If you have ever played Poker, then you have definitely come across the term called 4bet! A 4bet is basically the second re-raise in any betting round. These are significantly much more common even before the flop, but these can also take place after the flop.
For instance, let’s assume that you have raised preflop and the player behind you opts to re-raise, also known as 3-bets. Now, if the actions actually get back to you, and then you re-raise again, then that is known as a 4-bet.
For beginners in Poker, it might be a little confusing to understand how this works out – but don’t you worry because you are about to find out how any professional poker player approaches the concept of 4-betting. We are hoping by the end of this blog; you will be able to apply some of the advice mentioned here in your next Poker session.
Just stick around until the very end and learn this crazy Poker move for your next session – scroll down to read!
So, What Is A 4Bet?
So, what does 4bet mean?
A 4bet, as we just mentioned, is the second re-raise in one betting round, typically seen preflop. For instance, suppose you choose to raise pre-flop and the player right behind you opts to re-raise or 3-bets – now, in case the actions actually get back to you, and you again re-raise, then that becomes a 4-bet.
4-bet post-flops are also a possibility, but this blog is going to focus on preflop 4-betting exclusively.
Why Do We 4Bet?
But what is the point of the 4 bet poker strategy? Why do we even 4-bet?
We 4-bet simply because we want to create the pot when we actually have a hand that is super-premium, like AK and QQ+. Then there is a time when we go for 4-betting with a relatively weaker hand, and that too with the purpose of making our opponents fold, but our complete 4-betting range should definitely be formed around the super-premium hands.
Hypothetically, in case we would never have been dealt with the super-premium hands pre-flop, in theory, we would never have resorted to 4-betting because we would have nothing to create our 4-betting range around.
With Which Hands Should We 4-Bet?
Obviously, we cannot only have 4bet premium hands. In case we really did that, then our opponents would have a very easy decision versus our 4-bets! We want to make it difficult for our opponents to make a decision, putting most of their hands in an entirely gray area between folding and continuing.
There are two different things you can do if you do want to accomplish the same.
1. Add Bluffs To Our 4-Betting Range:
The best 4bet bluffing hands are actually suited to Kx and AX hands that profitably cannot call the 3-bet. They come with the best blockers for the continuing range of your opponents.
2. 4-Bet With Such An Amount That It Places Your Opponents In A Difficult Spot:
Your size of 4-bet should definitely put the one with the 3-bet in an average spot with a major portion of his hands, literally forcing them to call with a somewhat decent percentage of his 3-betting range. If we do use too small or too large of a size, then your opponent will have a fairly easy decision with most of his hands.
What 4-Bet Size Should We Use?
Playing the 4bet game might seem a little confusing, but it’s not once you know what 4-bet size you should utilize.
The answer to this particular question entirely depends on whether you are out of position or in position. The position does matter because it influences how your opponents will eventually realize their equity. Your opponents will realize their equity poorly when they are playing out of position and vice versa.
The purpose, basically, is to go for a bigger size when 4betting out of position just so that you can mitigate some of the positional benefits of your opponents.
Now, without wasting time, let’s dive into the specifics, beginning with when we are in position!
In Position 4-Bet Sizing:
For this particular example, we will simply use a small blind 3betting range against a standard button raise because this happens to be the most frequent spot. The ranges are supposed to be based on a normal 2.5 big blind open-raise as well as a 9 big blind 3bet.
Please note: If bigger open-raise/3bet sizes are standard in your Poker games, ensure you play relatively tighter than the ranges that are about to follow.
A really good player’s small bling 3bet range will appear to be something like this,
Here’s how a balances 4betting range could appear to be for the Button:
This range is inclusive of,
- AK and JJ+ for value.
- K8s-K6s and A5s-A2s are a bluff.
Check out how the range of small bind fares against the 4-betting range of the button.
We can see here that the majority of the small blind’s range has about 35% to 40% raw equity. They will be able to realize about 80% of that equity roughly, considering that they are out of position. So, most of their hands will be able to realize about 28 to 32% equity.
The button’s main goal is to utilize a 4bet size that can target these hands by making the accurate decision with them close between folding and calling. In case the button selects the right size, the decision of the small blind will be average either way.
The betting size that actually hammers their range the most is located somewhere around 2.6x to 2.3x his 3-bet size.
Out Of Position 4-Bet Sizing:
Again, we will utilize the most standard spot for our basic example, which is when the cutoff actually raises to about 2.5 big blinds against a button 3bet to 9 big blinds.
This is exactly what any good poker player’s button 3betting range in this particular range might actually look like!
Now, since the preflop 3betting range is actually tighter as compared to the in-positon, for instance, the open raiser can’t 4bet as many hands for value. As a result, the bluffing range for 4-bet should also be less narrow.
Here’s what the 4-betting range of cutoff might look like:
This range is inclusive of,
- AK and QQ+ for value – this no longer happens to include JJ.
- A2s-A5s as a bluff – this no longer includes K6s-K8s.
Again, let us take a look at how exactly the range for the 4-bettor matches up against the range of the 3-bettor.
We can see that a majority of the 3-bettor’s range is around 35% to 40% raw equity, which is technically the same as before. Here, the big difference is that they will realize a little more of this particular equity as compared to before – roughly 85% of it, with 30 to 35% realized equity.
It does not really go much higher than before simply due to the fact that the 4-bettor’s range is relatively tighter.
The size of the bet hammers their range most is somewhere about 3X to 2.75X their 3-bet size.
Final Thoughts On 4Betting!
To sum it all up, you want to play the 4bet sport to about 2.5x the 3-bettors raise when you are actually in position and about 3x their raise when you are completely out of position. During tournaments, the size goes down to about 2.7x when out of position and 2.2x when in position.
These 4bet sizes will be able to place your opponents in a difficult sport and enable you to profit whether they under-defend, over-defend, or just play optimally.
As usual, if you do have any feedback or comments, do not hesitate to make full utilization of the comments section below.
Additional Reading:
Barsha Bhattacharya is a senior content writing executive. As a marketing enthusiast and professional for the past 4 years, writing is new to Barsha. And she is loving every bit of it. Her niches are marketing, lifestyle, wellness, travel and entertainment. Apart from writing, Barsha loves to travel, binge-watch, research conspiracy theories, Instagram and overthink.
