When to 3-Bet in Position

One of the primary weapons in poker is the 3-bet, we come across it in almost every hand, and it serves us to isolate the opponent, increase the pot or get folds. 3bet is very powerful when used in position because it puts the opponent’s calling range in a difficult position; in translation, we reduce his chance to realize his equity.
 
It should be noted that the EV of calling increases proportionally with the position, i.e., as soon as we are in a later position, the EV of calling is higher.

This happens because there are more players behind us on the move, and we will face a squeeze more often, and also BB gets a good price.

We can say that the EV of calling increases proportionally with the increase in the percentage to see the flop.

When we use a linear 3-bet range, an opponent who defends OOP (out of position) should be very careful with hands with a high RIO (reverse implied odds), and when he hits the flop, he will often have a worse hand.
 
For this reason, the OOP(EP-CO) player will most often have hand pairs in his calling range.

This means that when the flop or turn turns the broadway card (AKQJT), the 3-bettor who has the position has a huge advantage in the range, and the OOP player is forced to overfold because the c-bet has an increased EV.
 
But, when the hand pairs hit the board, equity changes drastically in favor of the OOP player.

In BB vs. SB situations, the situation changes, the boards with high cards are equal, and the OOP caller does not have to overfold against c-bet.
 
We can apply the same concept on the Turn as on the flop; high turns favor IP 3bettor and low OOP caller.

Here we can see how different turn cards affect the OOP player’s Donk Bet strategy, i.e., how the IP player’s strategy changes depending on the turn that favors the Donk bet (increasing the OOP player’s EV).
 
It is also essential that the in-position player chooses a sizing that will put the OOP player in a difficult position with mediocre hands.

It should be noted that on the river on low connected boards, we have to check the range when an OOP player misses his donk bet.
 
In the previous article, we discussed playing Deep and Short stack; you can read it here!