3-bets too lightly and shouldn't play tricky/spewy post-flop
  • Preferably Fit-or-Fold players, who fold on the flop directly if they haven't hit anything
• Your hand
  • Your hand should be able to win big pots (off-/suited connectors, suited one-gapper)
  • Avoid top-pair, weak kicker hands (Ax, Kx, Qx)
• The table dynamics
  • You should always consider your table image
  • The emotional state of your opponent is very important (tilt, bad beats, who is gambling?)