defending vs 3bet suck
IP or OOP doesnt matter it just suck.
Because calling the 3bet, we would lack AA, KK, AK, which then allow the 3bettor to barrel away on any Ace or King high board.
Even f the board doesnt contain an Ace or a King, they can still barrel away repping a strong overpair.
so wtf do we do when we pfr a hand like JJ or even QQ and get 3bet?
4betting is neg ev, so we cant do that. and If we call, we are more then likely to fold post flop.
Calling the 3bet, the best we can hope for is to flop a set, or flop a strong draw. Yet playing draws in a 4 spr pot is a losing play. And paying 8+ bb to flop a set 12% of the time isnt that great either.
So whats the beat play here?
Should we just fold preflop 100% without a 4betting hand?
3 Replies
Why do you think 4 betting is neg ev? Only against extremely thight 3 bettors we might not want to 4 bet bluff.
Altough 4 betting oop is quite merged, 4 betting a hand like KQs UTG vs BTN isnt completely a bluff but its not value either.
Also we can 4 bet JJ / QQ no problem, yes we have to 4 bet fold JJ if its UTG vs BTN and 4bet calling QQ is just about better then folding it (depending on the stake).
When we defend a 3 bet we just have to make sure our ev is higher then folding, so if you check in your db you have to do better then -250bb/100 (or adjusted to whatever your opening size is)
Also helps to know which line + formations are overbluffed / underbluffed.
Perhaps you can get too involved in solver say this and forget that we spar with our opponents. Calling a 3Bet is a strong play, maybe even stronger than making one.
Then sometimes you come out swinging with nothing. Because believe it or not some people do 3Bet with ace suited or connectors. On the other hand, if you think he’s only 3Betting hands that beat QQ - he’s a heck of a nit
These situations will always be player dependent. I don’t think you can craft a general strategy. I just think you should consider the strength of your actions as well as the villain. What’s he going to think when you launch that 4Bet Bluff?
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I thought 4betting JJ is -EV cause I've seen it mention somewhere. Well I got curious so I tried calculating the EV but its not perfect because I can't take into account how much more money will go into the pot post flop.
rfi 2.5bb
3bet: 12 bb
4bet: 27 bb
the villain will
5bet shove 14%
call 26%
fold 60%
JJ has 62% equity against villains calling range
EV = (0.6 * 16) - (0.14 * 24.5) + (0.26)((0.62 * 31) - (0.38 * 24.5))
EV = 8.74 bb
4betting JJ has an EV of 8.74 bb
With this 4bet/folding JJ is a pretty good play. It prevents villain from bluffing us off the pot, and when villain 5bet, he's announcing JJ is crushed so fold is easy, and if its a bluff, he's probably doing it with an Ace blocker which still has 30% equity. Also JJ has villains calling range crushed. The lower pocket pairs only has 2 outs, The big Ace hands are flips, that we can probably get off with a 2nd barrel. The only hand we lose to is a QQ and the occassional slowplayed AA
