By Alton Hardin
Poker Strategy Hand Range Selection Strategy
However, it's worth paying attention to two things: the stage of a tournament and the types of player at the table. While this relatively tight hand selection will serve you well early on in a tournament when the blinds are low, as the tourney progresses and your stack-to-blind ratio decreases, it might be time to expand your starting hands selection. By developing a solid preflop hand selection strategy, you're setting yourself up for post-flop and overall success in poker. Listen to episode #255: The Best Poker Hands Ranked and Open-raising Ranges.
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. How to say roulette russe in english.
Why Do We 3-Bet?
Hopefully you've already noticed this from the section above, but we 3-bet for two specific reasons:
- When we have a hand that is too good to call, such as KK or AA for value
- 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.
Poker Strategy Hand Range Selection Questions
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
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.
For a more comprehensive overview of 3-betting, be sure to watch our The Three-Betting 101 Course!
Recently I have been writing about the value of aggression and position in limit hold'em. I have been focusing on how being aggressive preflop increases your chances of being in position post-flop. I've also talked about how being the player with the tempo from preflop makes all your hands more profitable post-flop. There is one other factor that has a large effect on your likelihood of being in position post-flop and that is your preflop position.
When you are first to act in a normal nine-handed limit hold'em game, you have six people you have to get to fold to have the last position post-flop. When you are in middle position, you will need to get two or three people to fold in order to have position after the flop. When you are the button, you will be in position simply by playing. Generally, as you move farther from the button, the less chance you have of being in position after the flop.
This idea should be somewhat intuitive. So the question is; what can you do to play profitably from weaker preflop positions? The answer is that you will have to rely more on your hand strength. Yes, the actual cards that you get dealt to you. Most new to intermediate limit hold'em players I talk to at least acknowledge the idea that you need to play tighter up front and that you can play looser in later positions. But I also think that very few of them actually grasp how big of a spread there really is in what hands play profitably.
Let's look at the case where you have raised as the first player to act in a nine-handed game, so there are six players behind you who will have position on you if they choose to play. Let's suppose that they are all playing reasonably tight as well and so they will only come into this pot with hands like 8-8 or better, A-J or better, A-10 suited, and K-Q. That is a pretty tight range. It's also slightly more than eight percent of the starting hands. So what are the chances that an opponent is dealt one of these hands? The answer, with six players to act, is about 40 percent of the time. So, if you are playing from up front, 40 percent of the time one of your opponents is going to have a hand that they aren't likely to be folding. Most likely, you are going to be reraised and have to play the hand from out of position. Sometimes more than one opponent will have a hand that is this strong and that puts you in an even tougher spot.
Makita dvr350z 18v lxt vibrating poker bare unit. This doesn't even account for your opponents who will play a wider range and play aggressively. Realistically, you will be out of position for the pot a little more than half the time. The only way to profitably offset this is to have hands that have a large amount of absolute value. In early position, I play around 12 percent of my starting hands. My range is something like 6-6 or bigger, A-10 or bigger, A-9 suited, K-Q, and all the suited Broadway cards.
As you move into later positions, the chances of running into a premium hand go down. If there are three players behind you, a player will only have that premium range 23 percent of the time. You probably will end up playing from position over 60 percent of the time, even more in a tight game. This will allow you to play many more starting hands profitably. In middle position, I will open pots with about 20 percent of my starting hands. This adds in all the unsuited Broadway cards, a few pairs, a few suited connectors, and a couple of the weaker aces. Even if your more astute opponents notice that you are playing more hands from middle position, you still have a reasonably strong range and they can't just three-bet you relentlessly and try to run you over.
Now when I am on the button, I know I will be in position post-flop, so I know I will have one of my criteria of profitable play working for me. I also know that the blinds will fold at a decent rate and I will win the one and a half little bets that are in the pot. These two factors really allow me to profitably raise to open the pot with a lot of hands. On the button, I play about half the starting hands if everyone has folded. I may back off of that number a little if the blinds are three-betting me a lot, or I may increase it if they are folding too much, but I start with the idea that 50 percent of my starters is reasonable.
For most people, the idea that you can only play 12 percent of the hands up front and 50 percent of the hands from the button will be strange. Most players are fairly anchored to the numbers that are on the cards in front of them. In reality, the value of your hand has as much to do with the circumstances in which you find yourself as the ranks of the cards. ♠
Rep Porter is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and is the lead instructor at ThePokerAcademy.com, whose mission is to help poker players achieve better results through better decisions and that is done by teaching poker in a way that makes learning easy and enjoyable with high quality courses taught by professional players.
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