3-bet & 4-bet sizing

I have found plenty of info on this site about knowing when to 3/4-bet, but I am still having trouble with sizing them right given the stiuation. 3-betting someone who has a 80bb stack is very different than 3-betting a 140bb stack.

So I was hoping that some of the CCers could come up with some good examples of how they adjust their 3-bet sizing based on the situation; like when it is a squeeze or a blind vs blind situation.

Also, noone at my limit has started 3-betting light, but when I move up I want to be ready for it, and I was wondering what size to make my 4-bet counters so that I am not pot commited when I do. Thanks all!

As a general rule, 3betting ~3x in position and ~3.5-4x oop is the standard, but it can definitely be deviated from.

This is one of those subjects that a million books could be written on, so I'll try to give general points. For ex, some factors that should affect your size:

-position. Bigger OOP, smaller IP.

-stack size. Smaller stack size = smaller 3bet, deeper = bigger 3bet usually.

-the size of the open, and/or the number of calls in between. Like in a squeeze spot where you get a 3x open and a flat, I usually bump to 13-15bbs or so as opposed to my usual 9-12bbs without the call in the middle. Similarly I usually 3bet bigger when the open is to 4x or 5x, but if my opponent simply opens big and folds well to 3bets, we can still stick with a smaller size since he often will still be folding with the same frequency, so the smaller bet saves us some money.

-opponent's tendencies. Similar to above, if villain opens frequently and folds really well to 3bets, I try to find the smallest I can 3bet without it changing his range. Usually that means getting down to 3x IP and OOP. Any smaller than that and people start doing weird things like calling with 97o and stuff. As a kind of contrast to that, if he flats lots of 3bets but gives up really easily postflop, I tend to open big PF and cbet small postflop. I could go on with other examples, but basically you're looking to find the leak in your opponent's game, and exploit it with similar tactics.

-the strength of villain's open range. This kind of affects how often I'm 3betting more than my 3bet size, but it's important. Like if a 16/12 nit opens UTG and it folds to me with AA in the BB, I'm just 3betting to 15bbs or something.

I'm guessing you're somewhere below 50nl, right? If that's the case I really don't think you should worry about 4bet bluffing yet. Just concentrate on figuring out how wide you can value 4bet, and do so. I say that because I don't think people at those stakes 3bet wide enough to be able to fold once 4bet, so it's just going to be spewing money.

But ya, as I said 3betting frequency and 3bet sizing is very situational and can depend on a lot of things (including a bunch of things I'm sure I forgot). As a general rule with full stacks, 3x IP and 4x OOP and something like a pot sized raise in squeeze spots is fine.

Thanks Chuck,

Yeah, I am playing 25nl FR so 3-betting doesn't come up very often. Your right about 4-betting too, I am either shoving or folding because no one 3-bets light, but it seems like if I am ever going to be successful at 50nl it is something I need to be knowledgeable about now.

Some final questions:

Is it true that if you flat a 3-bet you are not suppose to fold on the flop?

How much of our stack can go in beofore we are considered committed?

Also, do we base our 3-bets on effective stacks or opponents stack?