Building a 3-betting range

In this lesson

• Tell a linear 3-bet range from a polarised one and pick the right shape for the spot.
• Choose 3-bet bluffs that block strong hands and still play well when called.
• Size 3-bets bigger out of position and against bigger opens.
• Spot the hands that want to 3-bet rather than call.

Read first: Facing an open: fold, call or 3-bet · Advice, not a lock: every lesson opens.

Concepts used: 3-bets and 4-bets, Blockers and unblockers

Two ways a 3-bet wins

A 3-bet wins in two ways: everyone folds and you take the pot now, or you are called and your hand plays a bigger pot well. Strong hands 3-bet mostly for the second reason, bluffs mostly for the first.

Rail's charts 3-bet to three times the open in position and four times out of position. Against a 2.5 bb cutoff open, a button 3-bet goes to 2.5 × 3 = 7.5 bb into a pot of 2.5 + 0.5 + 1 = 4 bb.

Linear or polarised

A linear 3-bet range is built from the top down: the best hands, then the next best, with nothing weak mixed in. A polarised range takes the strongest hands and some bluffs, and calls with the hands in between.

Which shape fits depends on how good calling is. When calling is attractive, as in position against a late open, the middle of your range can call and the 3-bet becomes polarised. When calling is poor, as from the small blind with the big blind behind, or where rake punishes flats, the middle hands move into the 3-bet and the range becomes more linear.

Against an opener who calls 3-bets too often, bluffs lose value and the range should lean linear. Against one who folds too often, bluffs gain.

Choosing bluffs: blockers and playability

Good 3-bet bluffs do two jobs. They remove some of the hands that would 4-bet you, and they play well when called. Small suited aces do both: the ace blocks AA and AK, and the hand makes nut flushes and wheel straights.

The illustrative premium range here, AA, KK, QQ, AKs and AKo, has 6 + 6 + 6 + 4 + 12 = 34 combos. Hold A♥4♥ and it shrinks to 3 + 6 + 6 + 3 + 9 = 27: 7 of the 34, about 21%, are gone.

Sizing the 3-bet

Out of position you size up, to about four times the open: a 2.5 bb open becomes a 10 bb 3-bet. The bigger price makes calls in position less attractive, and the lower SPR makes the hand easier to play from out of position.

Size up again against bigger opens. The rule is a multiple of the open, not a fixed number: against a 5 bb live open, three times is 15 bb in position and four times is 20 bb out of position. A 9 bb 3-bet against a 5 bb open gives the opener a great price to call.

In position the 3-bet pot is already shallow. A 7.5 bb 3-bet called by the opener makes a pot of 7.5 + 7.5 + 1.5 = 16.5 bb with 92.5 bb behind, an SPR of about 5.6. That is why strong one-pair hands often play for stacks in 3-bet pots.

Rules of thumb

• Three times the open in position, four times out of position: always a multiple of the open.
• Polarise when calling is a good option; go linear when calling is poor.
• Choose bluffs that block the 4-bet range and still make strong hands: small suited aces first.
• Against callers who never fold, drop bluffs and 3-bet for value.

When they break

• Against players who fold too much to 3-bets, almost any hand with some playability becomes a profitable 3-bet.
• Short-stacked, a 3-bet can commit you, so the bluffs shrink and the 3-bet becomes a shove or a fold.

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.