3Bet Poker and 4Bet Poker Game Introduction
Hello everyone, today I want to share with you an attacking technique that is essential whether you're playing in a tournament or in offline games – the 3bet poker and 4bet poker.
In Texas Hold'em, there's no absolute saying that defense is the best offense. While the core strategy is to remain adaptable, we still need to adjust when opponents change their tactics. Hence, the 3bet poker and 4bet poker, which I'm going to discuss today, are crucial maneuvers.
As we all know, Texas Hold'em is a game intricately linked to position and ranges. To excel in 3bet and 4bet, we need a clear understanding of position and ranges, and then adjust and balance based on the opponent's range.
The Ranges of 3bet Poker and 4bet Poker
Firstly, the core of 3bet and 4bet is to isolate the opponent. Since higher-ranking starting hands in Texas Hold'em have a higher winning rate in head-to-head confrontations, putting money into the pot with these hands to isolate opponents is a positive Expected Value (EV) move.
So, when facing an opponent's open, what kind of 3bet should we make?
Here's a concept called "in the pot" rate and VPIP (Voluntarily Put In the Pot). The in-the-pot rate is the frequency of participating in pot contention, and VPIP refers to the player voluntarily betting into the pot. For example, if a player has been involved in 15 out of 100 hands (excluding blinds and folded hands), their VPIP is 15%.
Why is VPIP important? When a player has a high VPIP, their opening hand range might be wider, providing us with a good opportunity to punish them. A wider range means we can use positional advantage, 3betting opportunistically with blocking hands in later positions to either take the pot directly or isolate the opponent.
Let's look at an example:
In an 8-handed game, we are on the button, and the VPIP from small blind to button is 15%, 13%, 27%, 33%, 60%, 18%, 55%, 22%.
It's evident that our prime targets are the player in the middle with a 60% VPIP and the player before the button with a 55% VPIP. In this scenario, our range can widen to include suited Aces, some KQ suited, and all pairs above 55.
In advanced strategies, we also need to observe how opponents react after the flop when facing a raise and adjust our post-flop actions accordingly. Our range, including all suited Aces and pairs above 55, allows us to potentially stay ahead even if the flop is somewhat neutral, and the three of a kind with middle pairs also holds value.
3bet Poker and 4bet Poker Tactics
In general, when holding top 3 hands – A/A, K/K, Q/Q – players tend to open. However, if we're in a situation where late-position players are more inclined to call, or we know there's a high VPIP player in a later position, we can choose to limp in first and then 3bet after their raise, creating a larger pot.
Of course, this approach comes with risks. If the late-position player doesn't raise, we might end up in a multi-way pot, and our big pair may not be as advantageous.
Another consideration is that it's challenging to gauge the opponent's starting hand range when we 3bet after limping, as our range becomes narrower. Conversely, if we limp-raise, opponents have a clearer understanding of our hand range, potentially putting us at a disadvantage.
Therefore, when deciding to initiate 3bet poker and 4bet poker offensive actions, we need to establish our game plan to maximize profits in the game.
Today, we've discussed offense. In the next two parts, we will focus on balance. Until next time.
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