Against this balanced range, it is much harder for us to make any adjustments to exploit our opponent.īy raising to isolate these players specifically, you give yourself the opportunity to play post-flop against a weaker player where you can better exercise your edge.īefore we actually break down 4-betting ranges from a variety of positions, we need to understand the factors that shape these ranges. Compare this opponent against a player that 4-bets with a balanced range consisting of both strong value hands and bluffs. We can just fold all of the weaker parts of our range, call with our stronger hands and raise with our very best holdings. For us, adjusting to counter this type of strategy would be very simple. Imagine that we are against a player that only makes 4-bets with strong value hands. This is a fundamental concept in poker and trying to be balanced with our ranges in all spots will make us a much tougher opponent to play against. Since it is clear that we want to have our strongest value hands in this 4-betting range, we need to also include some bluffs to make sure that our range is balanced. By building the size of the pot with these strong hands pre-flop, we make it easier to extract more value from our opponent(s) on later streets.

The most obvious reason why we 4-bet is to get value from worse holdings when we have a premium hand. There are multiple reasons why pre-flop 4-betting occurs: This will help you to understand the strategy better as a whole. We’ll also discuss the best 4-bet sizing to use, using a mixed strategy, and reveal how you can make exploitative adjustments against certain opponents.īefore we get into the specifics on which hands you should be 4-betting, it is crucial to understand why it is done in the first place. We’ll give the strategic breakdown of all the key concepts you will need to effectively incorporate 4-betting into your own game: why it is done, the factors that change a 4-betting range, which hands to do it with and why. To clarify, a pre-flop 4-bet refers to when a player raises after another player has raised (3-betted) the raise-first-in. Since post-flop 4-betting does not happen often and this action most commonly occurs in pre-flop situations, this article will look solely at the pre-flop side of things.

A 4-bet is when a player makes the fourth bet/raise on any street. Having a well-constructed 4-betting range will make you a nightmare to play against at the poker table.

Poker sb bb