Texas Holdem Poker 3 Bet

Texas Holdem Poker 3 Betting
Texas Holdem Poker Betting Rounds
Texas Holdem Poker Betting

This is the most obvious and easily understood reason for 3 betting in Texas Hold Em poker. For example, if you hold AA and someone raises in front of you, you will want to 3 bet this player since you hold the strongest hand and want to inflate the size of the pot to win more money from your premium hand.
(In Texas Hold'em, you build a hand with two hole cards and three community cards) Card Game Rules. Texas Hold’em Poker is a casino type game where the objective is to win the best hand out of a group of players. Players are initially given two cards, called “hole” cards, that they hold throughout the game (hence the name).

Texas Hold Em Poker Betting

Texas Hold Em poker 3 betting generally refers to a No Limit Texas Hold Em pre-flop betting strategy.

A 3 bet takes place when you re-raise the raiser. This re-raise is known as 3 betting.

As poker games have become more aggressive, the poker 3 bet has grown in popularity and is an important part of a poker player’s arsenal.

We will discuss the major reasons for Texas Hold Em poker 3 betting:

Increase Pot Size With The Best Hand For Value

The number one reason for 3 betting is to increase the size of the pot and the money to be won when you hold a strong hand.

The aim of the game in Texas Holdem poker is to make the best possible decisions in terms of betting to ensure you win as many chips as possible over multiple hands.

This is the most obvious and easily understood reason for 3 betting in Texas Hold Em poker.

For example, if you hold AA and someone raises in front of you, you will want to 3 bet this player since you hold the strongest hand and want to inflate the size of the pot to win more money from your premium hand.

You are holding a great hand and therefore you are 3 betting for value.

To Narrow The Field

You may also want to narrow the field if there has been a raise and multiple callers before you and you hold AA.

AA is the best hand in poker but not one that you want to play multi-way without making opponents pay to see the flop, so you 3 bet to narrow the field and eliminate some of the random hands that hope to see a cheap flop and get lucky.

You may also 3 bet to narrow the field of opponents that you are playing against if you have a strong hand for heads up play but one that will become much weaker in a multi-way pot, or in order to get heads up with a weak player by chasing out other good players that may be tempted to come along.

An example of this in action would be if you hold 99 in late position and a weak player that goes too far with his hands has raised ahead of you. You may want to 3 bet in order to play heads up against the weak player and protect your 99 hand from other overcalls that will make it a difficult hand to play multi-way unless you hit a set.

By 3 betting, you will most likely force all of your other opponents to fold as well as get a call from the weaker player that is willing to take their hand too far. Now you can play the rest of the hand heads up against the weak player.

To Win Money From A Player That Will Fold Easily To A 3 Bet

A lot of players that go by the book will only 3 bet with hands such as AA, KK, AK and QQ. Therefore, they expect other players that 3 bet to generally be 3 betting the same range of hands. This type of player will also open raise many strong hands that they are unwilling to call a 3 bet with such as KQs, or AJs, or AQo for fear of coming up against a monster.

If you identify the players that will often raise strong hands pre-flop but fold them quickly to a 3 bet then you have a great opportunity to exploit their play by 3 betting with a wide range of hands.

This tactic has become very popular in today’s poker game and is commonly known as 3 betting light as the player’s that use it are willing to do it with a wide range of hands that are not traditionally considered to be 3 betting hands.

In addition, some of these players may call with their hand hoping to hit a flop with something like AK or a small pocket pair and then fold to your continuation bet immediately if they miss. This makes them very easy to exploit as they will miss their hand more often than not.

Also, if you know the player will only continue beyond the flop if they hit their hand, then you know that if you are called you should put the brakes on the betting and slow down, and fold if necessary. This straightforward response to your light 3 betting is exactly what you want in order to make a lot of extra money.

The above are the most common and the most straightforward reasons for 3 betting in Texas Hold Em poker.

For more advanced Texas Hold Em poker 3 betting strategy and for more reasons to 3 bet, please read part 2 of this article.

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Return from Texas Hold Em Poker 3 Betting to The Texas Hold Em Poker Club

Introduction

Vega$ 3 Poker could loosely be described as a cross between Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em. I first saw the game at the 2019 Global Gaming Expo and shortly after, in December 2019, it began a field trial at Harrah's Las Vegas. The game offers a very low Element of Risk of 0.41%, making it one of the best bets in the casino, if played properly.

Rules

The game is played with a single 52-card deck.
The object of the game is to form a higher three-card hand than the dealer.
Hands are scored as follows,from highest to lowest:
- Straight flush
- Three of a kind
- Straight
- Flush
- Pair
- Ace high or less
Play starts with the player making an Ante bet. At this time, the player may also make the optional Vegas 3 and Vegas 4 side bets.
The dealer shall give the player and himself three cards. Dealer cards are dealt face down.
After checking his card, the player may make a Raise bet equal to two times the Ante or check.
The dealer shall deal a single community card.
If the player previously checked, then he may make a raise bet equal to his Ante or fold. If the player already raised, then no further action may be taken.
The dealer shall reveal his hole cards.
The dealer needs at least ace-queen to qualify. If the dealer does not qualify, then Ante bets shall automatically push.
The best Player three-card hand shall be compared to that of the dealer, the higher hand winning.
If the player has the higher hand, then the Ante (if still on the table) and Raise bets shall pay even money. An exact tie is a push. If the dealer has the higher hand, then the Ante (if still active) and Raise shall lose.
The Vegas 3 side bet shall pay according to player's three hole cards and a posted pay table.
The Vegas 4 side bet shall pay according to the poker value of all four of his cards (including the community card) and a posted pay table.

Please click on the following image for a full-size version of the rack card.

Example

In the screenshot above, the player bet $100 on the Ante and $25 each on both side bets. He was dealt a pair of queens as his hole cards. He made the 2x raise at this point. The community improved the player's hand to a queen-high straight. The dealer revealed a pair of fives, which qualifies, thus the Ante was action. The player's pair beat the dealer's pair, so the Ante and Raise each paid even money.

The player's three-card hand was a pair, which paid even money. The player's four-card was a high pair (jacks or better), which pays 3 to 1. Thus, the total win was $100 + $200 + $25 + 3×$25 = $400. Please note the demo game pays everything on a 'for one' basis, making the money returned $400 + $350 = $750.

Base Game Analysis

As of this writing (July 20, 2020) I have not analyzed the base game yet. However, AGS, the game distributor, kindly provided me their math report by GLI. This report indicates the house edge (relative to the Ante bet) is 0.88%. It also indicates the average final wager (including the Raise) is 2.1262 units, making the Element of Risk (ratio of expected player loss to total amount bet) equal to 0.88%/2.1262 = 0.41%.

Vega$ 3 Analysis

The following table shows the probability and expected return for all possible outcomes of the Vega$ 3 side bet. It is based on the same pay table as found in the Demo game. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 7.28%.

Vega$ 3 Return Table -- Demo Pay Table

Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Straight flush	40	48	0.002172	0.086878
Three of a kind	30	52	0.002353	0.070588
Straight	6	720	0.032579	0.195475
Flush	3	1,096	0.049593	0.148778
Pair	1	3,744	0.169412	0.169412
Loser	-1	16,440	0.743891	-0.743891
Total	22,100	1.000000	-0.072760

The next table shows my analysis of the Vega$ 3 side bet under the pay table used at Harrah's. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 7.10%.

Vega$ 3 Return Table -- Harrah's Pay Table

Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Mini royal (AKQ suited)	50	4	0.000181	0.009050
Straight flush	40	44	0.001991	0.079638
Three of a kind	30	52	0.002353	0.070588
Straight	6	720	0.032579	0.195475
Flush	3	1096	0.049593	0.148778
Pair	1	3744	0.169412	0.169412
All other	-1	16440	0.743891	-0.743891
Total	22100	1.000000	-0.070950

Vega$ 4 Analysis

The following table shows the probability and expected return for all possible outcomes of the Vega$ 4 side bet. It is based on the same pay table as found in the Demo game, which is also used at Harrah's. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 5.63%.

The following table shows the probability and expected return for all possible outcomes of the Vega$ 4 side bet. It is based on the pay table used at Harrah's Las Vegas, which is also used by the demo game. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 5.63%.