Polarized 3-Bet Ranges

Any time you are 3-betting in cash games you should know exactly why you are doing it. You should either be 3-betting for value or bluffing. Your 3-betting ranges should be mixed. Over time they will naturally blend together (value and bluff) to create a balanced range.

To make it clearer, let's define the difference between the two.

Differences Between Value Range and Bluff Range

Value range: Any hand you want to go all-in with preflop

Bluffing Range: Any hand you would comfortably fold to a 4-Bet

Your value and bluff ranges will change depending on the position and the players you are dealing with. These ranges will increase or decrease depending on several factors. For example, if you are out of position your value range should be wider than your bluff range. The wider your opponents' range is, the wider your value range should be. Some examples: your range should be wider in SB vs BB situations, button vs blinds, and cut-off vs button situations.

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Your bluffing range should also be based on two things:

The aggressor: What kind of hands does he usually open? What are his stats? What is the game dynamic between you?

Your defense range: Your opponent’s “counterattacking” range is more important than his initial opening range. Some players will open a lot of hands and defend with a lot of hands. Some will open a few hands and defend with a few hands. You need to understand the fold to 3-bet percentage from that position to determine if your bluff is profitable.

Sometimes you will profit because some villains will call a 3-bet and then check/fold if they miss the board. You are essentially building a pot to bluff with later. You can also profit when the villain is the type of player who calls with many hands on the flop but folds on the turn. This is a job for you, as you must know what your opponent is like and how best to exploit him.

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Hands that constitute a bluffing range:

Your bluffing range should be made up of the best hands that are not good enough to flat call preflop, and are also not in your value range. These could be hands like 75s, 45s, 56o, Q7s, QJo, etc. Hands like 89s, TJs, QJs, and KQo are generally good enough to flat call preflop and should not be used for 3-betting. Hands like AQ and 99 can be used for 3-betting, but first, you need to know exactly how to react to a 4-bet. If someone is going to call with a wide range of hands, you can 3-bet with these hands and the profitability will come postflop, and they are hands that you can comfortably fold to 4-bets.

Against players who will counter with a wide range of hands you don't want to 3-bet as a bluff because they will call with too many hands and you will be inflating the pot with weak hands that will make post-flop very difficult. Against players with a narrow defending range you will want to 3-bet a lot with all sorts of hands as a bluff because your 3-bet will be much more effective.

Against bad players (fish) you can mix up your range by adding hands like AJ, KQ, QJ, AT, and AQ to your value range. Hands like broadways (any combination of face cards) are completely acceptable in this situation. The reasons you might do this are: 1) They will try to defend with so many hands that they will get bogged down with dominated hands and you will be happy to put all your chips in with top pair. They will also play fit/fold on the flop, usually check/folding when they don't hit anything with the board, and will end up calling light when they do hit any part of it. 2) They are not good at 4-betting, so if they do that, it will be easy to fold. 3) You will be isolating the fish, so you will play more pots with them, and the other regulars will have to wait.

Article translated and adapted from: Polarized 3-Betting Ranges