Defending the Blinds and Playing 3-Bet and 4-Bet Pots

The blinds lose money in every poker game, because they play out of position. But folding too often is a bigger leak than it looks: opponents see it and steal your blinds with any two cards. This guide shows how to defend wisely, when to 3-bet and how to react to a 4-bet.

Why the big blind can defend wide

You have already posted a part of the price. Against a 2.5 big blind open from the button the pot is 4 big blinds (0.5 + 1 + 2.5) and you need to add 1.5, so you need only about 1.5 / (4 + 1.5) = 27% equity to break even. Many hands have that against a wide button range, so the big blind defends often, roughly 40–50% of hands against a button open and much less against an early-position open.

• Good hands to call: suited hands, connected hands, and any pair or ace with a decent kicker.
• Poor hands to call: offsuit hands with no connection, such as J4o or Q3o. Even with good pot odds they flop too weakly and lose too much later on.

The small blind is different

The small blind acts first after the flop and has no discount for the big blind. Most strategies there prefer either a 3-bet or a fold, with only a modest calling range. Raise-or-fold also protects you from being squeezed.

When to 3-bet instead of calling

• Value: premium hands such as AA–TT, AK and AQs. You want to build a pot and get called by worse.
• Bluffs: hands that cannot call well but have good blockers or playability, such as A5s–A2s and suited connectors. The ace blocks the opponent's strong hands, and you still have equity when called.
• Position and sizing: 3-bet to about 3 times the open when in position and 3.5–4 times when out of position, so the opponent cannot call too cheaply.

A 3-bet range that holds only premiums is easy to fold against. Mix in bluffs in the right proportion; see 3-bet basics.

Responding to a 4-bet

1. Fold most of your bluffs, unless you have an ace blocker and the opponent folds too often.
2. Call with strong hands that play well after the flop (for example JJ, AQs), mainly in position.
3. 5-bet all-in with the top of the range, such as AA, KK and AK, especially when stacks are about 100 big blinds or shorter.

Population tendencies matter: most players 4-bet rarely and almost always for value. Against such a player, fold more of your marginal hands.

Mistakes to avoid

• Calling 3-bets with weak offsuit aces, which are dominated by stronger aces (reverse implied odds).
• 3-betting a very tight player, who folds only junk and gives you no fold equity.
• Playing a 3-bet pot with the same ideas as a single-raised pot: stacks are shallower, so check the SPR before you commit.

Related: preflop range charts, positions explained, continuation bets and sizing.