3-Betting & 4-Betting

In poker, the blinds count as the first bet, the initial raise is the second bet, and a re-raise is the third bet — hence "3-bet." A 4-bet is a raise over a 3-bet, and a 5-bet is a raise over that. Understanding when and why to 3-bet is crucial for building a winning pre-flop strategy.

Without 3-betting, you become exploitably passive. An opponent who opens and never faces resistance will profit with a wide range of hands. Your 3-bets serve two critical purposes: extracting value with your best hands and denying equity to your opponent's weaker holdings by forcing them to fold or play a bigger pot with a marginal hand.

A balanced 3-betting range combines value hands (those strong enough to want a bigger pot) with bluffs (hands that benefit from fold equity). This balance prevents opponents from easily adjusting to your strategy.

A value 3-bet is made with a hand strong enough to want to build the pot pre-flop. Think AA, KK, QQ, AK — hands that dominate your opponent's calling range. When you 3-bet for value, you want action. You're happy if they call with worse hands or shove with dominated holdings.

A light 3-bet (or "3-bet bluff") uses a weaker hand with good blocker properties or playability. The primary goal is making your opponent fold their open. Suited aces like A5s and A4s are ideal light 3-bet candidates: they block your opponent from having AA and AK, they have nut flush potential when called, and they're not strong enough to profitably flat call.

The ratio between value and bluff 3-bets depends on your opponent. Against players who fold too much to 3-bets, increase your bluff frequency. Against calling stations, drop the bluffs and 3-bet only for value.

Standard 3-bet sizing depends on whether you're in position or out of position. When in position, 3-bet to approximately 3x the original raise. When out of position, size up to 3.5-4x because you'll be at a positional disadvantage post-flop and want to either win the pot now or build a bigger pot where your equity advantage compensates.

For 4-bets, the standard size is about 2.2-2.5x the 3-bet. At this point, the pot is getting large relative to stack sizes. If you 4-bet and the effective stacks are less than about 2.5x the pot, you're essentially committed to getting all-in — so make sure your hand justifies that commitment.

A 4-bet is a significant commitment of your stack. At 100bb effective stacks, a 4-bet typically puts about 20-25% of your stack in the middle pre-flop. Reserve 4-betting for value with AA, KK, and sometimes QQ and AKs, plus occasional bluffs to stay balanced.

Your 4-bet bluff candidates should have strong blockers. Hands like AKo (when you want to blocker-bet rather than flat), A5s, and A4s work well because they reduce the combinations of AA and KK your opponent can hold. The blocker math matters: holding one ace means your opponent is 50% less likely to have AA.

Be cautious about 4-betting against tight 3-bettors. If someone only 3-bets with QQ+ and AK, your 4-bet bluffs have nearly zero fold equity and you should tighten your 4-bet range to only the very best hands. Against aggressive 3-bettors who bluff frequently, your 4-bet range can be wider because they fold more often.