While these hands are obviously the best of the best, many hands can be 3-bet for value, depending on the type of player you’re playing against. While the aim of the 3-bet is still to make your opponent fold, as that guarantees you a profit, you get to play a bigger pot with your strong hand if you get called.Įxamples of value 3-bets include hands like AA, KK, QQ, and AK. On the other hand, a value 3-bet is a type of 3-bet you make when you think you have the best hand against your opponent’s range. You’ll want to make most of your light 3-bets against players who are likely to fold, so pick on players who play particularly tight or open a very wide range of hands.
For example, hands like 54s, 87s, and T9s aren’t being 3-bet because they’re likely to be the best hand, but if they’re called, they have some postflop value. Sometimes it is, and if you’re using a polarized 3-betting range, it probably will be, but it can also have some value. While this is a stated goal of every 3-bet, these hands rely on folds more than value 3-bets since they’re unlikely to be the best hand.Ī light 3-bet doesn’t mean your hand is a pure bluff. You can make two types of 3-bets: the light 3-bet and the value 3-bet.Ī light 3-bet is when you 3-bet a hand, not for its value, but because you think you can get your opponent to fold.
