High Content: A Rant About 3-Betting
Today I took a step back looked at my blog and I came to the conclusion that I need some more high-content posts. Posting up graphs of big wins is fun, but it doesn't really create any form of discussion. Instead I am going to make a personal blog goal to post up one high content post a week. Here is a small start... a little rant I want to take on 3-betting... please stay seated, relax, and join me on a journey through 3-betting (or the lack there of):
3-bet: Taking control of the hand
You are playing 1/2 NL, a loose villain raises in MP, you look down and see AJs on the button. What do you do? You can either: A) Passively call and then when you miss the flop the villain fires a c-bet and you fold, B) 3-Bet, thereby taking control of the hand, villain checks the flop and you fire a c-bet, villain folds. or C) You hate money, fold, and decide your time is better spent examining why there is so much dust on your monitor.
The answer is B. 3-betting is one of the most under utilized weapons to .50/1 and 1/2 NL players online and live. Not is 3-betting a good weapon to use on the BTN but in the SB as well.
You are playing 1/2 NL, it folds around to a semi-loose villain who raises on the BTN as he has done for the last few orbits, you look down and see KQos in the SB. Its that time again! 3-bet his raise from $8 to $24. I would say over 70% of the time he will fold right then and there. If not, fire a nice $37 c-bet on the flop and let him think rrreeeaaalllyyy hard if he wants to go to the river with his hand. Another advantage of 3-betting in the BB or SB is it will sometimes slow down the villain from stealing the blinds on the BTN. Not always.. but sometimes.
2 comments:
I just found your blog a couple weeks ago, I think through another Silver Spring blog...anyway, I've never played poker online. It seems fun and interesting, but for now I'll stick w/TV and reading your blog. Anyway, can you clarify some things? What is "MP"? What is 3-Bet? And in a 1/2 NL game, how do you go from $8 to $24? As I understand it, you bet or raise in increments of $1/2 based on round. Or did I miss something in betting progression? SLinSS
SLinSS: First I recommend reading No Limit Hold-Em basics. That should get you started.
As far as the jargon in my post: MP stands for middle position, a seat 2 to 3 seats away from the Big Blind. A 3-bet is re-raising a raiser who has raised the big blind. Confused? Example:
Big blind is $2, you raise to $8, I raise to $24. That is a 3-bet.
In a 1/2 NL (No Limit) game you can raise any amount you want, there are no increments. I hope this helps.
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