Calling a 3-bet and playing after

In this lesson

• Explain why the caller's range is packed with middling pairs and suited hands.
• Defend against small c-bets with enough of your range.
• Raise more on low and connected boards, less on ace-high and monotone ones.
• Catch bluffs on the river against capped lines.

Read first: Stack-to-pot ratio and commitment · Advice, not a lock: every lesson opens.

Concepts used: Check-raising, Bluff-catching, SPR and commitment

What your calling range holds

When you call a 3-bet, your range is middling: pocket pairs, suited broadways, suited connectors and some strong aces that chose not to 4-bet. Its top is capped, but it is dense in the middle, and it makes sets, two pairs and straights on the boards the 3-bettor's big cards miss.

At an SPR of four to six, every call on the flop is a big share of what is left, so defend with hands that can keep going.

Facing a small c-bet

In Rail's solves the caller continues against a small 3-bet-pot c-bet with most of its range, and folds much more against a big one. The price explains it: a third of the pot needs 20% equity, three quarters 30%.

• Call: pairs, draws, and overcards with a backdoor on boards that suit you.
• Raise: sets, two pairs and strong draws, more on middling, connected and low boards, less on ace-high and monotone ones.
• Fold: hands with no pair and no draw on boards that favour the 3-bettor.

When the 3-bettor checks, and the river

When the 3-bettor checks to you in position, bet small with your strongest hands and some air, and check back most medium pairs: they win at showdown and hate a check-raise with so little behind. That split has its own lesson in this module.

On the river, the capped line favours bluff-catching. A 3-bettor who checks one street and bets big later holds fewer of the very best hands than it seems; count what it can have before you fold a good pair.

Flop spots come from Rail's flop library, combo for combo; river spots are solved on demand from ranges narrowed through the earlier streets. Your own hands on other flops or lines are read from the nearest solved flop or by the heuristic.

Rules of thumb

• Against small 3-bet-pot c-bets, continue with most of your range.
• Raise sets, two pairs and strong draws, more on low and connected boards.
• Check back medium pairs when the 3-bettor checks.
• On the river, count the 3-bettor's value before folding a good pair.

When they break

• Against 3-bettors who bet only strong hands, fold more of your weak pairs.
• Against ones who barrel every street, call down wider.

Example hands

Practice

The lesson is mastered when every exercise below that Rail can grade is passed. Missed items come back later as review cards.