U.S. Players Welcome!No-Limit Holdem: push-back strategy (Part II)
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A few poker strategies can counter 3-betting light. The critical parameters are your post-flop skills and, more important, your position. Keep in mind that 3-betting light out of position can sometimes put you in a lot of trouble. In addition to your position, try to analyze your opponent's tendencies with respect to c-betting. If your opponent 3-bets and you know he'll c-bet 90% of the flops, you should certainly call with the intent of raising or check-raising any flop, in order to represent a strong hand.
In cash games, if a good player has position on you and puts you to the test by 3-betting too often, an option is to tighten up your opening range, hoping that your opponent leaves you alone for a while. However, this solution doesn't necessarily apply to tournament play, because it makes you lose control over your table, especially when the blinds are already high and well-thought-out 3-bets can be very profitable.
Another counter-strategy that's rapidly gaining in popularity is the "4-bet light" or the re-re-steal. The risk associated with this move is that it significantly increases variance. In most cases, you have to commit a majority of your chips in the hand, trying to represent a monster, such as AA or KK. Obviously, this can be disastrous if your opponent has the hand you're representing!
By increasingly broadening the range for 3- and 4-betting light, it's essential to continually evaluate your opponents' ranges for making these aggressive plays. With what range of hands will this opponent 3-bet? With what range will he call a 4-bet for all his chips? It's often similar to a game of chicken: Who'll chicken out and fold? As players adjust, look for more calls and races to develop. Four-betting often forces you to push all your chips in the middle if you don't believe your opponent is holding the premium hand that the 3-bet represents. You need to prepare yourself for the associated variance.
As you can see, the 3-bet light technique results in a series of decisions, which increases the level of complexity of the game.
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