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Pre flop 3 bet, check back the flop, and a 200 BB pot

3 bets pre flop are an incredibly profitable move that require well placed aggression, but their profitability will be eliminated if you play the hand poorly post flop. The first step in 3 betting is to determine why you are 3 betting. A blind 3 bet is the equivalent of burning money. Your intention should either be to extract max value from the other player or knock them out of the pot entirely. If your reasoning is somewhere in the middle it is probably not a good idea to 3 bet. 3 betting ranges are debatable and dependent upon a wide variety of factors, but that is not the aim of this article. Profitability in a pre flop 3 bet is often found in the post flop action, as odd as it may sound.

$2.00 BB (4 handed)

Button ($385.50)

SB ($193.42)

Hero (BB) ($513.40)

UTG ($414.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ad, Qs

1 fold, Button bets $6, SB calls $5, Hero raises to $26, 1 fold, SB calls $20

Pre flop we are dealt AQ, a very strong hand that will always call for a raise, or in this case a re raise. We go ahead and make a healthy 3 bet to $26 for pure value. The hope is that our opponent(s) will call our raise, though folds will be a positive outcome as well. It would be best if only one player decided to come along. It turns out that the open raiser wasn’t strong and they get out of the way, leaving us in a heads up battle with the small blind. We are going to be in position as we head to the flop, so the hand should be relatively easy to play.

Flop: ($58) Kc, 8h, Jh (2 players)

SB checks, Hero checks

The flop gives us nothing more than a straight draw as we are drawing to a ten for the nuts. The small blind checks to us and it is now our turn to act. Should we check it back or bet? All we have to do is consider what our opponent will do if we bet. They will fold worse hands and call with better hands. This makes it clear that a check is the optimal move.

Turn: ($58) 10d (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $29, SB raises to $70, Hero raises to $200, SB calls $96.92 (All-In)

The turn is absolutely perfect as we now have the absolute best hand possible. The small blind checks and it is entirely possible that they are very weak. We have to make a bet, though, as we need to build up the pot in case he does have a hand. We make a half pot sized bet and are raised. This is of course great news as we are poised to get involved in a huge pot. We shove and get called. The small blind has a lower straight and we take down a big pot.

River: ($391.84) 9h (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $391.84 | Rake: $2.50

Results:

SB had Qc, 9c (straight, King high).

Hero had Ad, Qs (straight, Ace high).

Outcome: Hero won $782.68