Gaining the Upper Hand
One of the hottest debates regarding live and online tournaments lately surrounds the practice of 3-betting and how important this move really is.
A friend of mine who is a popular and very successful online tournament player says that you will never become a successful online tournament player without adding 3-betting to your poker arsenal.
The fi rst reason that 3-betting has become such an important move has to do with the tight starting hand range of many average to slightly above-average mid-level tournament players. Many of these players have an even tighter reraising range. These players will reraise their big hands pre-fl op, but they are leaving dead money on the table by not reraising in certain spots with weaker holdings. These are the players that habitually call prefl op raises from the blinds, which in my opinion is often a major mistake. By cold calling out of position, you leave yourself clueless on the fl op without any control of the hand. Most times, if you have a hand strong enough to fl at call with, then you should be able to reraise in that spot.
By reraising, you gain control, represent a strong hand, and force your opponent to make a hand so they can defend against your followup continuation bet on the fl op. However, the main way a 3-bet helps your cause is that the majority of the time your opponent will fold to your 3-bet because of how strong it looks.
Now, if we take a look at the other side of the coin, where you reraise with that weak hand and get played with, there are still benefi ts to be found. If you end up in a showdown and they see that you reraised light with next to nothing, then you will get tons of action later when you actually have the nuts. Image is not as popular a topic anymore, but specifi cally online, there are players making their living off the way people perceive them. This is largely due to their use of 3-betting with a wide range which causes other players to think they are complete maniacs at the tables.
When you do 3-bet, make sure to pay attention to your opponent’s common reactions. Notice what hands your opponents are calling your 3-bets with so you know their hand range in future pots. Also, if they often call your prefl op 3-bet, then fold nearly every time to your fl op continuation bet, make sure to remember that so if you do face any resistance on the fl op you know to give that pot up right away since your opponent is likely to have a hand.
The best hands to 3-bet light with are hands that, if you are called, have the potential to win you a monster pot. Hands like 7-8, 2-2, and K-Qs are best because they offer up the chance to hit big and have an opponent really expecting something else.
With 3-betting, hands that are often tougher to play pre- and post-fl op now have more value as they can be perceived as much bigger hands when you fi re out a continuation bet on the fl op. Take into consideration what would happen if the button raised and you called from the small blind with A-J off-suit. The fl op comes 9-2-K. You check because you hit nothing and the pre-fl op raiser maintains control of the hand. He fi res with pretty much anything in that spot, and you are forced to fold. Now, instead, imagine the same scenario where you 3-bet in that spot. The same fl op comes out, but since you have just represented a monster, when you bet out the button folds and you take it down. That’s the key to 3-betting.
There are a couple of important variables to take into account before making your 3-bet move, the fi rst being position.
Your opponent’s position is important to note, as often times the later the position he is in, the more likely that his hand is a good one to 3-bet, since his range gets lighter and lighter the closer he gets to steal position.
Your position is vital as well in terms of controlling the pot, since sometimes your light 3-bet will fl op an open-ended straight draw or fl ush draw, and you may want to peel off a free card instead of continuation betting.
Also, continuation bet sizing is a key to this strategy. If you 3-bet pre-fl op and got called, the pot has grown to a decent size. When the fl op comes and it’s checked to you, don’t feel like you always have to fi re a pot-sized or 75-80% bet at the pot. The way the hand has played out, often times you’ll fi nd a 50-60% pot bet will do the job since you have made your opponent think you have such a strong hand.
Most No Limit Hold’em strategy articles revolve around the different moves you can make post-fl op. It’s important to remember that a hand starts before the fl op is even dealt, and adding 3-betting to your pre-fl op game will only help you improve as a well rounded Hold’em player.
Three-bets force your opponents to always wonder if this is the 3-bet light or the 3-bet monster, and that’s a problem you should be happy for them to have.
