3 betting small/mid prs ip - cash NL

rancid

what are the advantages - discuss ?

Seems to be the norm to set mine ip or oop but what about 3 betting ip - say on btn
Where are the benefits ?

rancid

No wants a discussion then, small ballers ! )

percival09

I occasionaly 3b ip/oop vs regs w/ small/mid prs but only vs regs and I'd only do so if a) it wasn't already a multiway pot, b) if there isn't any fish behind me

davelufc

A lot of people like to see a cheap flop with 33, 44, 55, 66 etc,

IP, i dont mind putting a 2.5/3x raise if it`s been folded round to me, if there are a couple of limpers then i`d prob raise slightly more tbh,

When you do hit a set ( not too often lol ) we can often stack hands like AK/AQ or even AA/KK etc.

The way i`m running at the mo i`d probz run into a bigger set lol.

percival09

the advantages are it balances your range vs regs, especially if they are flatting few 3bets because if they call you can often be in a tough spot

It's pretty good in the scenario when you know youre going to be facing a decent amount of small 4b bluffs; great shoving and watching them either fold 50% equity, which is a lot, or call with mostly 50% equity

but you're going to be called sometimes, and it is v.easy to make large mistakes underpairs/3rd pair in 3b pots. You're going to need to know when you can bluffcatch, vbet, bluff etc... and if you don't have a good enough handle on your opponents play I'd stay away 

BigHawk89

The advantages are that it disguises your hand if you do actually hit a set and your playing a bigger pot IP.

The disadvatages are if your opponent has AA AK or KK and 4 bets you or shoves, you could have lost alot of value if you did hit a set vs an overpair.

jugglegeek

Disadvantages more than outweigh the advantages in my oppinion, especially at the micro/low stakes. If you 3-bet with a hand like 44 on the button you are turning your hand into a bluff since you are not going to hit your set often enough to do it for value and you are going to hate just about every other flop. I'm fast becoming a believer that 3-betting light is a very profitable thing to do, even a the microstakes vs the right opponent but small pocket pairs have too much value when facing a raise to turn into a bluff.

For example say you have a TAG in the cut-off who raises to 3x and you call on the button with 44. Flop is Kh8c4d. He bets 1/2 pot and you call, turn is As. This is a great card for you since it either improved his hand or is a card that most players will fire a second barrel on so you can raise on the turn if you like and get it all in here, or call again and ship-it on the river. On a AhKh4s flop you can raise the flop representing a big draw and get the money  in this way. Either way, if you do this you get more value from the hand than you would do if you 3-bet and take it down pre. If you miss the flop then you can fold pretty cheap having paid only 3 BBs.

But like I say, 3-bet bluffing is pretty important. You don't want to only 3-bet 2% of the time (QQ+/AK) because players will either fold to your 3-bet every time, only 4-bet with KK+ or call with junk and only play if they can beat QQ+/AK. So 3-bet bluff with suited connectors like 67s and ace-rag hands like A5s. Reason for this is SC can hit monsters occationally and Ax hands have blockers against AA/AK. You can happily fold these hands to a 4-bet or even - dare I say it - 5-bet bluff with hands like A5s knowing that if it goes wrong and you get called by KK you are 30% and have shown some serious metagame.

The only advantage to 3-betting small PPs would be if you have a player who is constantly 3-betting to your left. It might get you to a flop cheaper if you 3-bet small since they are less likely to 3-bet and deny you the implied odds.

On a side note, be careful calling 3-bets with small PPs. You rarely have the correct implied odds to call when 100BBs deep