3bet call

[langaan]

I've found myself making alot of poor 3bet calls recently.

im playing 50 NL 6max, and I know alot of the 3bet ranges are basic AK/KK+

what (if any) hands do we call a 3bet with against a vill with a tight 3bet range?

hands im super curious about are AK & tt/JJ/qq

i know we cant really 4bet qq, but how can we justify a call? especially if vill has High cbet etc...

also, even if we have someone 3betting light, does that just widen our calling range? or are we 4betting more? i dont see how 4betting can be correct since the vill's calling range is probably still tight.

[OP]

what (if any) hands do we call a 3bet with against a vill with a tight 3bet range?

I think the answer to this lies in your position and his bet sizing.

Against a very tight 3bet range i am more inclined to call with my implied odds hands and smaller pairs, ESPECIALLY with position. Playing hands that are behind a villains preflop range is what makes implied odds so valuable. If we can put him on AK, JJ+ and we flop a set we're getting his stack like 90% of the time. If he pops our position raise from the blinds and we have decent implied odds we can profitably call with suited broadways etc. and try to flop a pair+draw, or a just a big draw and still be able to ship the flop with good pot equity and decent fold equity at times.

i know we cant really 4bet qq, but how can we justify a call? especially if vill has a High cbet etc...

Are you advocating folding QQ to 3bets? If he tends to cbet frequently I think this is the perfect situation to flat a 3bet and get in in on most flops, I've only met a few players where a 3bet is ONLY AA or KK. Aggresive poker is winning poker these days, and I'm not saying be a donkey and don't ever fold but don't let a little pre or postflop aggression scare you if you feel you have decent equity in the hand.

[Stacks]

This is relatively villain dependent. However, a few theories to consider. We make money when we put in money with the better hand. We bet/raise when we believe we have >51% equity against the range of hands he calls with*. OR we make money by betting/raising when the villains will fold often enough to make our bluffs +EV. So it stands to reason that if an individual is only 3betting for value (aka never 3bet bluff or 3betting and then folding to further action), the only way we can really profit against this individual is to either (A) play a tighter range or (B) play a range of hands that have sufficient implied odds.

That is to say if villain is only 3betting KK,AA, we can't be profitable to call with QQ; unless we have enough implied odds to make up for the times that we don't hit our set.

If an individual is 3betting not only for value, but they also incorporate bluffs into their ranges, then we have a few more options. We can simply continue with only a tighter range, and in this case we will be putting money in when our range is greater than their range. However, by doing this we could potentially be setting ourselves up for being exploited (being 3bet bluffs a whole lot, etc.). However, we can also counter exploit his "weak" ranges by re-bluffing him. The manner in which you do this depends heavily on the situation and the villain. Whether it's calling his 3bets lighter, or 4betting more, it depends. Also keep in mind that depending on the range in which the villain is 3betting, we can chose to either 4bet lighter for value (intending to stack off lighter) or 4bet bluff more often.


* This isn't always the case.. Sometimes checking and pickup value on later streets is better than betting at this time.

[Stacks]

Also, I would just like to say this is all just my thoughts. Doesn't mean it's correct.

[frosst]

depends on the villian. if his 3 betting range is only AK AA KK, then we need to look at how he plays them. if he's going to stack off no matter what the board is, we can call with alot of hands since we actually have implied odds, not just hoping we do. and if he's willing to bluff AK on whiffed boards often we can call with those pocket pairs. otherwise it's pretty easy to just fold.

our equity with his range vs ours:
equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 55.417% 47.24% 08.18% 747393744 129402402.00 { KK+, AKs, AKo }
Hand 1: 44.583% 36.40% 08.18% 575970348 129402402.00 { TT+, AKs, AKo }

if your opponent has a high c-bet %, then it's more profitable to call, as he'll be bluffing AK (and he's more likely to be holding AK than AA or KK)

the theory about 4 betting is based on the assumption that the 4bet will cause our opponent to make more mistakes. since he is 3 betting light, more of his range will consist of weaker holdings, and he will fold more of his range, or he will incorrectly call your 4 bet (assuming you have a tighter range). either way, you come out ahead. as for widening the range, yes you can do that. lets say your opponent 3 bets the top x% of his range. if you are 4 betting the top half of that range, no matter how big that number is, you are always going to have a stronger range than him, and so your 4 bet should be profitable.
if your opponent is 3 betting light, but calling/raising tight, then 4 betting wider would be profitable because your opponent would be folding more than calling/raising.
as for making your 3 bet calling range wider, that is up to you and how you feel playing out of position. most players choose not to do this, as they find it hard to do.


cliff notes: your reaction to a 3 bet should be based on your opponent's frequency of 3betting, and his post flop aggression