30 Oct 2024 Intermediate This material is for medium-skilled players 3-bet limp position Today we're going to discuss the 3 pre-flop mistakes that EVERY beginner player makes. The pre-flop is the foundation of your entire game. It’s the first step to becoming profitable in poker. It doesn't matter how well you play post-flop if you can’t reach the flop with the right hands, you’ll just end up burning money either way. So, if you’re making any of the mistakes listed below, you need to stop immediately! 1. Ignoring Position This means playing right hands in every position! Poker is a game of incomplete information, so every extra bit of information you have gives you a tremendous advantage. This is directly related to your position. Don’t get it? Answer the question below, and things will become clearer. Where do you have more information: when you’re the first to act in UTG, or when you’re last to act on the BTN? It’s pretty obvious that you have much more information when you're on the Button, as you’ve seen almost everyone act before you. You know who raised, who folded, and who 3-bet. This makes your decision much easier. Now imagine your situation in UTG. You have no clue what anyone is going to do. You’re literally the first to speak, which is a massive informational disadvantage. This is exactly why you can 3-bet more hands against UTG when you’re on BTN than when you’re in MP. Another reason to play more hands in later positions than in earlier ones is that there are fewer players left to act after you. Let me explain. Suppose you’re at a table with 9 players. When you’re in UTG and decide to open-raise, your raise has to get through 8 players. It’s extremely hard for all of them to fold! And remember, it’s great when everyone folds to us pre-flop because we avoid paying rake and prevent opponents from realizing their equity. Now, let’s say you’re on the BTN and everyone before you folds. This time, your raise only has to go through the blinds, and even if they call, you’re guaranteed to play in position with an informational advantage. To confirm what I’m saying, try playing more hands in your next session when you’re closer to BTN, and play fewer, stronger hands when you’re closer to UTG. Then come back here and tell me the results! 2. Not 3-Betting Enough A winning poker strategy is one that makes your opponents uncomfortable! And do you know why? We make money in poker when our opponents make more mistakes than we do, and the bigger those mistakes, the more money we make. Now I’ll ask you: Is it easier to make a mistake when we’re under pressure and uncomfortable, or when we’re relaxed? You probably chose the first option. That’s why we need to put our opponents in uncomfortable situations, and one of the best way to do that pre-flop is to 3-bet more! Take a look at an example of 3-bet range (BTN vs CO): All the hands in green and red should be played as a 3-bet when we’re on the BTN against an average reg who open-raises before us on the CO! See how aggressive that is? That’s because an aggressive strategy typically puts your opponents in uncomfortable situations. The next time you have 87s on the BTN facing a raise from the CO, consider 3-bet it instead of just cold-calling, especially when you’re in position with an informational advantage. 3. Not Raising Limps Enough “Limping” means just calling the blind pre-flop. If you’ve been reading our articles for a while, I hope you don’t do that. But today, let’s talk about isolating players who make this mistake. You should almost never over-limp (limping after another player has done so) for two major reasons: It’s not an aggressive strategy, and you don’t make anyone uncomfortable by limping. You invite more players into the pot, making it multiway. And the more players are in the pot, the less often you'll win. When there’s fish at the table, you want to play as many hands against them as possible, ideally without other regs in the pot. When the fish limps, it’s the perfect situation to do that. So, the next time this happens, try isolating that player instead of over-calling, and thank me later. What hands should you use to do this? I recommend using the open-raise range of the previous position. For example, if you’re on the Button and UTG limps, and it folds to you after their limp, use the CO open-raise range to isolate them. But remember: the weaker the player, the more hands you can isolate him with. Poker is a game of constant adaptation to your opponents.
