3-Bet in Poker: Definition, Ranges and Sizing
The preflop re-raise that takes control of the hand: what a 3-bet is, which hands to make it with, at what size — and the mistake that makes your range transparent.
Lou · · 2 min
The 3-bet is the first re-raise: someone opens (the second bet, after the blind), you raise over it. It's the move that takes control of the hand — the 3-bettor announces strength, thins the field and plays an inflated pot with the initiative.
Why 3-bet
Two engines: value (growing the pot when your hand dominates the opener's range) and bluff (taking the pot preflop or the initiative with a hand that plays well when called). A 3-betting range that's only value is a billboard: you only get called by better.
With which hands
- Value: the top of the deck — big pairs, AK, widening against late-position opens.
- Bluffs: hands just below your calling range, with blockers and playability — suited aces, high suited connectors.
- Shape depends on position: linear (value-dense) from the blinds, more polarized in position.
Standard sizing
Roughly 3 times the open in position, 4 times out of position — and always the SAME size for value and bluffs in a given spot. The special case of re-raising after one or more calls has its own name: the squeeze, which has its own page.
The classic mistake
Only 3-betting monsters. Result: your 3-bets never get called by worse, and your flat-calls cap your range — a double leak. The value/bluff split is built position by position in our ranges guide, and drilled in the PokGenius Trainer.
Turn theory into reflexes
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