You’ve Seen The Pros Do It
You’ve seen the pros do it time and time again, they see weakness preflop, and they go in for the kill with the perfect 3bet. What usually happens is they either take down the pot against a player with a weaker hand, they out bluff their opponent, they catch an opponent in a bad position, or they get called. How do poker pros know to do this, and what can you learn from them? What are the mathematics of 3betting preflop, and on which hands should you feel comfortable 3betting?
It Is All Math and Psychology
Poker is all math and psychology, and so is 3betting preflop. One of the biggest mistakes that players do is only 3betting with their premium hands. We are not suggesting that you never 3bet preflop with your premium hands because you should, but we are instead suggesting that you extend the range of hands that you are willing to 3bet with. Why are we suggesting this? We suggest this based on the mathematics of poker.
When you only 3bet with your premium hands, then you opponents learn how to read you like a book. They know your 3bet hand range, and they can use this against you. When they figure out your narrow premium 3bet range, they then begin to call your 3bets with wacky hands like 5-6 suited and end up hitting the flop strongly enough times to get the winning straight to crack your AK, KK, QQ, JK that you feel comfortable 3betting when in position. In higher math, this is called combinatorics, and it is all about series, ranges, and when you extend it to game theory, it is all about creating an optimal range of hands that doesn’t make you easily exploitable.
When Should You 3bet?
You should definitely 3bet when you have position over other players, so this means that you should 3 bet on the button, when you have weaker players after you, when you are facing tight players who are known to fold, and even when you are facing known loose players who call with a wide range.
Which Hands Should You 3bet?
Stick with your premium hands, but extend that to broadway starting hands that could make high straights, and stick with your midrange suited connectors. Now, if you are playing online poker 바둑이사이트 and have purchased HUD that allows you to collect data on your opponents, then you will have the data that will tell you their 3bet range, their 3bet calling range, and how tight or loose these players are. Your range will also be based on your competition and the gamesmanship that they are showing, against weak and even some aggressive players you will 3bet a bit freely, and charge them extra to see the flop.
Remember that poker is math and psychology, so use both of these skills to determine when to 3bet, and most importantly your 3betting hand range.
