Help with 3-betting OOP

Hey all,

i wouldnt mind some cardschat assistance to help me with a hole in my game.

I´ve been led to understand that, in general, you´re better 3-betting OOP than flat-calling. I get the logic behind it all but it just doesnt seem to work for me.

I play 2c/5c zoom on PS so bear that in mind lol Maybe its a microstakes issue!?

Say for example i pick up AJo in the BB. Folds round to the CO or BTN and they raise to 15c. I know theyre range is very wide to raise an unopened pot late position so i 3-bet to 35c from the BB which i think is the better action (any advice welcome if im wrong here). He calls with his holding and flop comes out and i miss the flop. I c-bet 40c-50c or so to try and take it down, get called and then im in a tricky position on the turn.

It seems to me that at microstakes, your 3-bet OOP is almost always getting called (by any high cards, PP, SC, A-rag etc). and all my 3-bet has done has made me play a swelled pot OOP.

Any advice welcome!

Why swell if OOP?
I think your leak is the betting. Have to know the theory.
Yup, zoom is very volatile and microstake is so loose.

hffjd2000 said:

Why swell if OOP?.

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i meant "swell" as "enlarge", not "good". Oh, and the word should have been "swollen" lol You can tell its Friday!

I meant that im making the pot bigger because of my 3-bet which means im playing OOP in to a bigger pot which isnt ideal.

I know its villain dependent but i dont play with any software and with zoom its impossible to gauge villain. But what kind of hands would be in your OOP 3-bet range with a LP unopened raise? Is AJo too loose?

Well if you really want to 3bet OOP, make sure you're playing with a HUD:

1. Look at positional awareness of the player you're going to 3bet. Does he loosen up with position? There is also a stat: "preflop positional awareness" in PT4, which may be useful.

2. Look at Fold to 3bet of the opponent. If its low, 3bet mainly for value, hands that are ahead of villain's continuing range/what if you get 4bet? If its high, 3bet as a bluff, mainly hands that are not good enough to flat call OOP, but are too good to just fold (suited connectors, high blockers (e.g AJ, KQ etc).

3. What's your plan postflop? Villain's Fold to cbet/turn cbet etc. Think about what is villain's continuing range (his 4bet, fold to 3bet -> its all in the stats!)

Also, on the other hand remember not to call 3bets OOP (like in BvB). There is nothing worse that playing 3bet pots OOP without initiative.

Fknife said:

Well if you really want to 3bet OOP, make sure you're playing with a HUD:

1. Look at positional awareness of the player you're going to 3bet. Does he loosen up with position? There is also a stat: "preflop positional awareness" in PT4, which may be useful.

2. Look at Fold to 3bet of the opponent. If its low, 3bet mainly for value, hands that are ahead of villain's continuing range/what if you get 4bet? If its high, 3bet as a bluff, mainly hands that are not good enough to flat call OOP, but are too good to just fold (suited connectors, high blockers (e.g AJ, KQ etc).

3. What's your plan postflop? Villain's Fold to cbet/turn cbet etc. Think about what is villain's continuing range (his 4bet, fold to 3bet -> its all in the stats!)

Also, on the other hand remember not to call 3bets OOP (like in BvB). There is nothing worse that playing 3bet pots OOP without initiative.

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Thanks for the advice. Last week i finished my months trial of poker tracker. just having the HUD helped me realise the importance of villain stats. Id never heard of VPIP/PFR etc before the trial. I guess in zoom having a HUD is even more essential.

Id been using the "Fold to 3B", "Fold to C-Bet Flop" stats for exactly this purpose and maybe thats where my recent problem has come in. Im working in the dark now which has made it more difficult. i guess it might be time to invest that 59.99 in to PT4 lol

Just be aware that the "Fold to 3B/Cbet Flop" need a large sample to be really effective.

Have you plugged in some hands to PokerStove(if you have it) or other hand equity tools?

Have you considered a delayed cbet if he checks back and the turn makes the board scary?

Just my $.02

Surprised to see noone mentioned 3betsize. By raising to just 35c you give him almost 3:1 odds to call. It should be at least to 45c imo.

is this full ring or 6max. Are you 3betting for value in which case , what worse hands are you expecting to call and are you 3betting as a bluff. ? if its as a bluff, why are you doing it at a stake where players general leak is calling too often.

Is this 6-max or full ring we're talking about? I play on 6-max and if I'm playing OOP and have AQ or AJ, I usually call, unless my AQ is suited at which point I will often 3-bet. That's your problem here. By 3-betting you put a fair amount of money into the pot. Had you called, you could've easily check-folded.

You might need to tighten up your range to AJs+ AQo+ and TT+ or even just JJ+, AK and AQ because it's harder for most micro players to play out of position. I can understand how ugly it is to play this, but you kind of need some feel for your opponents which you can't really get in zoom. Assuming you are deep stacked (100BB), c-bet the flop if you get called slightly smaller. Let's say 40-45% of pot. That will usually do the same thing than 60c and gets people to fold their bad hands. Then if you hit top pair or have an overpair still, keep value betting except make it bigger like 65-70% of pot. Then if you can, shove the river if you believe that you will be called or bomb the river. Most likely you will be called by worse top pairs or even second pair making people think you are bluffing. If you don't hit, then just give up on the pot unless you think you can take the person off the hand.

I would flat/fold in that situation.

3 betting with AJo is really only getting called by better hands so you are basically bluffing with equity, if you do squeeze from the BB with a 3 bet, make it bigger than that pathetic 2.3x raise or whatever you did. With an open raiser and caller in the pot you should raise atleast 3.5x+ if you want to generate any folds.

IPlay said:

I would flat/fold in that situation.

3 betting with AJo is really only getting called by better hands so you are basically bluffing with equity, if you do squeeze from the BB with a 3 bet, make it bigger than that pathetic 2.3x raise or whatever you did. With an open raiser and caller in the pot you should raise atleast 3.5x+ if you want to generate any folds.

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in the OP example, i was heads up with an open raiser from LP. There was no caller. Does this make my 2.3x raise any better or would you still reckon its too small? What size bet would you have put in?

I dont agree with the statement that AJo is only getting called by worse hands. But thats maybe because my 3-bet size is too small i guess.

If your goal is to 3-bet to keep his weaker range in, then your sizing is fine. If you're looking for fold equity though, then it needs to be much larger otherwise you should expect to get called a TON with your current sizing. So if someone is opening 3x in your game, your 3-bet needs to be ~3.5x their raise.

C-betting as a semi-bluff in micros will destroy your bankroll. Most of the time, you will be called with small pocket pairs which are still ahead no matter what. You don't want to know what people will go through with their pocket 10s with overcards on the board. I personally am nitty when it comes to 3-betting, I will only 3-bet AK and QQ+ because most people at micro wont give you too much creditfor your action pre-flop and will call your c-bets with their mediocore hands, so if you hit the flop you're getting payed off often and if you don't just fold it at the spot. Of course, if I see I can get a fold I will 3-bet with AQ AJ JJ. Fancy moves will cost you more than return in micros, don't bother.

Hmmm against tighter players 3betting OOP is probably most profitable.

he bets... you 3bet representing a strong hand. You want a hand like a premium or a hand that can standup against something post flop or which can lead to a nice trap for your opponent so u get stacked.

But normal circumstances if you represent AA KK AK and cbet the flop you should get represented... But ofc if you choose the wrong opponent you'll be throwing the monitor out the window


I think if you can end it preflop/flop it's a great result... If you do get action but think of why? is it ur table image or stats and then focus on what your hand can be... do we have open ended straight draws or flush draws? will our opponent pay us off ?

Anyways best of luck but I think if your learning just don't go in with marginal hands or your trapping yourself... I don't like non suited hands to 3bet with especially against weak/fishes who call a lot. I think the with Bovada it sounds like ur best not being tricky, when your at a normal site where u see the same ppl you can play trickier and you will get paid next time u get prems if they say your weak.