In my previous article, we discussed the merits of three-betting the top 15% of our holdings from the big blind against a relatively standard wide button opening range. Assuming this is an approach you wish to adopt either as a universal strategy or against specific opponents, it is useful to familiarize yourself with the elements of a hand that will produce one of these top ranked holdings.
Against a 60% button opening range, a top 15% holding has an average equity of 56% and these strong mostly two-way hands play quite well post flop against a weaker range. While we would also be pushing an equity edge by re-raising a wider 25% range, that can have its drawbacks.
The 15-25% percentile of our range has 52% equity against a 60% opener, however, we open ourselves up to a four-bet when our opponent is very strong and these slightly weaker holdings don’t play as effectively post-flop. In addition, if we implemented a top 25% three-bet strategy, it would severely weaken our calling range by effectively eliminating the majority of the AA, A2, and A3 combinations.
Let’s take a look at what generally constitutes a top 15% holding according to ProPokerTools (PPT) rankings for a three-handed game. Cards in parentheses constitute a suited hand.
Aces
A pair of Aces with any low card is always a top 15% holding; the lowest rated unsuited AA89 hand has a three handed PPT ranking of five [r 5] and 57% equity against a 60% opening range. Even with this less than spectacular holding, our playability is decent as having the combination of the highest pair and an emergency low will often allow us to effectively realize our equity. In addition, having two Aces effectively blocks our opponent from having a premium holding and makes it more likely he is towards the bottom of his opening range.
Two Aces without low potential need to be especially strong to become a top ranked O/8 holding and any double-suited holding such as (A9)(AJ) [r 8] easily makes the cut. If it’s not double-suited, a pair of Aces needs to be suited at least once to an Ace, however, some of these holdings such as (A9)AJ [r 15] and (A9)A9 [r 12] would be towards the bottom of our potential three-betting range. Therefore, we can choose to flat some of these once-suited holdings along with unsuited Aces.
A2 Holdings
Any A2 hand with a suited Ace has enough two-way potential to fall within the top 15% as does any A2 accompanied by two Broadway cards even when you lack flush potential. (A2)89 [r 14] and A2QT [r 13] are the lowest ranked holdings of these types.
If the Ace is not suited, the hand generally needs to contain a Ten or higher suit as the ranking for A2(6T) [r 13] suggests. An unsuited A2 that is accompanied by a big pair such as A2TT [r 10] is also a top ranked hand, although it may be somewhat difficult to fully realize the equity associated with the pair of Tens.
As we discussed last month, having a bunch of wheel cards is not a good reason to escalate the betting before the flop. A245 [r 25] has less than 50% equity (49.61% to be exact) against a 60% opening range. Flatting with this holding is quite effective, as we can often get in a check-raise on low flops that we will mostly smash.
The A24K [r 7] has 56% equity and demonstrates the value an AK combination has in a heads-up pot. It’s even worth than having a suited wheel card as demonstrated by the fact that A2(45) [r 15] barely sneaks into the top 15%.
Small pairs are handicaps in O/8. A(23)3 [r 19] is not a premium holding heads-up and out of position. We aren’t pushing a large equity advantage before the flop and it’s beneficial to keep this holding along with other A2 hands that don’t make the cut in your flatting range.
A3 Holdings
As the ranking for (A3)(89) [r 9] indicates, any A3 double-suited holding has enough value to three-bet, however, unlike with A2 just being suited once to the Ace in itself is not always enough. In addition to the suited Ace, we would generally either require a card that is a Ten or higher or four very low cards as the rankings for (A3)8T [r 11] and (A3)56 [r 13] would suggest.
As far as unsuited hands go, A345 [r 26] is a clear flat while an unsuited holding such as A3QJ [r 14] is close to the bottom of our potential three-betting hands.
Other Hands
Our three-betting range should also contain some holdings that have a lot of value heads-up but may not necessarily look like a premium O/8 holding. For example, (A8)(Q6) [r 7] has 56% equity against a 60% opening range, plays well on a lot of flops, and helps balance against having our range being too heavily weighted with the AA/A2/A3 combinations.
There are not many holdings ranked in the top 15% that do not contain an Ace, however, big pairs with two very low cards such as 2(3Q)Q [r 10] will often make the cut. The 2(3Q)Q plays decently post flop because a pair of Queens is relatively strong and if an Ace flops we will often have nut low potential. However, hands such as (J5)(J4) [r 12] and (T3)(T2) [r 14] may be somewhat difficult to play post flop so just calling with them and not bloating the pot before the flop is a consideration.
Squeezing a Small Blind Caller
When the Small Blind smooth-calls a Button open, his range is going to be on the weaker side and often a one-way hand, especially if we are playing in a somewhat aggressive online game. We should therefore not be shy in seeking value with our better holdings.
It may be easy to under-rate a hand such as A
K
75 [r 4] because it does not contain a premium low draw, however this is quite a strong hand in a button versus the blinds dynamic. Versus a 60% button open and a 15-40% flat from the small blind, we have approximately 40% equity:
AK75: 40% equity
60% Button Open: 30% equity
15%-40% Small Blind Flat: 30% equity
In a really aggressive game, the Small Blind will usually be three-betting wider than the top 15% of his hands, and when that is the case we are pushing a larger equity edge the times he just calls. Missing this three-bet is passing up on too much value pre-flop and also fails to punish a button that may be playing too many hands. Even though he has position, the button is never happy putting in an extra bet and playing a three-way pot with the bottom of his range.
Three-Betting Against the Small Blind
Since we have position, some players believe that we should re-raise wider against the Small Blind then we would against a Button opener. However, if we think through our reasons to three-bet and the range we may be up against, that may not be correct.
One reason we three-bet from the big blind against a Button opener is because they have the option to check behind on either the flop or the turn with a well-balanced range, but this consideration does not apply when we act last. Having position allows us to effectively delay our raise the times our equity situation may be better and we can ensure that a street never gets checked through.
In addition, since they are out of position and believe that the big blind will defend the majority of their holdings, many players may open-raise fewer hands from the small blind than they would from the button. For example, an opponent may open 60% of his holdings on the button, but implement a 40% raise/ 40% limp strategy from the small blind. Against a 40% open range, we are actually slightly value owning ourselves with the 15-25% percentile of our hands as we only have 49% equity and three-betting also opens us up to get four-bet.
Also, as previously mentioned if we increase our three-betting range from the top 15% to the top 25% it will now include almost all of our AA, A2, and A3 holdings thus removing them from our range the times we just call. This weakening of our calling range will aid the small blind greatly in his post-flop decisions.
For these reasons, it seems best to just stick with re-raising the top 15% of our holdings against a small blind open. We are pushing an equity edge with these strong two-way hands and our calling range is still strong enough to be a danger on any board.
In the next issue, we will move over to the small blind as we continue our discussion on the button versus blinds dynamic.
