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How to size your three-bets properly

• 30.06.2025 7:17 pm
• Helen
• 0 Comments

Three betting is common just like the sequitor flashbacks on Family Guy in today's LAG or TAG online short-handed games.

Generally, there are two reasons to three-bet:

1. For value: that is if you have a very good hand and you want to get value from the bad hands
2. As a bluff or semi-bluff-which is referred to as a light three-bet.

If you make a light three-bet, you are making a semi-bluff on the pot. If your opponent is light raising, you can three-bet him light and make him fold, which will win you the pot as soon as possible.

This leads you winning more pots without having to showdown or getting action at your original three-bet –for-value-type hands.

Even though the practice of the three-betting light is quite common these days, several players size their betas wrongly.

Some players often size their reraises on the strength of their hands.

They usually make a bet on a bigger amount if they have a weak hand and they want their opponents to fold and bet a little when thy want to bet for value.

This is not good thinking. An experienced opponent will pick on this and later take advantage of you.

The size of your bet should not be determined by your hand's strength.

Position determine everything

If the strength of your hand is not the factor, then position is. position dictates everything in poker.

There is no difference in determining the size of your three-bet. If you are in position, you can gain the smaller three-bet size.

This is because you will not act whole hand quickly. Since acting is a big advantage, you can discipline your player who is not in position severally, despite of the strength of your hand.

It is good if your opponent does not have an automatic call, yet this does not endanger any amount of chips.

Let us look at an example

Six-max $ or $2 no limit game: effective stacks $200. You are on a button that has got . Action is folded to the cut-off who makes it $6.

You later reraise to $18. You get called by your opponent and you see a flop of . You get checked by your opponent and you bet $24. Your opponent folds.

Since you are in position, you gain information with your opponent acting right before you.

This is a very big advantage to you since you do not have to raise as much as when you are in position.

Raising your bets out of position

It is not very easy when you are out of position. You need to make your decisions with no advantage of knowing your challenger's action.

Since your opponent happens to be the one with the last say, he is in control and you are at an disadvantage.

So that you can work on this, you need to make your reraise more from out of position.

If the 3x the real raise was better in position, out of position, you want to make it 4x.

You basically want to charge your opponent for the benefit of playing in position against you.

If you are in position, you do not have to worry about seeing a flop. If you are out of position, you want to discourage him so that he may not call since you will be left guessing the post-flop.

Letting your opponent have the good odds and the positions is a huge blunder. So let your opponents have the idea that you are serious about the big out-of position raises. The bigger raises help cancel out the disadvantage of your position.

The second example

Six-max $1/$2 no limit game: the effective stacks $200. You have got in the blind. Action is folded to the button, which makes it $6. You make it $26.

The $26 will get the job done efficiently than the $18. You want to lower your time playing out of position.

The rules of thumb for multiway pots

If you are reraising both a raise and a call, you have to make your rerasies bigger. This is because your reraise will go through two layers other than one.

You do not want your bet sized so that the real raiser can call and the other caller can overcall. In a case like this, you must play the hand against two opponents which is not a good reason good idea.

If you happen to be in position against a raise or a call, you should add 1the real raise for each caller in the pot. Therefore, if one player calls the first raise, go for 4x and if the player calls the second raise go for 5x and so on and so forth.

Always put in mind that in games of today, you are going be three-betting regularly.

If you generally make blunders with the size of your three-bet, you are making it hard for yourself to win.

Always keep your three-bets sized well to your position and also to the little players left in the hand, and you will make it simpler on yourself to win.