3-betting
What a 3-bet is, when to make one for value or as a bluff, how big to make it, and what to do when someone 3-bets you.
A 3-bet is the re-raise after someone has already raised before the flop. The big blind is the first "bet", the open-raise is the second, and the re-raise is the third, hence the name. A re-raise of a 3-bet is a 4-bet.
Why 3-bet at all?
Calling a raise is passive: you let the raiser keep the initiative, and you often go to the flop with several players. A 3-bet does three things a call cannot:
- Builds the pot when you have the best hand.
- Wins the pot right away often enough, because most opening hands cannot continue.
- Takes the initiative into the flop, so your continuation bets are believable.
Value 3-bets and bluff 3-bets
Your 3-betting hands come in two groups:
- Value: hands that are happy to get called, or to get all the chips in: A♠A♥, K♠K♦, Q♥Q♣, A♣K♦. Against a wide opener from the button, JJ, TT and AQ join them.
- Bluffs: hands that cannot call profitably but play well when called, mostly suited aces like A♠5♠. The ace in your hand makes it less likely your opponent holds AA or AK, and the hand can still make a flush or a straight.
Mixing the two is what makes a 3-bet hard to play against. If you only ever 3-bet aces and kings, observant players simply fold everything but their own monsters.
A 3-betting range to start with
On the button, facing an open-raise from the cutoff, this range 3-bets about 8% of hands: strong pairs and big aces for value, small suited aces and suited broadways as the bluffs.
Raise Fold · Pairs / Suited / Offsuit
AA-TT, AKs-ATs, A5s-A2s, KQs-KJs, QJs, JTs, AKo-AQo
Tighten up considerably against a raise from under the gun, whose range is much stronger: QQ+ and AK for value, with a few suited aces.
How big?
- In position (you will act after them on the flop): about 3 times their raise. An open to 2.5 big blinds becomes a 3-bet to 7 or 8.
- Out of position (from the blinds): about 4 times, because playing the flop out of position is harder and you want to end the hand sooner.
- Add one raise-size per caller already in the pot.
When you get 3-bet
You opened, and someone re-raised. You have three choices:
- 4-bet with the very top of your range (AA, KK, often QQ and AK) and a few bluffs at higher levels.
- Call with hands that play well after the flop and are not dominated: middle pairs, suited broadways, AQs. Calling is better in position.
- Fold the rest. Folding to a 3-bet is not weakness: most hands you open are not good enough to continue.
A common mistake at home games is calling 3-bets with offsuit hands like K♥J♦. Against a range of big pairs and big aces, it is dominated almost every time it hits.
In a home game
Recreational games 3-bet much less than online games, so a 3-bet from a quiet player usually means a big pair. Fold more against them. Against loose players who open too much and call too much, 3-bet your good hands bigger and cut down the bluffs: they will not fold anyway.
Next: playing from the blinds.