How to Handle Re-Raises Before the Flop
Introduction
In this article
- How to play against 3-bets and 4-bets
- When to 3-bet out of position
- When to 3-bet in position
Pre-flop play in Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) is different from every other poker variant in many aspects. An essential difference is caused by the relatively close pre-flop equities, which leads to the widely held opinion that, in PLO, with appropriate post-flop skills, you can call and even 3-bet profitably with a lot of starting hands before the flop.
The following article demonstrates the playability of different hands in 3- and 4-bet pots, and analyzes the expected values for pre-flop decisions with simple math. The second part introduces you to the usage of the tool propokertools for your own analysis.
How do you play against 3-bets?
The recurrent term 'playability' refers to how far a hand can be played profitably on the flop regardless of its pre-flop equity. The site www.propokertools.com offers easy-to-use simulation software for free. The software also offers a graphing feature in addition to simple equity calculations. The graph shows how often your hand will have a given amount of equity against your opponent's hand. This shows how often a hand will be playable on the flop and how EV you can give yourself.
Pot-Limit Omaha Ring game $1/$2 (6 players)
Stack sizes:
UTG: $46.30
UTG+1: $296
CO: $95
Hero: $201
SB: $199.40
BB: $86.70
Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is Button with 7
8
5 6
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, CO folds, Hero raises to $9, SB raises to $31, BB folds, UTG+1 folds, Hero calls.
Flop: Q 5 6
($66, 2 players)
SB bets $66, Hero raises all-in, SB calls.
Turn: K ($402.8, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $402.8)
River: 4 ($402.8, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $402.8)
Results:
SB shows 3 A A J
SB has A A Q K 6 a pair of aces.
Hero shows 7 8 5 6
Hero has 8 6 5 4 7 straight, eight high.
In this case, you had 74.51% equity on the flop with two pair and the straight draw against the opponent's aces, meaning you can go all-in right on the flop.
The opponent committed himself to the pot with his continuation bet and had to call your all-in raise. On a separate note, your opponent's mistake was made before the flop when he gave you the chance to play in position after the flop.
With the aid of the following graph, you can determine how often you have a given amount of equity on the flop against a specific hand.
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Expected equity on the flop
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The central point of the line lies at 25% and shows an average equity at 65%.
Logically, you always continue playing the hand on the flop when it has more than 40% equity. This is given in about 50% of the cases. By replacing the curve with a straight line, you can see that the hand has, on average, 65% equity in 50% of cases. You also have the advantage of position and will only invest when you have the needed equity.
If you call the 3-bet and invest another $22, your EV will be as follows:
- In 50% of the cases, you go all-in on the flop.
- In 65% of the cases, you win $204.40 (actual pot + remaining stack from the SB)
- In 35% of the cases, you lose $138.40 (amount to put the SB all-in)
- In 50% of the cases, you fold on the flop and lose $22.
EV = 0.5 * (0,65 * $234.40 - 0.35 * $168.40) - 0.5 * $22
EV = +$35.71
Compare this to the EV from the SB's point of view:
- In 50% of the cases, you fold after seeing the flop and he wins $66.
- In 50% of the cases, you are both all-in on the flop.
- In 35% of the cases, he wins $234.40 (pot + your bet)
- In 65% of the cases, he loses $168.40 (his remaining stack)
EV = 0.5 * 66 + 0.5 * (0.35 * 234.4 - 0.65 * $168.40)
EV = +19.29
As you can see, the pre-flop raise from the SB allows him to continue playing on the flop with positive expected value. However, he is putting you in an even better situation. If you calculate his expected value on the flop based on the pre-flop re-raise coupled with his relatively small fold equity, his expected value is considerably lower than that of a smooth call with his AAxx. A smooth call before the flop in a multi-way pot could have put him in a number of situations, in which he could play profitably after the flop without increasing the variance so significantly. He could then contibet any flop and commit himself in a heads up pot.
Things are considerably more difficult when your opponent can re-raise with a range of hands like JT97s and contibet/fold on the flop when his hand hasn't improved significantly. He would then have a better hand than you on some flops that you would continue to play and can also bluff on A and K high boards profitably at the same time. You need to know if your opponent can re-raise with hands other than AAxx out of position before you can choose a range for calling 3-bets. Opponents that only 3-bet out of position with AAxx certainly exist, but opponents able to 3-bet with a wider range need to be noted as post-flop play against them will differ significantly.
Further mathematical analysis would take too much time to cover in this article, but we will look at a few hands and their playability against AAxx.
- 8765s - an average equity of 65% on 50% of all flops.
- JT86s - a bit weaker than 8765s, but 50% of all flops will give you 40% equity, but usually only 60% at most.
- JJT9s - only 40% of the flops will provide more than 40% equity, usually about 60% on average.
- 9988s
- also gives you more than 40% equity on more than 40% of all flops. The fact that you have well over 70% equity on 20% of all flops makes this hand very playable.
Experimenting with ProPokerTools will give you a better feel for your own starting hand selection and the playability of various starting hands against 3-bets from hands other than AAxx. You will also get a feel for the playability of your own 3-bets.
You should also pay attention to the following when choosing your starting hands.
Quite simply, the bigger the stack, the better. If your opponent check/folds on many boards, it will be profitable for you to call even when his stack isn't massive. If he overplays big overpairs, you have very good implied odds.
If there are other opponents in the hand who have called the 3-bet, make sure that you don't overplay hands with massive reverse implied odds. You can still profitably play a hand like 9764s heads-up on the flop against AAxx without a problem, but in three-way action, the danger grows as a possible hand like T987 could hit a considerably stronger draw on the flop. In this situation, try to stick with hands that draw to the nuts or are double-paired and can flop big sets. Pairs below 88 do not flop the best set often enough. For instance, holding 7744 on a Q97 board rarely gives you more than the 60% equity needed to justify the call before the flop.
How do you play against 4-bets?
4-bets that don't lead to all-ins before the flop are rare in full-ring games, since there is usually a lot of dead money in the pot. However, in short-handed games, you can often use a 3-bet to isolate or, in some case, simply for initiative. The following section is designed to teach you which hands should be played if you do get 4-bet and don't hold AAxx.
You can push any 4-bet with AAxx, since going all-in with that hand before the flop is never a mistake. Even average AAxx hands have good equity when compared to every other premium hand; pushing will always be very +EV, since there is so much money in the pot.
KKxx hands aren't nearly as strong and end up being rather weak against a 4-bet, simply because you will usually be walking into AAxx.
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Playability of different hands against a 4-bet
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You should only play weak KKxx hands or other big pairs with good reason when facing a 4-bet, especially since, as just mentioned, they are often dominated by overpairs such as AAxx hands. Furthermore, any flush draws you might hit could be dominated by Ax flush draws.
It's easy enough to determine your equity on the flop against AAxx with a rundown hand. Quite often, this evaluation is much more difficult with KKxx. Of course, the same issues of playability and equity apply to weaker pairs. However, for example, double-suited 8899 already has better equity and playability than KKQQ or QQJJ the A isn't an out for a straight with 8899. It is important to pay attention as to whether or not the pairs are suited and/or connected, as set-outs alone don't justify calling 4-bets.
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Playability of AAxx vs. weak double-paired hands
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In this example, you are on the BU and want to isolate the CO after he raises to 3.5 BBs first in. You have 100 BB stacks. You 3-bet to 12 BBs, the SB and BB fold. Then the CO raises again to 37.5 BBs. You must pay 25.5 BBs to call knowing that your opponent has AAxx (as mentioned previously, 4-bets are very often AAxx hands).
At this stage, the pot is now at 51 BBs, and you have to pay 25.5 BBs to see the flop. You also know the CO will immediately push all-in on any flop. We will use the hands and equities from the section on 3-bets to arrive at the following analysis:
Hero is BU with 8 7 6 5
Villain is CO with A A J 3
Once again, you have more than 40% (an average of 65%) equity on 50% of all flops. You will naturally only continue playing when you hit one of these flops, even though you could theoretically play a number of other hands has well, given the odds. Since, however, it is often very difficult to spot the hands with 30-35% equity, we will ignore them in this article.
The expected value of your pre-flop call is as follows.
- In 50% of the cases, you call pre-flop and fold on the flop. You then lose 25.5 BB.
- In 50% of the cases, you go all-in on the flop.
- In 65% of the cases, you win 51 BB + 63.5 BB. (actual pot + remaining stack of CO)
- In 35% of the cases, you lose 25.5 BB + 63.5 BB. (pre-flop call + remaining stack)
EV = 0.5 * (0.65 * (51 + 63.5) - 0.35 * (25.5 + 63.5)) - 0.5 * 25.5
EV = +8.9BB
A rundown hand has +EV, even after the CO 4-bets, which means you should call 4-bets with rundown hands. However, be aware that your expected value is considerably lower than it would be in a 3-bet pot with the same hands.
The situation clearly becomes less profitable with paired hands. As described in the 3-bet section, you only have more than 40% equity in 40% of the flops with JJT9s, and, on average, can expect about 60% in these cases. If you were to calculate the expected value against a random AAxx, you get the following expected value:
EV = 0.4 * (0.6 * (51 + 63.5) - 0.4 * (25.5 + 63.5)) - 0.6 * 25.5
EV = -2.1BBs
As you can see, even a seemingly strong hand like JJT9s cannot be played profitably in this situation. A call could be profitable, but that depends heavily on stack sizes and dead money in the pot. In general, however, you should simply fold to a 4-bet to avoid high variance. The same applies to good double-paired hands, even though they offer a slightly better equity.
When do you 3-bet out of position?
There are different ways of handling this topic. Some players believe that you should not raise any hand out of position in PLO high, while others might only re-raise AAxx hands if they get enough of their stack into the middle of the table so that they are able to immediately push on any flop.
We will now show you a few hands with which you can, at times, 3-bet out of position before the flop. If you recall an earlier statement, where it is important to note players who 3-bet without AAxx, we mentioned that this will change your play considerably. Conversely, you do not want to be a PLO player incapable of 3-betting with a selected range of hands.
AAxx
Any double-suited AAxx can be re-raised profitably out of position. A flush draw + overpair is usually a playable hand. You often have the best draw and dominate a number of other hands.
This is valid for both single-suited and connected AAxx. The best example is AAJTs, with which you could flop good straight draws instead of the second flush draw. The same applies to AA45s.
You can also re-raise out of position with double-paired AAxx. You get a lot of value when you hit the smaller set, as your opponents will often go all-in with two pair or better on any flop without an ace.
Weaker AAxx combinations should be played carefully to avoid the scenario described at the beginning of the 3-bet section. You can 3-bet with weak AAxx combinations when it costs more than 35% of your stack.
KKxx
You should be more cautions with KKxx, since you will rarely have a nut flush draw and an ace could always show up on the flop. The key point, however, is that you won't have the best draw if you go all-in with a flush draw + overpair on the flop. You can also expect your opponent to have an ace (and a draw for a better two pair). You therefore need stronger xx cards than with AAxx. If a 3-bet costs more than 35% of your stack, you will usually commit yourself, as well. Your decision should depend heavily on your opponent's playing style.
The important thing when re-raising rundown hands out of position is drawing for the nuts. T876 is, therefore, just as poor a starting hand as 4567, as many of the hands your opponent will continue playing will dominate you. The best rundown starting hands are 9876s - KQJTs. One-gappers with the gap at the lower end, such as JT97s, are also suitable. You will often get action from opponents with marginal hands when you hit the flop, since they will often put you on AA combinations and overplay dominated hands.
The following example should clarify this: You 3-bet a CO open-raise in the SB with JT98, and the CO calls you with T875. The flop shows 972 and the CO hits his straight draw with a pair and a backdoor flush draw, which leads to the following flop equity:
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Equity vs. T
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Against AAxx, the CO has 56.78% equity with his hand. However, he only has 31.65% equity against your actual hand. You see how a hand that dominated before the flop not only blocks the opponent's draw, but also many of his outs for two pair. 3-betting out of position with a rundown hand like this performs two critical functions. First, it reduces your opponent's positional advantage. Second, it leaves him in the dark with an 'information gap.'
Before committing more than 35% of your stack with a 3-bet, you should consider whether or not it would be more profitable to call and play in a multi-way pot, or raise to isolate your opponent. This, of course, depends on the number of opponents in the hand and the fold equity you can generate.
3-betting high double pairs out of position has the following advantage: You can often go all-in on the flop with top set against two pair or small sets, as the opponent considers himself to be in the lead against AAxx. KK-TT are good double pairs for 3-betting out of position.
When do you 3-bet in position?
Many basic approaches for deciding whether a 3-bet or a call is the better alternative have already been covered in the previous sections, often from the point of view of the opponent's mistakes.
Raising “for value” pre-flop in Pot-Limit Omaha is difficult, as you often have weak made hands on the flop that cannot be played easily.
Here are a 'pros' for 3-betting in position before the flop:
- The opponent is tight and hardly makes any crazy moves. You would have a lot of fold equity with a 3-bet before the flop, as well as on the flop with a continuation-bet.
- Your own hand often has a lot of value on the flop and is not dominated.
- The opportunity to isolate a weak opponent who slightly overplays marginal hands.
- The bonus of informational advantage over your opponent's hand. You can almost always rule out AAxx if the opponent only calls the 3-bet without position.
However, 3-bets often get cold called in PLO. As already explained in the previous chapter about 3-bets OOP, it is of the highest importance to vary your hand range with 3-bets widely enough, so that your opponents overplay hands with very little equity.
The following example shows you how easy it is for opponents to make a serious mistake when estimating their equity oop in 3-bet pots.
Omaha PL $2.00/$4.00
3 Players
Stack sizes
BU $471.82
SB $363.00
BB (Hero) $669.00
Pre-flop: Dealt to Hero Q K K Q
BU calls $4.00, SB raises $6.00, Hero raises $30.00, BU folds, SB calls $16.00
Flop: 5 8 Q
SB checks, Hero bets $66.00, SB raises $256.00, Hero raises $571.00, SB is all-in $75.00
SB shows 9 8 5 4 for 2 pair, eights and fives.
Your opponent only has 2.44% equity with his weak two pair against your set of queens.
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Q
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He would, however, have +EV against a random AAxx hand.
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AAxx vs. 9
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Your opponent will rarely overplay his hand so severely in normal raised pot.
In many cases, varying the size of your 3-bets in position offers many strategic opportunities. As your fold equity is often rather small, you can often isolate the open-raiser with smaller 3-bets in position. This also gives you more leeway on the flop.
Contibet/fold becomes considerably more profitable when you have marginal hands with which you don't want to commit yourself. At the same time, it gives you the opportunity to continue playing in a very profitable way against 4-bets. Furthermore, it makes it possible to not commit yourself by the turn if you check behind on the flop for pot control or to develop a weak draw. However, these possibilities depend on being in position; small 3-bets are rarely effective when oop.
Conclusion
When in re-raised pots, …
- … make sure that you don't play dominated hands.
- … you have to be able to evaluate the ranges of your opponents.
- … you have to know how much equity you have, since you can rarely generate fold equity in a re-raised pot.
This article cannot provide you with all the answers on this topic in Pot-Limit Omaha. You have, however, been introduced to a few new thoughts and methods to help you develop a sound, mathematically based pre-flop game in PLO.