If you have been around modern poker games, you have heard the term 3 betting thrown around quite a bit. But what does it actually mean?
In the simplest of terms, 3 betting can refer to any re-raise, whether it’s made before the flop or on any of the later betting streets.
With 3 betting becoming such an integral part of poker these days, mastering this concept is essential. Keep on reading to learn more about 3 betting, when to do it, and how to construct your 3 betting ranges for optimal results.
What Is 3 Betting in Poker?
The term 3 betting can be used to describe any re-raise in a poker game. However, the most common use is for a preflop re-raise.
It is worth noting that only the first re-raise made before the flop is called a 3 bet, while the next re-raise would be referred to as a 4 bet.
For example, imagine playing in a $2/$5 cash game. A player raises from UTG to $15, and you look down at pocket Aces. You put in a re-raise to $45. This play would be referred to as a 3 bet.
The name 3 bet has nothing to do with the size of the raise, the hands you do it with, or whether you are bluffing or not.
Another common situation that comes up in the preflop betting round is where one player raises and one or two players call, before a third player re-raises.
This re-raise is also a 3 bet, but can also be referred to as a squeeze play, since it applies maximum pressure on the players and looks to squeeze some of the players out of the pot.
In the end, you will never go wrong to say that someone put in a 3 bet when they re-raised before the flop, while using the term of postflop re-raises can be slightly controversial, although technically still correct.
The Purpose of 3 Betting in Poker
So, now you know what 3 betting is in poker, but you may be wondering why we do it. There are a few reasons to 3 bet before the flop, and they are not all as simple as it seems.
On the simplest level, you want to put in a 3 bet when you have a very strong poker hand like pocket Aces or Kings, simply to get value from your opponents.
However, the best poker players 3 bet a lot more often and with a much wider hand range than just the few best hands in the game.
Here is a short list of a few main reasons you might want to 3 bet in your poker game:
- To extract immediate value
- To take control of the pot
- To squeeze out the callers
- To balance your 3 betting range
- To isolate weak players.
Let’s go over these five reasons for 3 betting one by one and discuss each very briefly.
3 Betting for Immediate Value
The simplest reason to 3 bet in poker is to get value from weaker hands. Imagine you hold AA and you have a player in front of you raising it up.
You will want to re-raise this hand every time, as you simply know you have the better hand. Getting your opponent to commit more money with their inferior hand is always a win.
By re-raising here, you get more chips into the pot or force your opponent to fold some hands, which makes their range narrower and easier to play against postflop.
3 betting for immediate value is the simplest reason to do it and one that even amateur players understand pretty well.
3 Betting to Take Control of the Pot
Taking control of the pot is an interesting concept in poker that can be attained quite well by 3 betting your hand before the flop.
The idea is quite simple. If you just call your opponent’s raise, you not only allow them to continue playing the hand as the aggressor, but also allow other players to join the fun.
When you just call, your range becomes much weaker, as you automatically advertise the fact you don’t have a strong hand like AA, KK, QQ, or AK.
By putting in the 3 bet, you keep all these hands in your range, and also force your opponent to tell you more about their range. If they don’t 4 bet, they are unlikely to have any of these strongest hands.
3 Betting to Squeeze Out the Callers
A squeeze play is one of the more interesting and elaborate types of a 3 bet in poker. One player raises, another calls, and you re-raise behind.
Typically speaking, a squeeze play is sized up, which really puts your opponents in a tough spot if they want to continue.
If you are able to squeeze out the raiser and get called by the caller, you will be playing against a very weak range made up mostly of pocket pairs and suited connectors.
If you get called by the original raiser, the range will be a bit stronger, but still won’t contain any premium hands, as those would likely 4 bet.
Finally, you can often get both players to fold, which is the ultimate win, as you get to pick up a number of big blinds without even having to see the flop.
3 Betting to Balance Your Range
If you play good poker, you will 3 bet some hands that aren’t very strong and you would prefer not to “have to” 3 bet them.
For example, sometimes you will face a raise and have a hand that’s too weak to call with, but too strong to fold, such as QJ offsuit.
In these cases, you can add this hand to your 3 betting range. This way, you balance the range and make it so you don’t only have the strongest hands in that range.
This way, your opponents won’t be able to know whether you are 3 betting them because you have Aces or because you have a hand that you don’t want to play as a call.
3 Betting to Isolate Weak Players
Some players play a relatively passive game where they raise the appropriate percentage of hands across different positions, but don’t 4 bet nearly enough.
When you play against such players, you can expand your 3 betting range quite a bit, as you will get to win many 3 bet pots after the flop.
Since there is no danger of getting 4 bet as a bluff, you get to isolate the weak player, define their range immediately, and play the next streets accordingly.
This is a strong strategy used by some of the sharpest players in the game, who will regularly isolate weak opponents and print money by c-betting the flop and winning pots on a regular basis.
How to Balance Your 3 Betting Range
We already touched on this concept briefly, but let’s delve into balancing your 3 betting range a bit more.
The act of balancing your 3 betting range starts by choosing the hands you want to 3 bet for value.
Typically speaking, this part of the range will include the strongest hands in poker such as AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK, AQ, and AJs.
You will want to 3 bet these hands against almost any raise, as they tend to be stronger than your opponents’ opening ranges, thus making them strong enough to 3 bet for value.
However, if you only 3 bet these hands, your 3 betting range becomes too strong. Your opponents can easily exploit this by folding all but their best hands.
For that reason, it is essential to add some more hands to your 3 betting range to balance it out and make it less predictable.
Suited Aces like A2s, A3s, A4s, and A5s make for some of the best bluff 3 betting candidates. These hands block your opponent from having a strong hand like AA, and can also make sneaky straights and flushes when the hand does go to a flop.
Hands like suited broadway cards, such as KJs, QJs, and TJs are next in line. These hands play very good after the flop, so balancing your range with them doesn’t make your range weak.
Additional hands like smaller suited connectors, offsuit connectors, and more, can be added to the 3 betting range depending on positions, stack depth, and other factors.
In either case, the main thing to remember is that you should always keep your 3 betting range balanced by adding non-premium hands to it.
Choosing Your 3 Bet Size
Once you have determined your 3 betting range for a particular situation, you need to decide how much you want to 3 bet.
Your 3 betting size should never be related to the hand you are 3 betting with. Instead, you should consider positions and stack sizes as the main factors in this decision.
Typically speaking, you want to make your 3 bets bigger when you are playing from out of position than you would in position.
For example, your typical 3 bet on the button should be sized about 3x to 3.5x the original raise size, while a small blind 3 bet should be slightly bigger, anywhere between 4x and 4.5x the raise size.
Yet, as the stacks get deeper, you may want to up these sizes even more. For example, if you are playing in a cash game and several players are 500 big blinds deep, there is nothing wrong with making the 3 bet much bigger.
For instance, if your opponent raises to $20 and you all have $2,000 in your stacks, 3 betting to $120 is perfectly fine, especially in a live poker environment where players tend to call a lot more than online.
Merged vs. Polarized 3 Betting Ranges
One final consideration to make when 3 betting in your games is how you want to construct your 3 betting range in terms of actual hands you put in it.
Terms merged and polarized ranges come to mind here. A merged range is a range consisting of the strongest hands and slightly weaker hands that are still re-raising for value, such as 88, 77, or KQs.
A polarized range is one made up of the strongest hands and bluffs like 98s, 87s, A5s, etc. Which of these two ranges you decide to use depends heavily on your opponent.
If you are playing in a game where you have stats on your opponents, or you simply know how they play, you can construct different 3 betting ranges for different players.
Playing against sticky players who basically never fold to 3 bets, you should 3 bet with a merged range. Don’t use any pure bluffs as 3 bets against such players, but rather re-raise your strongest and slightly weaker hands.
On the other hand, playing against players who fold to 3 bets a lot, you can use a polarized range. This will still allow you to 3 bet your strongest hands, while your pure bluffs will get enough folds to make them profitable.
Against such players, you can play your medium strength hands as calls, thus keeping the weaker portion of their range in the pot instead of folding it out with a 3 bet.
Master Your Poker 3 Betting Ranges
3 betting is a poker skill you will have to master at some point, whether you are looking to become a tournament or a cash game crusher.
The art of balancing your preflop 3 betting range is one that takes a lot of fine-tuning. Once you get it right, though, you will become nearly impossible to play against.
Start practicing your 3 betting ranges today and build a strategy that works well in the games you play on a regular basis, in order to get the best possible results from your 3 bets.
