What is a 3-bet in poker?

A re-raise of the opening raise before the flop. Someone raises first, you raise again, and that raise is a 3-bet.

The name comes from counting bets, not raises. The big blind is a forced bet, so it counts as bet one. The open raise is bet two. Your re-raise over the open is bet three. Raise again over that and it is a 4-bet, then a 5-bet, which with normal stacks is usually all in. After the flop the same word is used for re-raising a raise, but in most conversations a 3-bet means the preflop one.

What does a 3-bet look like at the table?

A $1/$2 game. Everyone folds to the cutoff, who raises to $6, and you are on the button. You make it $18, three times the open. That is a 3-bet. The blinds now face a raise and a re-raise and usually fold, and the cutoff has to decide whether to fold, call or 4-bet. That decision has its own chart: facing a 3-bet.

Why do players 3-bet?

For two reasons that work at the same time:

  • Value. A strong hand wants a bigger pot, and a 3-bet builds one before the flop, when you are most likely to be ahead.
  • Fold equity. Most opening ranges cannot continue against a 3-bet with most of their hands, so a 3-bet wins the pot outright a lot of the time, including when you hold nothing much.

Two side effects make both reasons stronger. You take the initiative, so you are the player expected to bet the flop. And you shrink the field: calling an open invites the blinds to join, while a 3-bet usually leaves you heads up.

When should you 3-bet?

Mostly when the opener is loose, and far less when they are tight. Where the raise came from matters more than any other single factor, because an early-position open is a strong range that folds little, while a late-position open is full of hands that cannot stand a re-raise.

Our 6-max cash ranges at 100bb show how strong that effect is. Taking every seat that can 3-bet against each opener:

Open fromThe other seats 3-bet
Under the gunabout 6-7% of hands
Hijackabout 7-9%
Cutoffabout 9-12%
Buttonabout 14%
Small blind15% (the big blind)

The same hand can be a clear 3-bet against the button and a fold against under the gun. Our ranges are 6-max only; at a full-ring table every number should be lower, because an early open there has more players to get through and is stronger still. The spot-by-spot ranges are in the facing a raise charts.

Should you call or 3-bet?

It depends on who is still behind you. From the hijack, the cutoff and the small blind, calling an open leaves players to act who can squeeze you, and from the small blind you also play the whole hand out of position. So from those seats good players mostly 3-bet or fold. In our ranges the small blind facing a button open 3-bets almost everything it plays and calls with close to nothing.

The big blind is the exception. It already has a full blind in the pot, closes the action and gets the best price at the table, so it calls much more than it 3-bets. Our small and big blind guide covers that defence.

Which hands should you 3-bet?

Your best hands, plus a few weaker ones chosen for how they play rather than how strong they are. Roughly, in the 6-max cash ranges PlusEV drills:

GroupHandsWhat they do
Nearly always 3-betAA, KK, QQ, AKRaise for value in every spot
Usually 3-betJJ, AQs, KQs, KJs, QJs, A5sRaise most of the time
SplitTT-88, AJs, ATs, AQo, A4s, suited connectorsMix of 3-bet and call, by spot
Rarely 3-bet22-55, A2s, weak offsuit handsCall or fold instead

The surprise is ace-five suited sitting above ace-jack suited. Ace-jack plays well as a call, so it often stays one. Ace-five suited does not, and it brings two things a bluff wants: its ace makes it less likely the opener holds aces or ace-king, and it can still make a wheel or the nut flush when called. That card-removal effect is the whole subject of our blockers guide.

Small pairs are the mirror image. They block nothing, and they want a cheap flop and a set, not a big pot they will usually have to give up. Pocket twos never 3-bet in any of our fifteen spots.

Knowing that A5s outranks AJs as a 3-bet is one thing; choosing it at the table when you have two seconds is another. That second skill comes from reps, which is what the PlusEV preflop trainer drills, spot by spot.

Should your 3-bet range be polarized or linear?

Polarized when you have a good calling option, linear when you do not.

A polarized range 3-bets the strongest hands and some bluffs, and calls with the middle. It suits a player who can call cheaply, like the big blind. Against an under-the-gun open, our big blind range calls with every pocket pair from tens down and 3-bets hands like ace-three and queen-jack suited instead:

Big blind facing an under-the-gun open, 6-max cash, 100bb. Red is the 3-bet, green the call.
AAAKsAQsAJsATsA9sA8sA7sA6sA5sA4sA3sA2s
AKoKKKQsKJsKTsK9sK8sK7sK6sK5sK4sK3sK2s
AQoKQoQQQJsQTsQ9sQ8sQ7sQ6sQ5sQ4sQ3sQ2s
AJoKJoQJoJJJTsJ9sJ8sJ7sJ6sJ5sJ4sJ3sJ2s
AToKToQToJToTTT9sT8sT7sT6sT5sT4sT3sT2s
A9oK9oQ9oJ9oT9o9998s97s96s95s94s93s92s
A8oK8oQ8oJ8oT8o98o8887s86s85s84s83s82s
A7oK7oQ7oJ7oT7o97o87o7776s75s74s73s72s
A6oK6oQ6oJ6oT6o96o86o76o6665s64s63s62s
A5oK5oQ5oJ5oT5o95o85o75o65o5554s53s52s
A4oK4oQ4oJ4oT4o94o84o74o64o54o4443s42s
A3oK3oQ3oJ3oT3o93o83o73o63o53o43o3332s
A2oK2oQ2oJ2oT2o92o82o72o62o52o42o32o22
FoldCallRaise 12.5

A linear range 3-bets the best hands straight down, with no calling range to protect. It suits spots where calling is bad, like the small blind, and it is also the right shape against players who call 3-bets too often, because your hands then need to be good enough to get called. The small blind facing a button open comes close to linear:

Small blind facing a button open, 6-max cash, 100bb. Almost pure 3-bet or fold.
AAAKsAQsAJsATsA9sA8sA7sA6sA5sA4sA3sA2s
AKoKKKQsKJsKTsK9sK8sK7sK6sK5sK4sK3sK2s
AQoKQoQQQJsQTsQ9sQ8sQ7sQ6sQ5sQ4sQ3sQ2s
AJoKJoQJoJJJTsJ9sJ8sJ7sJ6sJ5sJ4sJ3sJ2s
AToKToQToJToTTT9sT8sT7sT6sT5sT4sT3sT2s
A9oK9oQ9oJ9oT9o9998s97s96s95s94s93s92s
A8oK8oQ8oJ8oT8o98o8887s86s85s84s83s82s
A7oK7oQ7oJ7oT7o97o87o7776s75s74s73s72s
A6oK6oQ6oJ6oT6o96o86o76o6665s64s63s62s
A5oK5oQ5oJ5oT5o95o85o75o65o5554s53s52s
A4oK4oQ4oJ4oT4o94o84o74o64o54o4443s42s
A3oK3oQ3oJ3oT3o93o83o73o63o53o43o3332s
A2oK2oQ2oJ2oT2o92o82o72o62o52o42o32o22
FoldCallRaise 12

How big should a 3-bet be?

About three times the open when you have position, and four to five times without it. Out of position you play the rest of the hand at a disadvantage, so the 3-bet charges more to call it and wins the pot outright more often. A common rule when someone has already called the open is to add one more open-size per caller.

Our 6-max ranges follow that rule: 7.5bb in position over a 2.5bb open, and 11 to 14 from the blinds. Live games often open bigger, to $10 or $15 at $1/$2, so the 3-bet grows with them; keep the multiple, not the number.

What is a good 3-bet percentage?

There is no single number. A tracking tool’s 3-bet statistic, like its VPIP, blends every spot you faced, so it depends on how often you sat on the button against a cutoff open versus in the hijack against under the gun.

As a sense of scale, the 6-max solver ranges 3-bet between about 6% and 15% of hands depending on the spot. Full ring is lower. If yours is far below the bottom of that range, you are probably 3-betting only premiums, which is the first mistake below.

What is the difference between a 3-bet and a 4-bet?

One more raise. A 4-bet is a re-raise of a 3-bet, usually by the player who opened. The facing a 3-bet charts show when to make one, the facing a 4-bet charts what happens next, and a 4-bet made by a player who was not in the pot yet is a cold 4-bet. A 3-bet made after someone has already called the open is a squeeze, and those ranges are in the squeezing charts.

What are the most common 3-betting mistakes?

Four come up again and again:

  • 3-betting only premiums. Aces, kings, queens and ace-king are under 3% of hands. Even the tightest solver 3-bet range is more than twice that, so a player who only 3-bets monsters is telling the table exactly what they hold.
  • Flatting where you should 3-bet or fold. Calling in the small blind, or calling in the hijack with players behind, invites squeezes and plays pots out of position.
  • Bluffing with the wrong hands. Small pairs and weak offsuit hands make poor 3-bet bluffs. Suited aces with wheel potential, like A5s and A4s, and suited broadways make good ones.
  • One size for every seat. A 3-bet from the button and a 3-bet from the blinds are different bets. Out of position, go bigger.

How does 3-betting change in live games and tournaments?

Everything above assumes a 6-max cash game with 100bb stacks and opponents who defend properly. Most games are not that, and the adjustments are standard theory rather than our data:

  • Live low stakes. Players call 3-bets far too often and rarely 4-bet as a bluff. 3-bet more of your value hands, bluff less, and size up.
  • Full ring. More players are left to act behind every open, so opening ranges are tighter and your 3-bets should be too, especially against early position.
  • Tournaments. Stacks are shorter, so 3-bets get smaller, and once stacks fall to around 25 big blinds or less the 3-bet is often simply all in.
  • Specific opponents. Against an opener who folds too often to 3-bets, add bluffs. Against one who never folds, drop them and 3-bet your value hands for a bigger pot.

The solver range is the baseline, and moving away from it should be something you decide to do against a specific player or game, never something that happens by drift.

The short version of everything above: 3-bet your best hands for value and a few blocker hands like A5s as bluffs, rarely against early-position opens, often against the button and blinds, and bigger when you are out of position.

Quick answers

What does 3-bet mean in poker?

Re-raising an opening raise before the flop. The big blind is the first bet, the open is the second, and your re-raise is the third, hence the name.

Why is it called a 3-bet if it is only the second raise?

Because the count includes the big blind. The blind is a forced bet, so the first voluntary raise is already the second bet, and the re-raise over it is the third.

How much should you 3-bet?

About three times the open in position and four to five times out of position, plus one more open-size for each player who already called. Over a $6 open, that is around $18 on the button and $24 to $30 from the blinds.

What is a good 3-bet percentage?

There is no single number, because it depends on which spots you face. In 6-max cash, solver ranges 3-bet roughly 6% to 15% of hands depending on the seats involved, and full ring runs lower. A figure far below that usually means 3-betting only premiums.

What is the difference between a 3-bet and a squeeze?

A squeeze is a 3-bet made after someone has opened and at least one player has called. The caller is caught between two players, which is why squeezing ranges are wider than ordinary 3-bets.

What hands should you call a 3-bet with?

Fewer than most players think. In the 6-max cash solutions PlusEV drills, the opener continues with between 38% and 58% of its opening range against a 3-bet, depending on who opened and who re-raised, and folds the rest. The exact hands for each pairing are in the facing a 3-bet charts.

Can you 3-bet after the flop?

Yes. After the flop, re-raising someone's raise is also called a 3-bet, because the first bet on that street is bet one and the raise is bet two. The term is used most often before the flop.