Preflop 3betting is a great way to make extra money in Zoom Poker, as people can just fold out of situations they don’t like, you get a ton of extra fold equity.
Furthermore, if you happen to find yourself a fishy looking player a 3bet allows you a ton of extra value.
Without further ado, let’s look at 3 common 3betting scenarios in zoom poker. Next week I’ll outline BB preflop play vs the SB and BU.
3betting in Zoom Poker: SB vs BU.
A good rule of thumb in the SB is to avoid flatting raises in the SB. Most of your play should be 3bets due to the risk of BB squeezes and playing OOP without initiative.
I like 3betting roughly 1/4th to 1/3rd of the opening range of my opponents. If the average BU is opening 45%, I like to 3bet 11-15%.
Since we have no flatting range, we simply 3bet the best realizable equity, unpolarized (see an example 13% range below):
3betting in Zoom Poker: BU vs CO
Defending the button is a concept that many players are not familiar with. The idea is that while on the BU, you are the king of the table.
You have position, which gives you last say on everything that happens. Any hand that anyone can hold is more profitable in your seat.
So, you cannot let people get away with opening too wide in MP and CO and “stealing” your position against the blinds.
Thus, against an average CO who opens 20-25% I like to 3bet a wide range. A lot of CO’s just won’t know what to do out of position against the BU when they’re hyper focused on stealing the blinds. Here’s an example range:
Here are some strengths of this range:
- It leaves you a strong calling range holding A2-AJo, KT-KQo, QJo, and 22-88 as well as A6-ATs, KJs – K8s, QJs – Q9s, JTs-J9s.
- Your 3bet bluff range has heavy blocker value with lots of Ax, Kx, Qx
- You have representation on all flops holding all hands from 2x -> Ax in your 3bet range
- You have straight potential with SCs, strong flush potential with suited hands and hit “dry” boards like 225 with hidden monsters.
This may not be perfect, the bluffing range may be a little off, some hands that are calls may play better as 3bets or vice versa, but it’s a decent example to show you how to construct a range.
