4betting Range

[mattnxtc]

Interesting scenerio came up against a villian I was up against on multiple tables.

He was a decent villian with stats of around 25/15/3. Probably a better than average player though somewhat predictable.

I was playing a pretty similar style though I was generally playing a raise/fold style preflop rarely calling. This led to a high opening pot raising ratio. The villian seemed aware of this as he began to 3bet me with a higher frequency than most. I would estimate him at 3betting 1 out of every 3-4 raises I made preflop. So obviously he had begun to 3 bet me pretty light in terms of what you would expect at 25nl.

What should my 4bet range be against someone who is 3betting light? I was using an AK+ range and folding the rest. I wonder looking back if maybe AQ should have been included and AJ even.

Thoughts?

[Lego05]

In position and OOP make a difference. And I think it's real hard to tell without being at the table, knowing how often villian folds to 3bets himself, how well he plays postflop and stuff.

Anyway though there are some guys who are loosish TAG's who raise a lot and 3bet light. In the past I've sometimes 4bet them with whatever I happened to have that I was stealing with. I'd suggest doing this a little just to back him off and get him to think twice before 3 betting you with suited connectors and w/e.

[Waingro]

What is he going to call your 4bet with or 5bet push with. Then ask yourself how happy you would be with AQ or AJ in that scenario? Not too happy I assume. Much better to 4bet with something like 87s or something. Because you have a much easier decision. 4bet with the top and bottom part of your range, not the middle part.

Edit: linky Fantastic post on 4betting.

[AZplaya]

meh I'd need a real good read b4 I start 4 betting AJ. Maybe expand to JJ/AQs plus, but that would be it for me.

[IAGTTAYM]

Are you sure it wasnt a sick card-rush (Seen any hands t showdown?)
If Im sure he is out of line, I'll start 4-betting with TT+, AQs and some random suited connectors (With 100 bb that is)

[Jzo19]

i'll raise a pretty wide range if i think villain is 3betting me light , but i'll absolutely need a read ..and i'll try to do it with suited connectors rather than AJ or something that gets dominated easily or commits me with second pair hands ...usually when i 4bet light , its to take down the pot preflop ..after that its pot control unless i flop a big hand ...

[Khumalo]

Just some thoughts, I'm not an authority:

Did he do this to you from the blinds, in position, from both of these locations equally? I'm wondering because you might want to base your decision to 4 bet partially on whether you're in position and can call his 3-bet and take him postflop, versus when you're OOP.

Were you adjusting your opening range at all? If he actually persisted in 3 betting you 1 out of every 3-4 raises pf, I personally would mix it up between 4 betting with A10s+ (AJo+) and 66+ (and sometimes including low and high SCs), and calling with a wider range in position of course. This has seemed to work when I've tried it, but my sample size is small, since I'm a micro-NLer.

Despite my endorsement above, I will concede that the whole 4-betting lighter thing is a little weird at 25NL. It may simply pump up your variance without doing very much for profit, and complicate life if he manages to respond well to your aggression. You'll then start adjusting back and forth to each other, and that's a fairly distracting pursuit at 25NL.

On the other hand, I would guess that most 25NL villains will react by spewing too much or retreating back into their shells, so you can watch what he does, go from there, and hopefully out-play him.

P.S. Jesus Christ check out Lucky Jim's linky and never mind me.

[wslee00]

if you think he's on a re-steal 4-bet w/ whatever you raised with. Once a 4-bet takes place you are basically playing for all your chips pf anyway. He can only call or go all-in after any 4-bet imo.

obviously, a re-steal is more likely if everyone folds from the button, or if you raise from LP and he has position on you. This is more of a "feel" thing imo. Also, sometimes you'll actually get him to laydown a better hand.

[mattnxtc]

I think I should point out that he folded to every 4bet I made. Thats how I came to the conclusion he was 4betting lightly. I think he based that on the appearance that i was raising lightly.

He did have position on me, but he didnt seem to let position justify his 3bet against me as he did it from all positions.

Like I said..out of maybe 200 hands I 4bet him with ak+ so I probably 4 bet him 5 times and folded to a 3bet with all other hands.

[whyzze]

If I think Villian is 3betting me light ill call sometimes...but I do 4bet light a decent amount of the time...ill even 5bet light if I have to.

Anyways my personal range for a 4bet against a villian you describe is JJ+, AQ+, 77-99, and some suited connectors/one-gappers.

The reason for this is that I hate to be dominated with worse aces...so some of them fall into my calling ranges. I like the suited connectors because they can amount to hands that give us substantial amounts of equity on some flops.

Either way against this type of opponent you need to be willing to call his 3bet with some marginal holdings and play postflop. Floating in 3bet pots can be profitable.