3Bet In Poker: The Full Guide With Examples

📝 Last updated: 12 September, 2024

What is Poker 3Bet?

3-bet in poker is an act when a player re-raising the raise of an initial raiser. It commonly refers to a preflop, but can be referred to a postflop action as well. Although the name of the term contains the numeral 3, the 3-bet sizing does not have to be 3x. Technically, it can range from a minimum re-raise (click-3-bet) to an all-in (3-bet-push).

3bet
An example of 3Bet in poker: Hero open raises from the Button position and the opponent on the Small blind makes a 3Bet.

3Bet Examples

  1. Player A makes a raise to a 2bb, player B makes a re-raise to a 6bb. Player B has made a 3-bet.
  2. Player A makes a raise to a 2bb, player B makes a re-raise to a 3bb. Player B has made a click-3-bet.
  3. Player A makes a raise to a 2bb, player B makes a re-raise to a 100bb. Player B has made a 3-bet-push.

3Bet Ranges

There are three general types of 3-betting range in poker:

1. Conservative 3-bet range

This range consists only of premium hands.

poker 3bet range

2. Merged 3-bet range

Merged range consists of premium hands, and some good hands which are playable post-flop.

poker 3bet merged range

3. Polarized 3-bet range

Apart from premium hands, polarizaed range includes pure bluff hands.

poker 3bet polarized range

The purpose of Three-Bet

In general, the purpose of the 3-bet is to increase the size of a pot with premium hands to win as many chips as you can. By premium hands we assume the range of JJ+, AK+ (3% of all hands).

☝️ However, 3-betting solely premium hands in modern poker is somewhat outdated. Simply because opponents, seeing your 3-bet percent, will throw everything away, preventing you from extracting the value of your hands.

Therefore, today there are several additional reasons to use 3bet:

  1. 3-bet, unlike cold calling, gives you a chance to pick up chips preflop. 
  2. By 3-betting you can isolate weaker opponents who tend to fold if they miss the flop. Statistically, they will miss the flop in more than ⅔ of cases.
  3. By 3-betting you force opponents behind your back to throw out hands even stronger than yours. 
  4. By 3-betting you stay in a single-raise pot with your opponent, increasing the equity of your hand in comparison with the multi-way pot.

Sizings of 3Bet

Assuming the stacks of 100bb deep, the most common sizings of 3-bet are 3-3.5x in position and 4-5x out of position.

3Bet Frequencies

Less than 4% is very tight. These players 3-bet only premium hands JJ+, AK+. Miss out opportunities to extract more value from other good hands.

4% to 10% is solid. These players generally 3-bet good and premium hands in good positions.

10% to 14% is semi-loose. These players might 3-bet more speculative hands in their range, but with good post-flop skills they can play as profitably as the solid players, or more. However, if their post-flop play isn’t great, they are probably playing a few too many hands.

More than 15% is very loose. Usually these players are maniacs. Can’t expect to be a profitable poker player with this 3-bet. Good opponents will quickly adjust to their weak range by either calling premium/good hands or 4-betting them.

Conclusion

3betting is an important action in poker. It is an integral part of a winning strategy. Make sure you implement 3bet into your game. However, do it wisely, in the right situations, with the right sizing and playable range.