3 betting at low stakes
IMO, it is not optimal to 3! standard ranges in 1/2 and 1/3 games. Often half the pots are limped pots, so the raise often represents strength. Therefore, it might not be best to 3! bluff or with like TT/AQ. I don't think you should be 3-betting ranges like in a 10/20 game or online, which assume more tight aggressive opponents. You can sometimes bluff, but mostly 3-betting just JJ+/AK might be fine against loose/passive players.
It depends on the raiser. Sometimes, a reg or decent player raises a lot small and maybe bigger with good hands. In that case, it may be correct to 3! his raises fairly light. However, the flat callers could have hands like JJ/AK and they will flat call again the 3!.
In 2/5 games, there are often loose limpers and regs will "iso" them with anything remotely playable. In that case, there may be good reasons to 3!, as neither player usually has much. However, there are problems that you may be driving out the fish and isolating versus the reg.
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Disagree with this as a blanket statement. Are you saying it’s just better to play single raised multi-way pots?
Most fish at low stakes don’t know how to appropriately respond to 3-bets. 3-betting allows you to play a ton of pots IP with a range advantage. How can that be bad?
The typical bad reg calls too wide and raises too narrow. So their limping range might include J8o and AQo. When they raise, it's typically a much tighter range. This is not universal so you have to pay attention, but defaulting to a 3-bet range based anywhere close to GTO is not correct here.
The typical bad reg calls too wide and raises too narrow. So their limping range might include J8o and AQo. When they raise, it's typically a much tighter range. This is not universal so you have to pay attention, but defaulting to a 3-bet range based anywhere close to GTO is not correct here.
Agree. GTO is mostly irrelevant at low stakes although a useful fundamental tool used to hone exploits.
But given that 4-bet ranges are air tight, it’s still ok to 3! IP vs these players. For eg. I’d rather have KJ IP vs AQ OOP. As another eg, we print money 3-betting against these all too common fish that raise-call small-mid pairs to set mine OOP regardless of stack depth.
But yes, I wouldn’t go crazy over-3betting our suited wheel Aces against people we don’t need to be balanced against just because of solvers.
Disagree with this as a blanket statement. Are you saying it’s just better to play single raised multi-way pots?
Most fish at low stakes don’t know how to appropriately respond to 3-bets. 3-betting allows you to play a ton of pots IP with a range advantage. How can that be bad?
The entire OP reads like some random screed against the evils of mindlessly playing GTO, which of course no one does if they actually understand GTO.
I don't believe it's necessary to even talk about GTO here. You can establish a player's RFI range after a few showdowns. You can also assume most players at 1/2 or 1/3 will overdefend v 3bets. You want to be HU with a strong range as often as possible, particularly IP. So not 3betting TT/AQ, for instance, is likely a significant mistake, unless you some reliable information that states otherwise. Of course TT/AQ probably shouldn't be the bottom of your 3bet value range in most games, either
When you 3-bet AQ/TT in a low stakes games, there are problems in that hands that dominate those will usually flat call the 3-bet and maybe already flat called a raise. So you can lose a big bot with an overpair or TPGK to a better one pair. If you get it HU, you may isolate versus a hand even or better than yours or a decent hand that has good equity and playability.
If you call and play it multiway, there are problems. However, you get good odds to hit a set with TT and can often continue unimproved. With AQ, you keep in lots of worse aces and queens.
When you 3-bet AQ/TT in a low stakes games, there are problems in that hands that dominate those will usually flat call the 3-bet and maybe already flat called a raise. So you can lose a big bot with an overpair or TPGK to a better one pair. If you get it HU, you may isolate versus a hand even or better than yours or a decent hand that has good equity and playability.
If you call and play it multiway, there are problems. However, you get good odds to hit a set with TT and can often continue unimp
There's only one hand that dominates AQ that flats a 3bet, which is AK. Maybe JJ-QQ flat a 3bet versus TT. It's safe to assume KK+ is 4bet. I'm assuming that a TAG RFI's 10 from EP and 20%+ from MP-BN and will defend v a 3bet with KQs-QTs/ATs-AJs, 77-JJ a range which TT and AQ do well against. You have to keep in mind that at low stakes most overdefend vs 3bets. If you're 3betting an OMC or a genuine nit that's a different scenario, where flatting AQ & TT is likely the better play.
