Essential Texas Hold'em Moves: The Cold 4-Bet

In today's article we will introduce you to cold 4-betting, one of the strongest offensive lines of pre-flop play in Texas Hold'em.

Used both as a bluff and for value, the cold 4-bet will make your opponents think hard, and they will often end up mucking their cards.

Since this move won't be cheap, we'll show you here how to use it efficiently and profitably.

What is it?

A cold 4-bet refers to a 4-bet without having put any money into the pot yet. Example: UTG player opens raise to 300 in the 50/100 blinds, CO player 3-bets to 800 and you 4-bet to 2,400 on the BTN without having put any chips into play yet.

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Why is it used?

Because you are entering a pot cold, with no money invested. A cold 4-bet indicates strong cards and will generally get all hands folded, with the exception of premiums.

Where?

It is done exclusively preflop and is most effective when you are in position. It is usually applied from the CO/BTN or from the blinds.

When?

It works in cash games and tournaments, but since it's a fourth bet, it won't work if you're short stacked.

Using the cold 4-bet the right way

If you are playing low stack cash games and tournaments the chances of seeing 3-bets are already small, let alone 4-bets.

If you see someone re-raising before the flop, you can bet that it’s a premium hand like AA or KK. This means that when you cold 4-bet, you’ll get the table’s attention.

Since this is a very strong line, it ends up being an excellent preflop bluffing tool. On the other hand, if you do this with AA you will only get action from the best hands.

Since you will have to commit 20 or more big blinds to this raise, making too many 4-bets can be bad.

In this article, we will focus on discovering the basics of cold 4-betting, and show you how to use it as value and as a bluff, as well as giving you a lesson on how to balance your cold 4-betting range.

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Cold 4-bet as a bluff

For this move to be successful you need to find good situations where both the original raiser and the second aggressor have a wide range of hands that can fold to your cold 4-bet.

The two biggest factors in this case are how loose/aggressive these players are and whether they are raising and re-raising more often than they are calling.

Look for players with a high raise rate and high 3-bet and go on the attack.

Likewise, many players will do this same thing when they are in late position.

There is a big difference between a raise and re-raise from EP and a raise and re-raise in late position like CO vs BTN.

When making a cold 4-bet as a bluff, try to do so against aggressive players in late position.

Also consider cold 4-betting as a bluff when you have an ace, since your opponent is less likely to have AK or AA.

Cold 4-bet for value

When cold 4-betting for value, look for situations that are the opposite of what you look for when you want to bluff.

Since you are raising with a hand that you believe is good, you will want to be called by your opponents who will call with a worse hand.

Loose/passive calling station players are the best players to attack in this case as they will rarely fold and will call you if they hit any part of the board.

While flat calling a 3-bet with a big hand like AA or KK may seem appealing, for beginners it is much better to raise and play a bigger pot against just one opponent.

You will always need a big hand to cold 4-bet for value, but things change depending on position and opponents.

At many tables you shouldn't cold 4-bet JJ for value against a raise and re-raise from early position, but it can be a good move against two loose players from late position.

Balancing your cold 4-Bet range

When you see an amateur cold 4-betting, it's almost certain that he has a monster. That's because he'll probably only do it with AA or KK.

This means that his range is not balanced.

By mixing bluffs with value you become unpredictable, and you will get called more often when you have pocket aces.

Look for the right situations and apply cold 4-bets as a bluff.

Most of the time you will win the pot, but when you get 5-bet shoved and show :6d :7d your opponents will think twice about folding when you have aces.

Article translated and adapted from the original: The Col d Four Bet