Three-Betting Preflop

The amount of preflop raising distinguishes middle-limit hold’em games from lower ones. Many lower-limit games feature lots of preflop limping. While this happens occasionally in middle-limit games, someone raises preflop most of the time.

When you get into still higher limits, you see a new phenomenon developing: the frequent use of the preflop three-bet. Much of the time in the middle limits, you see a preflop raise, and then some callers. At the higher limits, you more often see a preflop raise followed by a reraise.

Why is this? Is it just the money pressure? Do higher-limit players play only really good hands after a raise? Or, is there some theoretical reason why three-betting is more prevalent among more elite company?

We will look at three aspects of this idea:
1. The theoretical underpinning, which is “raise or fold.”
2. Exceptions, when you should not raise or fold.
3. Why three-betting causes opponents so many problems.

1. Raise or fold: The raise-or-fold concept provides the theoretical basis. This concept, covered in depth in Chapter 7 of my book, Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, states that if the player to your right bets, you should raise if you have, or hope you have, the best hand, and fold if you don’t. If you have a good draw, you should call.

Preflop, the first player in should have what he hopes is the best hand, and therefore should raise. Many players subscribe to the preflop open-raise concept. If someone does open-raise and you are next to act, or next after one or more folders, the same concept applies. If you believe that he has the best hand most of the time, you should fold. If not, you should three-bet.

Three-betting here also has the advantage of putting pressure on the remaining players to fold all but the best holdings, thus eliminating players who may wish to take speculative inexpensive shots at your hand. It also often eliminates the blinds, thus creating dead money (equity in the pot that has been placed there by players who are no longer eligible to win it back). The remaining players benefit from this dead money.

Of course, you also three-bet after others have called the preflop raise if you have an excellent hand, but you no longer are under the raise-or-fold concept. As the pot grows larger, you may also wish to play drawing hands.

2. Exceptions: Even though you should theoretically raise or fold, practical at-the-table circumstances may occasionally cause you to decide not to do so. Please understand that these exceptions are rare, but you do need to know and understand them. Also understand that if they do not exist, you should be raising or folding if next in after a preflop open-raise.

The first exception occurs when the player who open-raised can frequently outplay you, even though he is out of position and you have a very good hand. Some very aggressive players are so tough that you simply do not want to be heads up with them. By simply calling preflop, you somewhat disguise your hand from them, and invite other players to join you. Even excellent players are forced to play more honestly in multiway pots, so you will be outplayed less frequently. Of course, you also will lose pots to those you invited in to join you, so you do not wish to do this very often.

The second exception happens when one or both blinds are very weak players, prone to chasing and taking well the worst of it. You would like them to stay around and play poorly, so you prefer not to eliminate them.

For example, a tough, aggressive player raises from middle position, and you have the A Q on the button. Normally, you would three-bet here, as you have a good chance of having the best hand and can create dead money from the blinds. It’s a classical raise-or-fold situation.

Suppose, however, that the big blind is a terrible player who always “defends” his blind for one more bet. Now if you flat-call, you will get him involved in the hand, and he is a much better source of money than the raiser. Also, the addition of a third player will make the raiser play more honestly and predictably than if you and he were heads up. In this specific situation, calling the raise will be more profitable in the long run than three-betting, even though the player in the big blind will win some pots, because he will contribute much more to the pots that you and the raiser will win.

3. Causing problems: In-position preflop three-betting is very tough to cope with. Even if you think your opponent is somewhat loose-aggressive, it is hard to counter him when you are out of position and do not have a hand with showdown value.
 
You open-raise from middle position with K-Q suited. An opponent who three-bets frequently does so here, and everyone else folds. The flop is 10-6-5 with one of your suit. Your opponent may have A-A through 2-2, A-K through A-9, K-Q through K-9, Q-J, Q-10, Q-9, J-10, or J-9, often suited but sometimes not. How do you proceed? Check-call all the way down unimproved and hope that he has a hand you can beat? Put in an aggressive bluff on the flop or turn, hoping that you have the best hand or that he will fold a better one? Give up quickly and hope for a better spot? Semibluff the turn if another suited card comes? Note that you are behind many of his holdings, and have others dominated. But, you have no idea which one is the case, and playing this hand under these circumstances is difficult.
 
So, should you fold K-Q preflop and not worry? Folding such a good hand goes against the grain. It is truly a difficult spot to be in, even though you know his range is wider than yours for this aggressive in-position action. If you have to hit your hand to win, it is an ugly spot, and you are pretty much doomed to lose unless you also make this sort of play. Yes, you will punish him when you have K-K, but that does not happen often enough.
Similar logic applies if you raise with A-10 suited and miss. The flop is K-8-4. How will you play? Or, you have J-J and the flop is A-Q-7.  Do you wiggle around to see if he has an overcard? Do you take the passive route and call all the way?
 
Conclusion: The preflop heads-up three-bet in position is a weapon that is hard to counter, which is why I advocate it. Not only is it theoretically sound, it gives the players who open-raise preflop significant playing problems post-flop, which is good for you.

Try three-betting preflop instead of calling. You should find that it yields more profitable situations in the long run.

Barry Tanenbaum is the author of Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, and collaborator on Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies, both available at www.CardPlayer.com. Barry offers private lessons tailored to the individual student. Please see his website, www.barrytanenbaum.com, or write to him at [email protected].