“So I 3-Bet to Find Out Where I Stood…”

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This old 2+2 post discusses the value of rasing for information in limit hold’em.

“So I 3-bet to find out where I stood…”

#514922 – 02/11/04 03:00 PM

How many of you have said this recently? Raise your hand…

I think it is basically always wrong to 3-bet for the purpose of “finding out where I’m at.” There are two reasons:

The information is unreliable

So you are looking to see if your opponent just calls your 3-bet, or if he 4-bets. Let’s examine what each reaction could mean.

Calls the 3-bet:

* Because he’s waiting for the turn to raise again with a big hand
* Because you’ve scared a timid player into calling you down with a better hand
* Because it confirms that your opponent was screwing around with a weak hand or a draw

4-bets you:

* Because he has a big hand
* Because he has a big draw and wants to semi-bluff you and/or try for a free card
* Because he likes to say “Cappuccino!”
* Because he’s overplaying a weak hand
* Because he 3-bet you preflop with K4s, missed the flop, and now has to play it like the nuts to have any hope of winning

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