MED - 3bet

Q&A: 3betting, Cbetting and Set Mining #209

By Sky Matsuhashi on November 1, 2018

I answer 3 questions about studying and playing 3bet pots, improved cbetting through better understanding of range/board interaction and set mining.

In episode 208, I discussed how you can smartly and gradually up the aggression in both your preflop and post-flop games.

Q1: 3betting and Hand Reading Practice (3:05)

From: Ruben

Q: I think my that my most notable leak revolves around 3bet pots, as the raiser or as the caller, both IP and OOP. Whenever I don´t hit the flop, I feel very confused whether or not to bet. If betting, how much and what is the best line? If I check, I feel very lost and don´t know how to continue in the pot.

Answer:

This isn’t necessarily a leak. It sounds more to me that you just lack some 3bet strategies in your skill set. Because your leak revolves around everything 3betting: calling, raising, in position, out of position and what to do on the flop.

Before I get to 3betting and 3bet pots, I’ll tell you how you can organize further 3bet studies.

Organized 3bet Studies

First, study making 3bets preflop. Create or find ranges to use for both value and bluff 3bets. Also work out the sizing you should use and who to 3bet against.

Second, you’ll study open raising then calling 3bets. You’ll devise ranges that have decent equity versus your opponent’s 3bet, and you’ll do tons of Flopzilla work seeing how well different 3bet ranges hit the flop.

Third, you’ll study post-flop in 2bet pots as the preflop raiser. Every post-flop consideration in 2bet pots also applies to 3bet pots. Because 2bet pots happen so much more frequently than 3bets, this is a better place to start to improve your post-flop understanding.

Fourth, you’ll study post-flop play as the preflop caller. Think about the different plays you can make both in position and out of position, do some math related work on SPR and implied odds, and devise lines that you can take for bluffs and for value.

Fifth, you’ll study post-flop in 3bet pots. You’ll take everything that you learned with the 2bet pot strategies and consider how they might change or be more impactful in 3bet pots. For example, SPR is much lower in 3bet pots. So, the fold equity that your bluffs have in 2bet pots is a bit higher than the fold equity in 3bet pots because your opponents are going to be so much more committed to them.

3betting Strategies

The most important thing regarding improving your 3bet game is: you must know of what you want to accomplish with it (whether making or defending), AND see signs that you will accomplish it.

Example: You want to 3bet bluff pre-flop

Your opponent should have a wide opening range
Their Fold to 3bet is high (like 65%+)
They are in a steal position to make it more likely they’re stealing
Being IP makes it more likely you’ll get a fold b/c opponents don’t want to go post-flop OOP
Post-flop weaknesses are great to notice so in case you get called there are more ways to win it post-flop

Example: You want to value 3bet with a strong hand (AA and KK are no-brainers, but TT+ and AQ+ could be potential value hands)

You want them to have a wide continuation range. Maybe you’ve seen them call 3bets with 77+ and ATs+
You want to be IP to make it easier to control the pot post-flop so you can bet to build the pot or check-behind to keep it small.
Post-flop weaknesses are always great to notice so you can either go for more value easier or spot when they out-flop you and you can ditch the hand.

Practice 3betting

You must practice 3betting and calling 3bets. Before every button click, have a reason for your 3bet and find signs that you’ll get what you want from making it. And think about how you’re going to make money defending against them as well. Don’t just defend vs 3bets b/c your cards are pretty or you just feel like he’s bluffing.

Make sure to listen to my podcasts on the 3bet: episodes 104, 105, 107 and 108.

Study 3betting

You must take the time to do 3bet pot hand reading practice sessions. When it comes to hand reading it’s all about practice, practice, practice. The more you do it off the felt while reviewing 3bet hands, the more the skills and insights will come to you during your play.

Check out my series of hand reading episodes on YouTube

As you review your hands and practice hand reading, filter for showdown hands where you faced or made a 3bet. Make sure they’re older hands so you won’t remember what the villain had.

Start the hand reading process pre-flop by assigning a range to the Villain. Narrow their range through the streets as actions are made.

The hand reading drills will really help with your other issue of not knowing what to do when you miss the flop (which is most of the time).

It takes practice, and I recommend practicing with one or two a day at the beginning of your study sessions.

Q2: Improving Cbet Skills (12:10)

From: Max

Q: I’ve spent a lot of time on your book, Preflop Online Poker, but I feel that a deeper understand of cbetting post-flop will boost my skills.

Answer:

I released four episodes all about cbetting back in the MED series of podcasts: 133, 134, 135 and 137. Listen to the first episode #133 here.
Before you make the cbet, it’s critical that you know why. Are you going for value or bluffing? Use a tick sheet as you play and make a tick mark under “Value” or “Bluff” before every cbet. This will get you to more deeply think about your reason for cbetting.

When cbetting, you always want to consider your opponent and their range before you click the button. If they can fold better hands to your bluff, then it’s likely a +EV bluff. If they can give you value with worse hands from their range, then it’s likely a +EV value bet.

But, if they’re folding all their worse hands, then it’s a failed value bet. And, if they’re never folding in this spot for whatever reason, then it’s a failed bluff. Know why you’re betting and have a reasonable assumption they’ll do what you want them to do.

Board Texture Spreadsheet

Use this spreadsheet and Flopzilla to give yourself some very important range and flop analysis practice. You can use this spreadsheet for 2bet ranges, 2bet calling ranges, 3bet ranges and calling ranges to see how each of them interact with various flops. Doing this type of work off the felt is going to help ingrain range and board texture analysis into your brain. You will begin to develop an intuitive grasp of this concept and you’ll be able to apply it in game to make +EV decisions.

Start your audiobook learning by picking up ‘Preflop Online Poker’ through Audible.com. Click the pic above to begin your free 30-day trial or to purchase the audiobook version if you’re already a member.

Q3: Set Mining in 3bet Pots (17:05)

From: Daniel

Q: Dealing with uncommon preflop situations (outside the scope of your book). Ex. I raise with 99, get re-raised and then there is a cold call. Against just a re-raise this is a clear fold… But here? Flopping a set could have immense implied odds…

Answer:

This is a great question to answer right on the heels of the MED Monday episode where I covered five tips for better set mining. That was MED Monday #37.

Preflop Online Poker doesn’t address every type of scenario you can face. But, the information in the book can be applied to any preflop scenario.

In the scenario presented, you opened with 99 in order to take down the pot with a solid hand. If you get called, you can do post-flop battle with this hand and possibly bluff or value cbet. Now, your opponent’s actions have curtailed this original plan and they’ve played back at you. You can simply choose to fold this hand if it’s not in your 3bet calling range and move on to the next hand. If you’re thinking about calling and set-mining, then all the info in the book about set-mining, implied odds, calling preflop, 4bet bluffing and considering your position and the opponents all come into play.

5 things to consider when set mining versus 3bets

Set mining and implied odds: I recommend set-mining with 20x stacks behind. The reason for such high implied odds is so that you earn plenty of money in the times you hit your set and stack your opponent. This helps to outweigh all the times that you miss your set and lose either a big or small pot. If calling the 3bet means putting an additional 6bb’s in the pot, there should be 120bb’s in the stacks behind for good implied odds.

Calling preflop: your call caps your range and you’re telling your opponent, “I don’t have AA, KK, QQ right now, but my hand is worthy of calling.” Your opponents can rightly put lots of post-flop pressure on you to get you to fold all your underpairs and whiffed hands. Before you click call in this scenario, ask yourself, “In this really large 3bet pot with 3 players, is this a good opportunity to tell my opponents I don’t have a strong hand?”

4bet bluffing: Is this a good opportunity to 4bet bluff? Will a 4bet to 2.2x get both opponents to fold? Is 99 good to 4bet bluff with (no A or K blockers)? Is it better to just fold and lose the 3bb open raise?

Position: Maybe you opened in the EP and the CO 3bet and the BTN called. Calling here will put you out of position versus 2 other players, a non-money-making situation due to your positional disadvantage and your range disadvantage. This is 100% anti-bread and butter and is a money-losing situation to put yourself in.

The opponents: know what type of opponents you’re up against and if they’ll make post-flop play difficult, then that should be a consideration as well. It is a 3bet pot and if both of your opponents hate folding or always try to win these bigger pots, then earning money in this spot when you don’t hit your set will be very difficult (which happens 89% of the time).

Challenge (21:30)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Download the Board Texture Spreadsheet, whip out Flopzilla and get to studying. Work on 2bet or 3bet ranges and figure out how frequently different ranges hit flops. Listen to episode #134 to learn how to use the spreadsheet.

Now it’s your turn to pull the trigger and do something positive for your poker game.

Q&A: Poker Calling Stations, 3bet Pots Post-flop and Folding “Big Hands” | Podcast #200

By Sky Matsuhashi on August 24, 2018

I answer 3 questions about exploiting LIVE poker calling stations, playing post-flop in 3bet pots and folding “big hands” when you suspect you’re beat.

In episode 199, I helped you plug the leak of straying outside of profitable preflop 2bet ranges.

Q1: Playing LIVE Poker with Calling Stations (2:15)

From: Jong

Q: I have problems with LIVE poker. There are so many fish, but they don’t fold to 3bet or at least 4 people call a big raise of 8bb’s. So, is my only choice to be a Nit? I squeeze sometimes if there are too many limpers, but that’s it.

Answer:

If opponents aren’t folding, then don’t bluff 3bet nor bluff open raise. Just go for value.

Now you might say, the only value open-raising hands are pp’s. Not necessarily. If you’re considering a raise in the CO with KJs for example, that’s not necessarily for value. But, if you know the BTN, SB and BB can all call with weaker Kings Like KTs-K2s, weaker Queens like QJs or below and weaker Tens even like T9 and T8, then you can open raise.

Your first plan when raising here would be to steal the blinds, but if you get a caller or 2, then you’ll have to make new plans for the flop, turn and river. If the BB is the only caller, then you can plan to cbet the flop as a bluff, then barrel on turn cards that add equity. You can also plan to value bet the f/t/r if you hit a TP hand and you believe they can call you down with worse.

Bigger pot + less players + superior hand = WINNING!

If value open raising or 3betting, size it big enough to get 1-2 callers at most. If everyone’s calling 4bb open raises, then experiment with 5bb’s or more in order to find the size that limits the callers. AA is a favorite versus 5 players, but it’s a bigger favorite against 1-2 players and you have less post-flop land mines to dodge. Plus, if you make it 10bb’s to go and 2 people call, the pot is at 30bb’s. This is bigger than 4bb’s with 5 callers.

If you really want to bluff 3bet or bluff open-raise, make your sizing bigger. If 8bb’s as a 3bet doesn’t work, then you must go bigger. Your goal is to get them to fold, and if they ain’t folding, then you made a bad bet. See, your opponents will only fold if you hit their “pain threshold” or higher. If that’s 10-12bb’s, then that’s what you’ve got to do.

Q2: Playing Post-flop in 3bet Pots (6:10)

From: Chase Burton

Q: Post-flop play in three bet pots is my number one source of frustration in poker.

Answer:

For the most part, post-flop in 3bet pots are the same as in 2bet pots. You have to think about your opponent’s range, their post-flop tendencies and the board you’re both facing. But, there are 3 things that set these apart from 2bet pots.

Ranges

3bet ranges are much smaller than 2bet ranges, just as 3bet calling ranges are much smaller than 2bet calling ranges. Smaller ranges “hit” flops for value and with better draws more often.

Do a ton of hand reading practice in 3bet pots. Utilize PT4 and a database of hands or hands you’ve taken notes on, you can really start doing this.

Get practice in 3bet pots by trying to make more 3bets in position from the CO and the BTN. This will give you practice with playing 3bet pots, and you’ll have initiative as well as position to make your post-flop decisions a bit easier. If you want to practice being the caller in 3bet pots, that’s fine to do as well. But, look for good situations to put yourself in, and call with hands that could be ahead of their 3bet range. If you’re calling a 3bet, fold the T8s CO opens versus a 3bet. But, when opening with AJs against a 3bet from someone who has 3bet worse Aces and worse suited hands before, make the call because you’re ahead of parts of their 3betting range.

SPR (Stack to Pot Ratio)

You’re facing lots of short-stackers in the micros, and a 3bet pot can easily make them feel “pot committed”. A 40bb stack after putting in 10bb’s preflop has only a 1.5 SPR (20 in pot, 30 behind). If they hit anything decent, they’re likely committed so keep this in mind before you bet or call post-flop.

Pay attention to your opponent’s stack size before you make or call the 3bet preflop. Prepare yourself for the SPR you can expect in this 3bet pot.

In low SPR situations, know that there’s a good chance you can get your full stack in by the river in 3bet pots. Is your hand worth that much? Can your opponent put in the same amount of chips with a worse hand?

Mental

Don’t be overly sticky to 3bet pots. They’re worth fighting for, but they’re not worth putting money in bad. If you’ve got AcAd and 2 players called, and the flop comes down JsTs9s, then you should try to get to SD as cheaply as possible. You might have the best hand now, but your opponent’s have so many sets and 2p and fd and sd’s in their ranges that you’re going to be lucky to win it, especially if lots of post-flop chips go into the pot.

Beware of opponents who are overly sticky to 3bet pots, and also look for opponents who don’t mind folding. Beware of the sticky, and bluff the foldy ones.

Facing too many calls

Sometimes your value 3bets are getting called by too many players, like you 3bet with AA and the SB and BB cold call and the original raiser calls as well. When this happens, make your 3bets bigger. No matter what, make every 3bet 9bb’s or more. When IP, 9bb is okay. OOP, make it 10-12bb’s. If you start getting too many callers, make them for 12-16+ bb’s. Price it at a point where you’ll get just one caller at most, whether you’re bluffing or value 3betting. One player is easier to read, easier to get value from and easier to bluff.

If you’ve got players in the blinds who love cold calling 3bets, do so only for value and choose a size that they’d be foolish to call. Hopefully they do and you’ll make tons of money from these calling stations with your best hands.

Q3: Folding “Big” Hands When You Know You’re Beat (15:55)

From: David Duzmal

Q: Need help with staying in too long on big hands and getting caught with opponent having straights in low limit games.

Answer:

I have that same problem with big pp’s or big pairs on the flop (like AK on K72r board). Sometimes $$$ flash in my eyes when it looks like I have an incredibly strong hand on a board. I have to tell myself to just play it one street at a time. The plan is to put my opponent on a range and make good decisions based on the board, my opponent, their actions and future board runouts.

I know that one issue many players have is cbetting the flop and turn, then calling their opponent’s big bet when the draw completes on the river. You have to keep in mind that bets and raises on the turn and river are signs of strength most of the time. That doesn’t mean just fold to every turn or river bet or raise, it’s just that it’s most of the time for value. Especially at $1/$2 LIVE or microstakes and low stakes online games. Unless you’ve seen your opponent bluff raise or bluff bet on the turn and river before, start with the assumption that they’re doing it for value.

When you’re facing what you think is a value bet, ask yourself this question: “Do I beat some of the value hands my opponent can be making this play with?” If the answer is yes, calling isn’t a bad option.

Jack-high flush example

For example, you turn a Jack-high flush (Jc7c) and bet then get called. The river comes a fourth card in that suit, and your opponent leads out. They’re normally doing this because they want value. But, if they could be betting with the Ten, 9 or 8 (even the 6) of that suit, and you’re only losing to the King (like the board is Ac7sQc5c2c) then calling isn’t a bad play (raising would be bad though). If they use a bet sizing that indicates only having a King or you know the opponent is a very river honest player, then you could easily fold here (because they’d likely just check-call with weaker flushes).

I don’t know if you play online or not, but I recommend that you do some hand reading practice. You actually don’t need to play online, just record hands where you lost unexpectedly or look in forums for such hands. As you’re hand reading your opponent’s hand, assign them a preflop range then narrow that range through the streets.

Was it obvious now, away from the felt, that you were beat and should’ve folded? Did you make mistakes (like betting/raising or bet sizing) on early streets that led to a disastrous turn or river situation? I bet that more often than not, you should’ve realized you were beat and folded on the turn or river saving you plenty of big blinds by doing so.

This hand reading practice will go a long way to making you a better player. I credit my 66 Days of Hand Reading (www.smartpokerstudy.com/66daysofhandreading) with vast improvements in my game.

Challenge (21:20)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Start sizing your 2bets and 3bets bigger in order to limit the callers to 2 at most. Too many players stick with the same sizing no matter the opponents they’re up against. If your 3bb open raises routinely get 3-4 callers, start jacking up the price on that stationy table. If they’re willing to pay 3bb’s with inferior hands like 96s, they’re making bigger mistakes when they call 4, 5, 6 or even 9bb’s.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.

Leak 5: Pull the Trigger on +EV Aggressive Plays | Podcast #195

By Sky Matsuhashi on July 20, 2018

I discuss the strategies you can employ to help you pull the trigger on +EV aggressive plays and ditch the fear surrounding them.

In episode 194, I discussed the leak of skipping +EV aggressive plays because you’re afraid of losing money, making a mistake or looking like a fool.

Calculate Costs (3:05)

I said in the prior podcast that there isn’t a good way to calculate the cost of this leak. But, I’ve given it more thought and I’ve found a good way to do so. Granted, it’s still an estimate because who knows if your bluff would’ve earned the pot or if your value bet would’ve been called, but this will give you some numbers to work from and hands to review at the same time.

The first step is to determine which type of aggressive play you often fail to make. Let’s say you’ve got an issue with making +EV 3bet bluffs preflop.

Cost Calculation for 3bet Bluff Abstinence

In your database, filter for the opportunity to 3bet (facing a 2bet) and “NOT (Raised Preflop Any 3bet)”.

Add to the filter your normal bluffing hands. If your BTN 3bet bluffing range includes A5s-A2s and 87s-76s, your filter will look like this:

Record the number of hands you failed to 3bet with from a specific position that results from this filter. For example, 30 hands on the BTN. Next, change the “not 3bet” to “did 3bet” with these cards. Record your win rate. For example, over 28 hands your win rate is at +118bb/100 hands. This equates to +1.18bb/hand played.

So, by abstaining from these 30 3bet bluffing hands, you’ve missed out on 35.4bb’s of profit (30 x 1.18bb).

Remember that this is just an estimate. But, it’s an eye-opening estimate designed to spur you to do more 3bet bluffing with hands and in situations that you know are +EV.

General Leak Plugging (5:35)

1. Practice your leak plugging skills

You’ve got to put in the time practicing what you want to improve. No practice = no improvement.

2. Get Gutsy

During your pre-session warm-ups, make a commitment to getting gutsy and pulling the trigger on the +EV aggressive opportunities you spot. By focusing on it in your warm-up, you’ll be more likely to pull the trigger. Put a sticky note on your computer that says “Make the gutsy, +EV play.” Don’t hang it below your monitor, stick it on top so it hangs over the screen so it’s more likely to draw your attention as you play.

3. Tag each of these “GetGutsy” hands for later review

As you play a session, your focus must be on making the best decisions with the information available to you. You should not try to learn from mistakes in-the-moment. Tag each hand with a “GetGutsy” tag so you can put it out of your mind because you know you’ll have the chance to review and learn from it later.

4. Change your attitude

If fear is compelling you to skip +EV aggressive plays, consider what you’re telling yourself as you play. You may find yourself thinking “I don’t want to risk 50bb’s” or “I don’t want to screw up here” or “I don’t want them to think I’m a donk.”

Instead of those thoughts, try this one:

“This is a great opportunity to exploit my opponent. I’m going to take it, tag the hand, and learn from it.”

With this attitude in place, you’ll be more likely to pull the trigger when you spot +EV aggressive opportunities.

5. Hand history review sessions

Review each tagged hand the next day. As you review the hand figure out if the gutsy action was actually correct. Whip out Flopzilla and enter your opponent’s preflop range, your hand and the board. Narrow your opponent’s range through the streets and determine if your suspected bet or raise was or would’ve been +EV. Would your opponent have folded often enough to make for a good bluff? Would they have given value enough of the time to make for a good value bet or raise? What sizing would’ve been the best for your chosen play?

Plugging Each Manifestation of Fear (12:05)

1. Fear of losing money

You must drop down in stakes or add enough to your bankroll to put it between 40 and 100 buy-ins. The closer you are to 100 the better (for SNG and MTT players, I recommend 100-200 buy-ins). I know that you know this, but pride often gets in the way.

What’s more important? Appeasing your pride and playing at higher buy-ins with scared money, or playing at the right level, feeling confident with your decisions and not letting the money on the line screw with your game?

Be honest with yourself and assess the quality of your decisions at the level you play. If your play does not change between 5 NL, 10NL, 25NL or 50NL, that’s great. But, if there’s a decline in your level of play at 100NL, then you must stick with 50 NL with occasional shots at the bigger game when you’re feeling good and making great decisions.

Drop down in stakes as necessary until you build up your bankroll to comfortably play at the next level.

Try not to think in terms of money, but think in terms of big blinds instead. You’re not opening to $1.50, you’re making it 3bb’s. You’re not 3betting to $5. Instead it’s 10 big blinds that you’re raising it to.

Lastly, dropping down in stakes can also help with the other two fears of making mistakes and looking like a fool.

2. Fear of making mistakes

This is easier said than done. When you believe mistakes should never happen, this puts undue pressure on yourself to perform flawlessly. This pressure will create anxiety in your play and cause you to question every play you make. A good bit of thought in every decision is important, but second-guessing yourself will cause you to make more mistakes.

You are going to make mistakes, everybody makes mistakes. Accept them. If we never make mistakes we’re never going to learn.

I’ve only become a decent poker player, because I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I’ve tagged those hands and I’ve tried to learn from them.

Develop this attitude:

Mistakes are my opportunity to learn.

So, get to practicing. Drop down in stakes like already mentioned so that money is NOT a factor. Choose one aggressive skill to work on and find every opportunity to profitably employ that skill. Or, just be present in every table you play and seek out every opportunity to get aggressive to earn more value or to take down pots.

3. Fear of looking like a fool

You may have high expectations of yourself, and this has translated into a desire for others to think highly of you. Here’s a universal truth, a life lesson that I’ve believed for many years now:

Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink

What do you care if the other players at the table think you’re a bad player? Why would you care if they think you’re donk or a fish? The worse your image is in their eyes the better it is for you.

If you get caught bluffing off your full stack 2 times, you’re going to learn from those mistakes. But, your opponents don’t know this. To them, a tiger never changes its stripes. But you’re no ordinary tiger.

Change Your Stripes

You tag hands and study them. You make mistakes, research them to figure out what you did wrong, and you vow to not make that mistake again.

So, the next time you make a similar play but you’ve got a better hand than they do, you’ll be stacking those fools that think you’re an idiot. You’ve now turned your prior mistake into a profit-making situation.

I think it’s human nature to care what other people think. But if we consider this logically, you can’t control what they think nor should you try. Like I already said, you’ve got control of two things in life: your actions and your attitudes.

Acting with the intent of not looking like a fool or in an effort to appease other people is not going to benefit you in life nor is it going to benefit you in poker.

Challenge (17:15)

Here’s my two-fold challenge to you for this episode:

1. Preflop Task: 3bet bluff more often when in position

In your next 3 play sessions, practice 3bet bluffing in position. Make the play against players whose positional RFI is 20% or greater (and definitely over 25%). Drop down in stakes if necessary so the money you put at risk isn’t worrisome. Utilize hands that have good post-flop playability in case they call you. Try suited connectors, small-medium pocket pairs, suited Aces and suited broadway Kings like KQs, KJs and KTs.

Tag each of these hands for later review.

2. Post-flop Task: Bet when checked to in HU pots.

In the following 3 play sessions, when you have position post-flop, bet every time they check it to you. They’ve shown weakness, so now you show strength and put them to the test. If they call, fire on the next street when they check again. If you face a check-raise on the flop or a donk bet on the turn, consider what they could be making this play with and react according. Raise or re-raise as a bluff if you determine it’s +EV and they’re likely to fold, or do it for value if they can pay you off with worse hands.

Tag each of these hands for later review.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.

Support the Show

CK supported the show by purchasing my PokerTracker 4 Smart HUD. I hope CK is utilizing the HUD to crush their opponent’s faces into the felt.

Q&A: Improving 3bet Play and Late Stage MTT Strategies | Episode 190

By Sky Matsuhashi on June 10, 2018

I answer 3 questions about improving your 3bet play, defending against 3bets and late stage MTT strategies.

In episode 189, I discussed the leak of open limping and how you can plug it.

Q1: Improving Your 3bet Play (2:55)

From: TJ

Q: The one poker skill I need to improve is 3 betting

Answer:

The most important thing to improve your 3bet game is you must know of what you want to accomplish with it (whether making or defending), AND see signs that you will accomplish it.

Example: You want to 3bet bluff pre-flop

Your opponent should have a wide opening range
Their Fold to 3bet is high (like 65%+)
They are in a steal position to make it more likely they’re stealing
Being IP makes it more likely you’ll get a fold b/c opp’s don’t want to go post-flop OOP
Post-flop weaknesses are great to notice so in case you get called there are more ways to win it post-flop

Example: You want to value 3bet with a strong hand (AA and KK are no-brainers, but TT+ and AQ+ could be questionable)

You want them to have a wide continuation range. Maybe you’ve seen them call 3bets with 77+ and ATs+
You want to be IP to make it easier to control the pot post-flop so you can bet to build the pot or check-behind to keep it small.
Post-flop weaknesses are always great to notice so you can either go for more value easier or spot when they out-flop you and you can ditch the hand.

Start practicing more. Just have a reason for your 3bet and find signs that you’ll get what you want from making it. If things are going in your favor, pull the trigger and make the 3bet.

Regarding sizing, pick a size and stick with it for now. I recommend 3x for IP 3bets (bluffs or value) and 3.5-4x for OOP 3bets. As you become more accustomed to 3bets, you will learn to tailor the sizing to get want (more value, more effective bluffs, etc.). I also have a minimum of 9 to 10bb’s for my 3bets so I’m charging those weak min-openers enough with my bluff and value hands.

3bet MED series of podcasts

Episode 104, 105, 107 and 108.

Also, take the time to do 3bet pot hand reading practice sessions. When it comes to hand reading it’s all about practice, practice, practice. The more you do it off the felt while reviewing hands, the more the skills and insights will come to you during your play. I don’t know if you’ve caught them yet, but I did a whole series on hand reading. Here’s the playlist in YouTube: https://www.smartpokerstudy.com/66daysofhandreading

As you review your hands and practice hand reading, filter for showdown hands where you faced or made a 3bet. Make sure they’re older hands so you hopefully won’t remember what the villain had.

It takes practice, and I recommend practicing with one or two a day at the beginning of your study sessions.

Q2: 3bet Defense (7:35)

From: Chase Burton

Q: I’m working on my 3bet defense game.

Answer:

It’s critical to have a good reason when calling 3bets. Don’t just rely on the ranges. If you’re calling because you don’t want to fold, then it’s a bad call. But, if you call in order to take advantage of post-flop weaknesses later or because your hand is ahead of their 3bet range and they would only continue with better hands versus a 4bet, then calling is +EV.

Before you 4bet, just like 3betting, know the reason for your 4bet: value or bluff. If for value, then you believe they can continue with worse hands. If as a bluff, then you know they can fold often enough to make it profitable.

When either calling or 4betting, doing so IP is preferable to OOP.

Building Ranges:

1. Know your open raising ranges by position. You can’t defend with KTs if it’s not in your open raising range

2. Determine your 3bet defense frequency by position. You need to defend >30% to make your opponents think twice before 3betting bluffing you. If you give up 70% or more, it’s almost a no-brainer to bluff you. But, if you fold less than 70% of the time, then perceptive players will spot this and won’t bluff you as often.

3. Build your total 3bet defense range with calls and 4bets. Build it to the defense frequency you selected. For example, a 20% open raising range contains 265 combos. If you’re defending at 35%, then you need to have 94 combos in your defense range. AA-QQ and AK takes up 34 combos, so what will you fill the additional 60 combos with? Some more pairs, good aces, maybe KQs and some suited connectors and baby Aces for bluffing.

4. Divide the range between calls and 4bets. Consider the range that’s 3betting you and choose which hands play well for calls, which work well as value 4bets and which as bluff 4bets.

Ranges are a starting point. They allow you to bring your off-the-felt analysis to your on-the-felt play. But, never follow ranges exactly. Your response to a 3bet is going to be different when it’s coming from a Nit rather than a Maniac.

Q3: Late Stage MTT Strategies (11:20)

From: Ciprian

Q: Hi, I want to ask if you have any advice on how I can improve my tournament game. In particular late stage of the tournament when you have to open your range. I’m pretty week at this stage.

Answer:

You want to play good hands and use your opponent reads when entering a pot. If you’re opening a pot, consider how the remaining players will react. Pay attention to their stack sizes and be ready for 3bet shoves from anyone below 20bb’s. Be ready for who is likely to call as well, so you can start envisioning post-flop play against them. Don’t just open a pot because you feel like it. If opening to steal, it should likely work. If opening for value, size it so you get the 3bets you’re looking for or the calls you want.

You don’t have change your play based on the stage of the tournament. You should be acting based on the players at your table, the payouts and the stack sizes involved. If you’re at an overly aggressive table, be less active and choose opportune times to enter pots. Let the others duke it out as you ladder up. Your plays should be based on how you can best exploit your opponents.

If you’re considering calling an open raise, do so IP. You can defend the blinds, but do so against smaller open raises with weak hands. Against 3bb opens, defend very narrow. Against min-opens, defend wide, especially the BB.

3betting in MTT’s

If you’re going to 3bet, know why you’re doing it. Value: know that your opponent can continue with worse. Bluffing: know that they can fold their open raising hand. Choose sizing at 3x-4x their sizing to make it tougher for them to call light. You want light calls, but if they can call with J8s, then bet bigger to make it a bigger calling mistake on their part.

For post-flop play, think about the board and how it hits their range. Look at their bet sizing and figure out what it means. The smaller the bet, the more likely they’re trying to make a cheap bluff. If they call your cbet, think about why they called. Can they call with any pair or any draw, or will they call with only TP+?

Also, be aware of their stack size at all times. If the pot on the flop is 10,000, and they have 15,000 behind, they’re much less likely to fold (small SPR).

I know I just gave you some quick and tourney tips, but my friends over at PokerNerve.com put together this Online Poker Tournament Strategy article that’s right up your ally, Ciprian. I’m sure you’ll get a ton out of it.

My 2018 SMARTER Goals Progress (18:10)

Goal 1: SPS Brand

Publish all 3 volumes of my Dominoes of Poker books: Volume 1 by the end of April, Volume 2 in July and Volume 3 in October.

Just released Volume 1! Super stoked about that. Kindle eBook only right now, paperback and audiobook versions are just awaiting approval.

Get Preflop Online Poker as a Kindle eBook by clicking here.

Goal 2: Poker Play

Move up from 25nl to 50nl by June 1st, then up to 100nl by October 1st while following a 40x Bankroll Rule.

May: -$153.37 (MTT’s +99.94) at -31bb/100 hands

YTD: +$27.55 at +.29bb/100 hands and 38,269 hands played

Goal 3: Physical Health

Get down to 170 lbs (from 180) and complete 3 sets of 10 muscle-ups by June 1st.

June 1st at 169.4 (a loss of 2.9 pounds from May 1st). Made the weight goal, but not the muscle-ups goal.

Gonna keep working hard to get the full muscle-up.

Challenge (21:50)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Build your own 3bet defense ranges. Follow the 4-steps I gave you and utilize a software like Flopzilla or Equilab. Print them out and test them in your next few sessions. Remember, they’re just a starting point and you’ll make your in-game decisions based on the 3bettor and the sizing they use.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.

Support the Show

Laura Sadowski purchased a copy of my Smart HUD for PokerTracker 4. Destroy your enemies, Laura! You can get your own copy of the HUD by clicking here.

Getting More Bread & Butter in Your Poker Play Sessions | Podcast #187

By Sky Matsuhashi on May 17, 2018

In this episode, I discuss how to get more Bread & Butter out of your poker play sessions and how to avoid non-B&B spots.

In episode 186, I played for you a chapter from my upcoming book, ‘Preflop Online Poker.’ The chapter is called Stealing Fundamentals.

You control your actions (2:30)

You might not realize it, but every tough spot and every favorable spot you find yourself in is due to your own choices.

Got to the flop with JJ as the preflop caller in the BB? Your own doing.
Got to the flop in position with AK versus 5 others? Your own doing.
Got to the flop with 22 on the AK2 board after 3betting preflop? Your own doing.

You control your actions in every hand you play.

You can purposefully put yourself in more B&B situations and you can actively avoid non-B&B situations.

Getting More Bread & Butter (3:30)

First: Play with a B&B mindset.

This is when you search for and put yourself in the most profitable of situations: in position on the flop, as the preflop raiser and against 1 or 2 players.

Second: Create ranges for open raising and 3betting.

Creating ranges off the felt allows you to free your mind for important in-game factors to consider.

For your ranges, you want to Open Raise and Isolate more from the CO and BTN, so your ranges should be wider here. From the MP and earlier, stay nice and tight. You can do on-the-fly range adjustment if your opponents are allowing you to get in more B&B spots.

For open raising, I recommend at least a 20% in the CO and 30% on the BTN). For 3betting, I recommend 3%+ in the CO and 6% or greater on the BTN. You can increase your BB ranges as well when the only player you’re facing is the SB.

Open raising range recommendations:

EP through MP: 12%
CO: 20%
BTN: 30%

Before you click RAISE, consider how the remaining opponents will respond. Look at stats like 2bet Call and Preflop 3bet by position. This can tell you so much more than just the total stat percentage.

Third: In-game play

Assess your table and label it a B&B Table or not. A B&B Table is one that lets you put yourself in lots of B&B spots. So, it gets folded to you a lot and the players don’t fight back or call your open raises and 3bets too frequently. You can also open more from the MP like in the Hijack if the CO & BTN are foldy.

If a hand is in your range, first consider if it’s a good situation. Just because it’s in your range doesn’t mean it’s worth playing. Consider your opponents and the situation first.

Actively search for situations where you can open raise and 3bet more frequently with hands outside of your ranges. Look for players to your right who have tight ranges and fold a lot preflop. It’s also good when they open raise wide but fold to your in position 3bets a lot.

Bet Sizing

You can’t control your opponent’s actions, but you can influence their decisions with optimal bet sizing that will give you what you want. If the BTN loves to 3bet CO open raises, open for more like 3.5bb or 4bb if you don’t want to face the 3bet. If in the HJ and the CO and BTN call too frequently, then open raise or isolate bigger.

3bet more often when you can to give you B&B as well as avoid multi-way pots where you’re the caller. Look to do this more in the CO and BTN. Maybe KQ is a calling hand in your range. You can turn calling hands into 3betting hands if it’s profitable to do so.

The critical question to ask yourself before clicking RAISE with a calling hand is:

How will the player respond?

If they can call with worse, then it’s absolutely fine to turn your AJs calling hand into a value 3betting hand and simultaneously put yourself in a B&B situation. And if they fold, great! If you were bluffing with your 3bet, then you just earned a 4.5bb pot without even needing to see the flop. If you were value betting and they folded, oh well. At least you earned their chips easily instead of allowing them to cbet and take down the pot in case you missed the flop.

3bet in the BB more versus SB open raises (these are wide ranges that will often fold to 3x 3bets).

Sticky Note for your sessions this week:

Get more Bread & Butter: IP on the flop, with the opportunity to Cbet and against 1 or 2 players.

Avoiding Non-Bread & Butter (17:50)

To avoid non-B&B situations, it’s pretty simple: call less often. But what can happen to some of us is we look down at a hand like J9s and QTs and A8o and we imagine the possibilities. We need to not allow ourselves to get suckered into making seemingly +EV calls with hands that are hard to play and in situations that will be hard to extract value out of.

Some people treat calling like a default play. It’s suited? I call. Connected? I call. Random AX hand? I call. Pocket Aces? I 3bet. Calling must never be a default play. You’re giving your opponent initiative on the next street, and we all know how much easier it is to take a pot down when you bet with initiative. Don’t give other players this advantage without good cause.

First: Create calling ranges that limit your calling opportunities.

You know that calling is a not-as-profitable play, so limit how often you do this.

Calling ranges can be bigger when in position on the flop, but if you’re expecting to be out of position, keep them very tight. Also, you want to call tight because your call can cause a cascade of calls. Multi-way pots are harder to win, and you called, so it’s anti-B&B in these situations.

Second: Utilize the calling ranges in-game

If a hand falls outside of the calling ranges you set, your first instinct is to fold.

But, if your hand falls within the range, before clicking CALL, ask yourself this incredibly important question:

“Why am I calling here?”

If you’re thinking about getting involved in a non-B&B spot, you must have a great reason for doing so.

Great reasons to call:

My hand is ahead of Villain’s range (AQ when Villain has every Ace in their range).
I’m disguising my incredibly strong hand against an aggressive post-flop player (AA).
If I 3bet this value hand, the opponent is folding all worse and only calling with better (JJ vs QQ+ continuance range).

Bad reasons to call:

I don’t want to fold!
I can hit a miracle hand (J8s, 96s, 87o)
It’s only 1bb, so what if I’m out of position against 4 other players (in the BB with J4o against a min-open and 3 callers)

Visualize post-flop play before you click CALL. What boards help you and hinder your opponent? How will they likely play the flop? Look at stats and history. What position will you be in? How can you possibly bluff or get value post-flop in this spot?

Challenge (26:05)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Create open raising and 3bet ranges that are tight in the EP and MP but increase a lot in the CO and BTN. You can increase your BB ranges as well when the only player you’re facing is the SB. Play your sessions this week with a B&B mindset: try to put yourself into as many B&B situations as you can. And try to avoid those non-B&B situations by constricting your calling ranges and maybe turn some calling hands into 3betting hands. Don’t forget to use that sticky note: Get more B&B: in position on the flop, with the opportunity to cbet and against 1 or 2 players.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.

Support the Show

Laura Clarke picked up my “Poker Mathematics Webinar” and she got $5 off by going through this link: https://gum.co/bYkwJ/5off Thank you so much, Laura.

Mental Game Control and 3bet Defense Post-flop Strategies | Podcast #183

By Sky Matsuhashi on April 14, 2018

I discuss mental game control strategies and post-flop 3bet pot strategies to help you plug the leak of losing money when calling 3bets.

In episode 182, I answered multiple Q’s about turbo MTT’s, Harrington’s M, folding strong hands and more.

Mental Game Control (1:55)

Mental game lapses in judgement are imperative to fix. Knowing the correct strategy for +EV plays does you no good if your finger clicking intentions get hijacked by emotion or distraction on their way from your brain to your finger.

Here are the most common mental game issues that cause poor 3bet defense decisions:

Calling out of spite. You hate this opponent, you’re tired of his 3bets and you don’t want to fold or 4bet.
Over–reliance on position. You justify making a call because you’ll have post-flop position, and you think you can find a way to use this to your advantage.
You’re tired or distracted. This causes you to miss the fact that calling is a -EV decision.
Calling with hope instead of making the +EV decision. You call with a set-mining hand, knowing that the pot odds are “bad” for this type of hand. Or, you’ve got a pretty hand that can flop miracles like K5s flopping a flush or 68 flopping a straight.
Not wanting to adjust open raising ranges. You’re not adjusting to the table. Sticking too rigidly to your open raising ranges when it’s not profitable to do so is a -EV, unthinking strategy.

These mental game lapses in judgement are win rate and bankroll killers.

4-Steps to Correcting Your Mental Game Issues (3:35)

Step 1: Awareness

Problems can’t be solved unless you’re aware of the issue. Take note of the mental game issues you suffer from and prioritize them. You’re going to tackle them one at a time, starting with the most frequent one.

For the remainder of these steps, we’ll focus on the mental game issue of “calling with hope”.

Step 2: Plan

This mental game issue is going to pop-up again, that’s a fact. Now, plan for how you will deal with it when it does.

Are you going to avoid specific hands?
Are you going to force yourself to follow your ranges?
Will you plan a response to a 3bet before you open raise?
Are you going to take a breath and think before every button click?

You know you call with hope too often, so, what are the hands that you do this with? Is it all suited connectors, suited gappers, every suited Ace or King? Make a list right now of the hands that get you into trouble. It might be something like 22-66, A2s-A9s, K7s-KTs, 54s-87s and 64s-QTs.

When dealt one of these hands, before you open-raise, plan what you’ll do versus a 3bet and put it on paper.

Potential plan:

22-66 – fold unless the pot odds are insanely good and there are 20x implied odds behind
A2s-A9s – 4bet bluff with A3s and A4s, fold the rest
K7s-KTs – 4bet bluff with KTs, fold the rest
54s-87s – fold
64s-QTs – 4bet bluff 86s, fold the rest

Step 3: Focus and Execute

Keep your plan in front of you during your next play session. Focus your warm-up around it, and commit to following your plan during the session. Then, during the session when the inevitable happens, execute your plan.

Try to tag hands where you implemented your plan as well as any hands where you strayed from your plan.

Step 4: Assess

After your session, do a quick cool down where you assess how well you played against 3bets. Did you follow your plan? If you made any departures from the plan, were they for good reason and do you assess them as +EV?

In your next study session, review any tagged hands and filter for all “facing a 3bet” hands. Review them and assess the profitability of your decision.

Adjust your plan as you see fit for your next session, then repeat the process.

Post-flop in 3bet Pots (8:25)

We’re keeping things simple and approaching post-flop play with one assumption in mind: you made a +EV decision when you called the 3bet to see the flop.

In 3bet pots, you want to play straightforward as mistakes now equate to greater losses (but on the flip-side, there’s a ton of profit potential in these pots). Straightforward doesn’t mean a fit-or-fold approach with no bluffing or drawing to a hand. What it does mean is we’re looking to make only +EV decisions and we’re ready to ditch the hand if that’s the best play.

4 Important Aspects of 3bet Pots

1. Your Capped Range and the Opponent’s Range

By just calling pre-flop, you’re telling your opponent that you don’t have AA or KK, and AK is missing from your range as well (we know that you occasionally put these hands in your 3bet calling range, and that helps to surprise your opponent at times).

Because you’re at a range disadvantage, you need to be prepared to fold a lot post-flop. But don’t be overly concerned about this. It’s necessary to fold a bit more, so you aren’t losing more when you flop little equity in these bigger pots. Some of your most profitable opponents passively call down in 3bet pots with mediocre hands and draws. You target these players for profits, so don’t be a profit target yourself!

Your 3betting opponent does have a stronger range after all, and they know it. They’ll use this against you to cbet and double-barrel you off your hand. Speaking of your opponent’s range, what is it? You must’ve considered their 3betting range before you made your pre-flop call.

Your range is usually a consideration of theirs as well. If the flop hits your calling range, they’re going to be at least slightly worried that you hit the flop.

2. The Board

Range and board interaction is critical when deciding to continue past the flop, and when making value or bluff plays.

A common 3bet range is TT+ and AQ+ (4.7%, 62 combos). This range contains 38 hands with at least one Ace. On Ace high flops, like A96, as the caller you need to be very concerned. With the Ace on the board, that does block a lot of Ace combos in their range. But, now they’ve got 27 combos with at least one Ace, so they hit TP+ 53% of the time here.

Although, on a board of 984 they hit it far less frequently as the best they can have is an overpair. But, you as the pre-flop caller, can potentially have QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, JTs and possibly 98s in your calling range. Because this board hits your range very well, they need to now take caution.

The idea of attacking weakness and avoiding strength is critical for good post-flop decisions. When a board favors your opponent, be more inclined to fold (avoid). When it favors your range, be more inclined to call, bet or raise (attack).

3. The Opponent’s Play

Your opponent’s initiative allows them to use continued aggression to push you off your hand with a flop cbet, delayed cbet or a double-barrel bet.

It’s critical that you pay attention to your opponent’s tendencies in 3bet pots. Look at their cbet %’s both as a total and in 3bet+ pots. Most of the time these numbers are about the same, but spotting differences can lead to some good exploitative plays.

It’s great when Total Flop Cbet is at 75%, but Cbet in 3bet+ pots is at 55%. They’re more honest in 3bet pots, probably due to the amount of money at risk. Use this against them and be more inclined to fold versus their display of strength.

Bet sizing is another extremely important item to consider. If your opponent hit this flop and is betting for value, what sizing do you think they would use? The wetter the flop, the bigger their value bet will be.

If bluffing, what size will they use? The smaller the bet, the more likely it’s a bluff. And small bets on really wet boards, from a pre-flop 3bettor, are very likely cheap attempts at “protecting” their strong hand.

Think ahead before you make a decision on each street. If calling on the flop, what can you expect from your opponent on the turn? What cards are good for you, and what are good for Villain?

4. Your Position

Poker’s easier when IP, so if you’re following your 3bet defense ranges, you’ll be IP more than OOP post-flop (because you’re defending more when IP).

When IP, here are your flop options:

Fold – this is the most common line you’ll take. When the flop gives you 0 or little equity, and you can’t see future bluffs working too well, this is your best option.
Call – this is a valid play when the pot odds you’re being offered make it a +EV decision to stay in with draws or some made hand equity.
Raise – this is the least common play you’ll make, but it can be extremely profitable for both bluffs and value raises. Gauge the situation carefully because you’re committing many more chips due to the size of the 3bet pot. If going for value, you want to know your opponent can continue with worse. If bluffing, you want to know that they can fold better.
Bet – when your 3betting opponent indicates weakness by checking the flop (for example, holding AK on 974), betting can often take it down.

OOP flop options:

Check–fold – this will be the most common line you’ll take.
Check–call – fine to do if the pot odds being offered make it worth the price to continue (beware of being OOP on the turn and river as well).
Check–raise – everyone check-raises for value with sets and 2p hands, so you can balance your c/r range by adding some bluffs here.
Donk bet – betting out before your opponent has the chance to act. This can throw them off their game, but I don’t recommend it. If you had a value hand, you’re likely c/r, right? So, balance your c/r range with value and bluffs.
Probe the next street (or stab) – this is betting on a street after the opponent checked-behind on the prior street. They showed weakness, and you’re taking the opportunity to bluff them or go for value.

Whether IP or OOP on the flop, you have many plays and bet sizes at your disposal. Choose the one that will most likely yield the result you’re looking for, and pull the trigger on it.

Challenge (18:50)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Everyone has some form of mental game leak, so what is yours? Follow the 4-step process I outlined for correcting your mental game leaks and implement it with your next play session. Be aware of the issue, plan out how you’ll address it in-game, focus on your plan and execute it, then assess your play afterwards.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.

Support the Show

Bryan Spencer and Mark Cooper both picked up the Smart HUD for PokerTracker 4 to help them understand and exploit their opponents better. Get ’em, guys! Get the Smart HUD here.