- Poker Calling 3 Bets Odds
- Poker Calling 3 Bets Against
- Bet Online Poker Download
- 3 Bet Poker Definition
- Poker Calling 3 Bets Games
- Poker Calling 3 Bets No Deposit
- Poker Bet Terms
I discuss the leak of calling 3bets and losing money: the symptoms, how to diagnose and the statistics that help you track your leak plugging progress.
In episode 179, I answered 4 Q's about analyzing win rates in MTT's, developing study discipline, practicing equities and playing the player.
Calling 3bets (2:05)
The fact that the 3-bet came from the SB which will have the tightest 3-bet range and that the SB also happens to be the tightest player at the table is a bigger factor in your decision then your exact hand. Sometimes I will continue with medium pairs either as a call or a 4-bet but never in this situation.
3betting is an intrinsic part of pre-flop poker, and for good reason. There are 3 benefits that come with 3 betting pre-flop:
POSTED Nov 24, 2016 Julian begins a new series focusing on calling 3 bets from different positions, focusing on button vs small blind in this part. It's not always clear cut what to do when you raise first in and get 3-bet. How do you know when it is appropriate to flat, and when you can exploit your opp.
Smart bet live casino no deposit. How to Deal With Min 3-bets in Poker Minimum bets in general are something that you will encounter a lot at the lowest stakes, especially NL2, NL4 (Merge) NL5 and NL10. This is because these limits are. Re: Poker & When To Call 3-Bets A pre-flop 3-bet is an effective way to isolate weak opponents and limit the number of players that see a flop.
- 3bets build the pot so you can make more money with your strong hands
- They give you pre-flop fold equity so you can win the pot then and there without seeing the flop
- They help to isolate weak open raisers, giving you the opportunity to play heads-up against them post flop
Due to these benefits, players 3bet a ton, so you must learn how to defend against them.
You have two choices when defending: 1) 4bet or 2) Call. Many players 4bet with a very small range, something like QQ+ and AK. For most open raising ranges these 4bet hands are a very small part.
So, what do you do with the rest of the hands? The good broadways, pp's, suited and off-suit Aces, or the suited connectors and gappers?
If we don't want to defend with a 4bet, the next option is to call. The thing many players don't realize is that calling pre-flop caps your range to weaker holdings. Calling puts you at a range disadvantage in the hand. But, it is a necessary evil as calling has to be part of our strategy. You can't simply raise or fold every hand you play.
Players get into danger versus 3bets by calling too often and seeing flops with weak and easily dominated hands. This pre-flop mistake leads to more post-flop mistakes, and losses due to mistakes are compounded in these bigger 3bet pots.
Leak Symptoms (4:20)
Symptoms:
- You hate facing 3bets and you never know how to respond.
- You don't have opening ranges set by position and you haven't given thought to what hands are worthy of calling or 4betting vs 3bets.
- Sometimes you make bad open-raise and 3bet calling decisions due to anger or out of spite for your opponent.
- You constantly tag 'facing a 3bet' hands for later review.
- Many of your biggest losing hands occur when you raise/call the 3bet pre-flop.
- You click CALL knowing it's the wrong play and that it's -EV.
- Your win rate is worse than -300bb/100 hands over a large sample when Raise/Calling the 3bet.
Filter to use:
Your leak is NOT because you're raising then calling 3bets. That's a necessary part of poker. There must be some -EV aspect to your 3bet calling decisions.
As you go through each individual hand that comes through in the above-mentioned filter, look for the following 3bet calling aspects to try and diagnose the real issue behind this leak.
The 6 Aspects of 3bet Calling (7:25)
1. Your Open-raising Ranges
Go through the filtered hands by position to see if you're straying outside of your open-raising ranges. Some players compound an open-raising mistake by calling a 3bet with a hand they shouldn't have played in the first place.
As you review these hands by position, calculate how much you lost due to the poor hand choices you made. For example, out of 8 hands in the MP, two hands were outside of your open-raising range. The losses suffered from these hands were 58bb's. If you had just folded instead of raise/calling with them, your bankroll would be 58bb's richer right now.
2. Your 3bet Calling Ranges
Look at the specific hands you chose to call 3bets with. You'll likely find many outside of your normal calling ranges.
I bet your ranges are mathematically sound (+EV) and based on the position and type of 3betting opponent you're facing.
3bet calling hands must be toward the top of your opponent's 3bet range for that type of hand. For example, you don't want to call with every Ace if your opponent is only 3betting AK and AQ. Conversely, if your opponent is 3betting every Ace, then calling with AQ+ gives you a 70% pre-flop equity advantage.
Take note of non-range hands you chose to call, and determine why you made the call. Was it out of spite? Were the pot odds being offered too good to pass up? Was it a lapse in judgement? Were you taking advantage of an exploitable aspect of the opponent?
3. Your Post-flop Position
Position is a critical factor in any pre-flop decision. When calling a 3bet from OOP, you must have a tighter range to make up for the positional disadvantage you're in. You can call slightly wider when IP because you'll have more information to act upon through the streets.
Run that first Raise/Call 3bet filter again but add 'Saw Flop IP'. Record the number of hands and win rate, then run it again and swap IP for OOP on the flop. Notice the difference in the number of hands and the win rate. What do you think accounts for any differences here?
My 3bet Calls IP
When I ran this for myself, it was eye opening. Over 39 hands, my win rate IP was at -1,041bb/100 hands.
I used my post-flop positional advantage to justify -EV 3bet calls.
My 3bet Calls OOP
My +590bb/100 hands win rate when calling OOP. I'm doing the right thing and using my post-flop positional disadvantage to tighten my calling ranges. Over 23 hands, I'm positive $33.91 (1.4 buy-ins) at 25nl.
The hand strengths of my OOP 3bet calls are generally much stronger. I'm calling towards the top of my opponent's 3betting ranges, which makes for better pre-flop equity and a greater chance of earning their chips post-flop.
4. The 3betting Opponent
The 3betting opponent is a critical factor to consider before calling a 3bet. You must have a good idea of their 3bet frequency by position and be aware of how they will likely play on the flop. Flop Cbet is important, both IP and OOP, as is their Cbet in 3bet Pot %. To make the best pre-flop decision, you need to know what to expect out of this opponent post-flop who has the stronger range and initiative.
5. The Reason You Called
There are great reasons to call 3bets: a strong holding; good pot odds being offered for a speculative hand; an exploitable opponent; etc.
There are also potentially bad reasons to call 3bets: out of spite; tilt; because you just don't want to fold; bad set-mining odds; your J8s can flop a miracle flush or straight; etc.
As you review your hands, assess your reason for calling instead of 4betting or folding. Take note of the mistaken calls you made and review each street of those hands to learn from them.
6. Mental Game Lapses in Judgement
This is when you make a call knowing that it's -EV in the long run. This often happens when you're tilting, you hate the 3bettor or you're trying too hard to win pots.
Take note of any mental game lapses in judgement so you can correct these issues. Awareness is the first step in fixing your mental game. When you know your issue, you can put into place things that correct this behavior for future play sessions.
Track These Leak Plugging Quantifiables (16:25)
Download poker galaxy online. Over the coming weeks as you play and study with a focus on making better decisions when facing 3bets, there are some statistics and win rates that will tell you how you're progressing. Record these numbers in your poker journal now for the timeframe that you've been analyzing. At the end of each week of play, you'll record these numbers again to gauge how your play is adjusting.
You can easily find these statistics in your poker tracking software. The win rates will have to be found by filtering with the designated play in mind.
- VPIP %
- PFR %
- Raise First In %
- Total Win Rate (BB/100 Hands)
- Fold to PF 3bet After Raise %
- In Position Fold to PF 3bet After Raise %
- Out of Position Fold to PF 3bet After Raise %
- Call Preflop 3bet After Raise %
- Win Rate when Calling the 3bet
- Raise and 4bet+ Preflop
- Win Rate when 4betting
- Call Flop/Turn/River Cbet in 3bet+ Pot
- Win Rate when Calling the Cbet
- Fold to Flop/Turn/River Cbet in 3bet+ Pot
If you don't know these statistics already, do a bit of research in your poker tracking software. To get the most out of tracking these statistics, you must know their definitions, how they're calculated and how to filter for each specific circumstance.
Challenge (18:40)
Here's my challenge to you for this episode: Track these quantifiables, even if this isn't a leak of yours. Just track them, because they might reveal issues you've overlooked until now. Start with recording the quantifiables for your prior 20K or more hands, then track at the end of this week and the end of next week.
Now it's your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.
Support the Show
Michael Matteo completed his own 66 Days of Hand Reading Challenge and his game's all the better for it. Congrats, Michael! If you want to follow in his footsteps, this video series on YouTube will help: click here.
Wu Tsai-Wei, Michelle Bredice and Whigguah purchased my Smart HUD for PokerTracker 4. If you play with them, stay away… stay far away. Get the Smart HUD here.
Matt Culling also supported this past week by picking up a copy of PokerTracker 4. Go here to learn more and get your own copy. PokerTracker 4 affiliate link.
And, Dustin Rivait is upping his study skills with my How to Study Poker Webinar. Study smart, Dustin.
- The 12 Days of Christmas 2020 Podcast Episodes - December 14, 2020
- Strategies and Action Steps from the Quick Wins Poker Course - November 24, 2020
- How to Quickly Understand Online Tournament Players – Podcast #318 - November 18, 2020
The 3-bet (or more specifically, light 3-betting) is an advanced concept that adds an extra weapon to a game that has likely become repetitive and stagnant, even if that current game strategy is winning you money at the tables.
3-betting will shake up a mid-stakes player's game about as much as the continuation bet did when you first found out about that when you were starting out.
Filter to use:
Your leak is NOT because you're raising then calling 3bets. That's a necessary part of poker. There must be some -EV aspect to your 3bet calling decisions.
As you go through each individual hand that comes through in the above-mentioned filter, look for the following 3bet calling aspects to try and diagnose the real issue behind this leak.
The 6 Aspects of 3bet Calling (7:25)
1. Your Open-raising Ranges
Go through the filtered hands by position to see if you're straying outside of your open-raising ranges. Some players compound an open-raising mistake by calling a 3bet with a hand they shouldn't have played in the first place.
As you review these hands by position, calculate how much you lost due to the poor hand choices you made. For example, out of 8 hands in the MP, two hands were outside of your open-raising range. The losses suffered from these hands were 58bb's. If you had just folded instead of raise/calling with them, your bankroll would be 58bb's richer right now.
2. Your 3bet Calling Ranges
Look at the specific hands you chose to call 3bets with. You'll likely find many outside of your normal calling ranges.
I bet your ranges are mathematically sound (+EV) and based on the position and type of 3betting opponent you're facing.
3bet calling hands must be toward the top of your opponent's 3bet range for that type of hand. For example, you don't want to call with every Ace if your opponent is only 3betting AK and AQ. Conversely, if your opponent is 3betting every Ace, then calling with AQ+ gives you a 70% pre-flop equity advantage.
Take note of non-range hands you chose to call, and determine why you made the call. Was it out of spite? Were the pot odds being offered too good to pass up? Was it a lapse in judgement? Were you taking advantage of an exploitable aspect of the opponent?
3. Your Post-flop Position
Position is a critical factor in any pre-flop decision. When calling a 3bet from OOP, you must have a tighter range to make up for the positional disadvantage you're in. You can call slightly wider when IP because you'll have more information to act upon through the streets.
Run that first Raise/Call 3bet filter again but add 'Saw Flop IP'. Record the number of hands and win rate, then run it again and swap IP for OOP on the flop. Notice the difference in the number of hands and the win rate. What do you think accounts for any differences here?
My 3bet Calls IP
When I ran this for myself, it was eye opening. Over 39 hands, my win rate IP was at -1,041bb/100 hands.
I used my post-flop positional advantage to justify -EV 3bet calls.
My 3bet Calls OOP
My +590bb/100 hands win rate when calling OOP. I'm doing the right thing and using my post-flop positional disadvantage to tighten my calling ranges. Over 23 hands, I'm positive $33.91 (1.4 buy-ins) at 25nl.
The hand strengths of my OOP 3bet calls are generally much stronger. I'm calling towards the top of my opponent's 3betting ranges, which makes for better pre-flop equity and a greater chance of earning their chips post-flop.
4. The 3betting Opponent
The 3betting opponent is a critical factor to consider before calling a 3bet. You must have a good idea of their 3bet frequency by position and be aware of how they will likely play on the flop. Flop Cbet is important, both IP and OOP, as is their Cbet in 3bet Pot %. To make the best pre-flop decision, you need to know what to expect out of this opponent post-flop who has the stronger range and initiative.
5. The Reason You Called
There are great reasons to call 3bets: a strong holding; good pot odds being offered for a speculative hand; an exploitable opponent; etc.
There are also potentially bad reasons to call 3bets: out of spite; tilt; because you just don't want to fold; bad set-mining odds; your J8s can flop a miracle flush or straight; etc.
As you review your hands, assess your reason for calling instead of 4betting or folding. Take note of the mistaken calls you made and review each street of those hands to learn from them.
6. Mental Game Lapses in Judgement
This is when you make a call knowing that it's -EV in the long run. This often happens when you're tilting, you hate the 3bettor or you're trying too hard to win pots.
Take note of any mental game lapses in judgement so you can correct these issues. Awareness is the first step in fixing your mental game. When you know your issue, you can put into place things that correct this behavior for future play sessions.
Track These Leak Plugging Quantifiables (16:25)
Download poker galaxy online. Over the coming weeks as you play and study with a focus on making better decisions when facing 3bets, there are some statistics and win rates that will tell you how you're progressing. Record these numbers in your poker journal now for the timeframe that you've been analyzing. At the end of each week of play, you'll record these numbers again to gauge how your play is adjusting.
You can easily find these statistics in your poker tracking software. The win rates will have to be found by filtering with the designated play in mind.
- VPIP %
- PFR %
- Raise First In %
- Total Win Rate (BB/100 Hands)
- Fold to PF 3bet After Raise %
- In Position Fold to PF 3bet After Raise %
- Out of Position Fold to PF 3bet After Raise %
- Call Preflop 3bet After Raise %
- Win Rate when Calling the 3bet
- Raise and 4bet+ Preflop
- Win Rate when 4betting
- Call Flop/Turn/River Cbet in 3bet+ Pot
- Win Rate when Calling the Cbet
- Fold to Flop/Turn/River Cbet in 3bet+ Pot
If you don't know these statistics already, do a bit of research in your poker tracking software. To get the most out of tracking these statistics, you must know their definitions, how they're calculated and how to filter for each specific circumstance.
Challenge (18:40)
Here's my challenge to you for this episode: Track these quantifiables, even if this isn't a leak of yours. Just track them, because they might reveal issues you've overlooked until now. Start with recording the quantifiables for your prior 20K or more hands, then track at the end of this week and the end of next week.
Now it's your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.
Support the Show
Michael Matteo completed his own 66 Days of Hand Reading Challenge and his game's all the better for it. Congrats, Michael! If you want to follow in his footsteps, this video series on YouTube will help: click here.
Wu Tsai-Wei, Michelle Bredice and Whigguah purchased my Smart HUD for PokerTracker 4. If you play with them, stay away… stay far away. Get the Smart HUD here.
Matt Culling also supported this past week by picking up a copy of PokerTracker 4. Go here to learn more and get your own copy. PokerTracker 4 affiliate link.
And, Dustin Rivait is upping his study skills with my How to Study Poker Webinar. Study smart, Dustin.
- The 12 Days of Christmas 2020 Podcast Episodes - December 14, 2020
- Strategies and Action Steps from the Quick Wins Poker Course - November 24, 2020
- How to Quickly Understand Online Tournament Players – Podcast #318 - November 18, 2020
The 3-bet (or more specifically, light 3-betting) is an advanced concept that adds an extra weapon to a game that has likely become repetitive and stagnant, even if that current game strategy is winning you money at the tables.
3-betting will shake up a mid-stakes player's game about as much as the continuation bet did when you first found out about that when you were starting out.
This concept is going to be most useful in mid-stakes games between $50NL and $200NL.
What is 3-betting and 3-betting light?
3-betting.
First of all, what is a 3-bet before the flop?
A 3-bet is when there has been a raise and then another raise after that.
Simple enough, but let me give you one quick example to drive it home: After the SB and BB post the $1 and $2 blinds, lets say there is a raise to $8 from a player in MP. If another player in LP raises it again to $24, this is called a 3-bet.
For a quick guide to good 3bet sizing, watch the 3betting section starting at 13:39 in this bet sizing video.
As you can imagine, the guy (or girl) making the 3-bet probably has a very good hand. You would normally expect them to be holding something like QQ+ or AK to make this second raise before the flop.
You might be wondering why it's called a 3-bet if there has only been two raises. Well, the BB is actually considered to be a bet in itself, and so the first raise is the 2nd bet and the second raise is the 3-bet.
3-betting light.
As mentioned, you would expect the player making the 3-bet to have a very strong hand like QQ+ or AK. Therefore, 3-betting light is when you make a 3-bet with a less than premium hand like 67, 78 or any suited connector like that.
3-betting light is where you make a 3-bet with a less than premium hand before the flop.
Seems crazy and dangerous I know, but I'm sure you thought the same thing when you first heard about continuation betting. 3-betting light can be an incredibly +EV move when used correctly, so don't underestimate its strength.
Poker Calling 3 Bets Odds
Why 3-bet?
Players these days will make preflop raises with a wide range of hands. If a player makes a raise before the flop in LP, they could have almost any hand under the sun. That's how all decent TAGs play.
Calling these raises with a strong hand of our own (or even with a drawing hand like 78s) puts us at a disadvantage because our opponent will have the initiative in the hand. When the flop comes, we are only really looking to fold unless we hit top pair or better. Even then, we are not going to feel great about our hand.
3-betting when in position will regularly put loose raisers in a position where it is -EV to call a 3-bet because of their wide opening range. Not to mention taking away their initiative.
The advantages of 3-betting.
- Players open with a wide range of hands, which means calling 3-bets is -EV for our opponents.
- 3-betting can often be far more +EV than just calling in some cases.
- Players almost always fear AA when they face a 3-bet. This gives us tremendous leverage for the flop (so cbet!).
- You take back the initiative in the hand.
- Opponents will call you down with much weaker hands in future if they see you 3-bet so lightly (metagame strategy).
Sure, making an extra reraise before the flop is going to be pretty damn scary, especially if you are 3-betting light. However, if its going to be a +EV play you need to show some balls and play in the way that is going to make you the most money.
Don't get me wrong though, 3-betting light isn't just to try and punish the loose raisers and hope that they fold. There will be times when we get called when we 3-bet light, but that's not a problem. There are still advantages to 3-betting light when we reach the flop.
When and where to 3-bet light.
So we've discussed the advantages of the simple 3-bet, but when should you 3-bet light?
- You want to 3-bet light with mid connectors/suited connectors like 67, 78 and 89, or 1 gap suited connectors like 68 and 79.
- You should 3-bet light in position. Playing a 3-bet pot out of position is tricky (although not impossible).
- You should mostly 3-bet raisers from LP. Raisers from EP are more likely to turn up with a strong hand.
- You should try 3-betting light against TAG (Tight-Aggressive) and semi-TAG players.
An optimum spot to 3-bet light is when a TAG from LP makes a raise when you are on the button or in the CO.
Apologies for the God-awful diagram, but you should get the idea. These sort of players are likely to be raising with a wide range of hands in this position, and so are fully capable or folding when they come up against aggression. This is why 3-betting gives us an edge.
An important point to remember is that you do not want to 3-bet light against players who are either:
- Super tight and are only going to raise with supreme hands. Hence our 3-bet definitely gets called.
- Super loose and will call regardless. We lose all of our fold equity in the hand with these players.
This is not the only ever spot that you can 3-bet, but if you keep these guidelines in mind you should be able to get a feel for when it's a +EV spot to 3-bet.
How to 3-bet.
In a nutshell, when you 3-bet light you ideally want your opponent to fold. This gives you an instant and nicely-sized pot and will usually force your opponent to tighten up the hands they open with from late position.
If we get called and miss the flop, we are almost always in the perfect situation to make a continuation bet and take down then pot. So don't be afraid to make that cbet, it's a +EV move over the long run. That's the basics of it, but allow me to explain a little further.
Hands not to 3-bet light with.
The type of hands that you do not want to 3-bet light with are lower tier broadway hands like; KQ, KJ QJ and also weaker aces like AJ (definitely not rag aces either). The problem is that if you are 3-betting with these cards, the hands that your opponent is going to call with are going to have you dominated (e.g. AQ+, JJ+).
However, if you have a lower suited connector like 78s, you still have two 'free' cards that you can do damage with. It also makes post-flop play easier as you are less likely to get tied in with a marginal hand where you hold something like top pair weak kicker.
Stick to 3-betting premiums (QQ+, AK) and lower suited connectors (56 - 9T) only.
You are better off calling with less than premium broadway hands rather than 3-betting with them preflop.
What to do on the flop if you are called.
If you miss the flop, make a continuation bet of about 2/3 the size of the pot. Simple as that.
Poker Calling 3 Bets Against
A pot size bet is unnecessarily large in a 3-bet pot. 2/3 does the job and saves us money for when it doesn't work out.
The beauty of 3-betting is that it gives you supreme power in the hand. Your opponent is always going to have the fear that you have pocket Aces or pocket Kings at the forefront of their mind, so take advantage of that fear. If on the odd occasion you get called, check/call on the turn and be done with the hand. The majority of the time a good continuation bet will work wonders though.
If on the other hand you catch a piece of the flop but nothing worth value-betting, checking and calling may be the best option. However, a lot of the time you are going to either have a strong hand or nothing at all, and in both of these situations you will want to cbet.
Bet Online Poker Download
3-betting light example.
Let's say our opponent is 26/18 and raises frequently from late position. This is a simple example:
SB: $200
BB: $200
UTG: $200
MP: $200
CO: $200
Hero (BTN): $200
Pre Flop: ($3) Hero is BTN with 7 8
1 fold, MP raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero raises to $30, 2 folds
Flop: ($66) 2 J 6 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $45, MP folds
3 Bet Poker Definition
Our opponent here clearly made a poor call when we 3-bet, as we represented a very strong hand like QQ+ or AK, so the chances are that he called with a hand like AJ+ and hoped for the best.
Even if our opponent did hold a hand like QQ or AJ, it is very difficult for them to call for the fear of us holding Aces or Kings, which is why the continuation bet brings home so much money due to the 3-bet before the flop.
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Evaluation of 3-betting light.
This article is one of the longest I have ever written, yet I still feel that it could have been a bit meatier. Congratulations if you made it this far, and I hope most of it made sense and you can understand the theory behind 3-betting lightly and how it can be profitable.
Just be sure not to abuse 3-betting and you will be fine. 3-betting and 3-betting lightly can be very +EV in the right spots, but they can do a lot of damage to your stack if you are not careful with them. I'd recommend dropping down a level to experiment with 3-betting and to find your feet with it.
It's definitely a skill that is worth perfecting and adding to your game as a mid-stakes player (or for when you reach those levels).
PS. Don't forget to cbet if you miss the flop.
Poker Calling 3 Bets Games
Related articles.
SplitSuit's When 3Bets Go Wrong (pt. 1) video looks at 9 different hand histories where Hero's 3bet gets called (or when another player 4bets). It's an excellent strategy video for playing in tricky 3bet spots.
Poker Calling 3 Bets No Deposit
Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.
Poker Bet Terms
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