Hand adjustment

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denis_og79

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How do you adjust your 3-bet range when you're in the Big Blind against an assailant on the Button who opens 60% of their hands?
 
CRStals

CRStals

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If I'm playing cash with this player, I'm going to be widening my three-bet range from the big blind for a couple of reasons:
  • I want the button to stop thinking my blind is up for grabs every time
  • I will have a better hand than they will more often than not
  • I have additional cash to reload if we get into a big pot
Someone opening from the button more than every other orbit tells me that they are playing a VERY wide range. Assuming that the 60% rate is indicative of their play - which it won't unless you have played with this player for thousands of hands (Remembering that they are only on the button once every 6 to 9 hands, you'll need thousands of hands to know if this is accurate) their range could look like this
1768065452986

Even three-betting with a hand like Ten-Nine suited is going to be ahead of a signiicant portion of their range, and flipping against a good chunk of it. But here's the caution to the wind:

Are they as active from other positions? If not, their range might be much narrower than this, and playing much less from other positions, giving their stats like VPIP more in line with what you'd expect.

This is why it's critical to pay attention to what they are doing every hand to know if the 60% raise rate from the button is position related, or player related.

In a tournament, I will be slightly more cautious but still opening up my range considerably especially when we are both deep. When we start to get shallower, I will tend to either fold or outright shove more as calling raises out of position later in a tournament against an aggressive player is a recipe for disaster.
 
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