The Power Of Four-Betting

It is well known that many small- and medium-stakes players essentially never raise or three-bet (re-raise) without a premium hand. This is quite a poor strategy because when they apply aggression, it is clear they have a strong holding, making them easy to play against. Given they rarely three-bet without the effective nuts, they never four-bet without the effective nuts, making them really easy to play against because their hand is face-up as a premium hand.
When you raise and someone three-bets, there are times when you should four-bet with a range much wider than only the absolute best hands. Of course, there are also times when you should call and times when you should fold. While you may think that your two hole cards should be the main determining factor in your decisions, your opponent’s tendencies are actually the most important factor.
If you expect your opponent to only three-bet with premium holdings because he is overly tight and straightforward, you should also play in a straightforward manner, electing to never four-bet bluff. If you know your opponent has a premium hand, bluffing is not an intelligent play. Instead, you should call with your hands that are getting the proper implied odds and fold everything else. Against this player type, it is as simple as that!
Against someone who is three-betting with a wide range of hands, as many medium-stakes players do, you should tend to four-bet to an amount equal to around 2.4 times your opponent’s three-bet a large portion of the time because your opponent will either have to run a gigantic five-bet bluff (which will usually be all-in) or fold to your aggression. Especially if you have a reasonably tight image, most wild players will simply assume that you found a premium hand.
Of course, if you know your opponent’s range is wide and he expects you to only have a premium hand when you four-bet, you should four-bet almost every time, getting well out of line to maximally exploit him. Be aware that eventually your opponent will figure out what you are doing and will adjust by either three-betting you with a stronger range, calling your four-bets with a wide range, or five-betting with a wider range.
If your opponent is an excellent player who three-bets with a somewhat balanced range, your decisions become much more difficult. In general, you should call with your hands that have premium big cards or decent implied odds and either fold or four-bet everything else, depending on how you expect your specific opponent to react. You do not want to call three-bets with marginal big card hands such as A-10 offsuit and K-J offsuit, especially from out of position. That will get you in a ton of trouble after the flop. Instead, either four-bet as a bluff or fold these hands.
I tend to lean towards applying pressure with a four-bet early in a session, ideally inducing my opponent to think that I am not someone who can easily be pushed around, and folding later in the session when there is more money on the line. That being said, do not let marginally aggressive players run you over. By far the easiest players to play against raise with too many hands before the flop and then fold too many of them to aggression. Don’t be weak!
If you want to thoroughly study how to balance your range to ensure that you are not easy to exploit with blind aggression, check out the homework challenges at PokerCoaching.com/cardplayer. I have developed many challenges for you to ensure you are difficult to play against, resulting in you making fewer mistakes while capitalizing on your opponents’ mistakes. Sign up for your free trial and let me know what you think on twitter @JonathanLittle. ♠

Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion with more than $6 million in tournament winnings. Each week, he posts an educational blog and podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com, where you can get a FREE poker training video that details five things you must master if you want to win at tournament poker. You can also sign up for his FREE Excelling at No Limit Hold’em webinars at HoldemBook.com/signup.