[jim]

I love these range exercises! Given that this is a bubble spot and we have the chip lead, even with the deep button I might personally be raising a wider range here, but let’s proceed with the range described, as it is an excellent value range that we will be working with in many other examples as well I’m sure.

So much of this process comes down to the content of our assumptions –@ARW maybe you could provide some example ranges that you think those different positions might express through a 3bet? In a vacuum the Button is the only player we should be particularly concerned about from an ICM point of view, and imo the Cutoff and the SB should be very tight here by stack size, they have no incentive to mix it up with the big stacks at the moment. The open sizing is consistent or maybe a little large for the average stack size at the table, but definitely large enough that the other players and particularly the shorter stacks shouldn’t be targeting it recklessly despite your consecutive opens. How well do we know they players? The linear or polarized nature of their 3bet range is typically one of the main factors I look at when constructing ranges to defend against 3bets.

[arw]

Thank you. The point of this question was to get a discussion going and talk about adjusting strategy based on stack size for Pre-Flop spots.

For most of my hands, I work from the big picture and narrow it down. I try not to incorporate any “tells” until the end. I use them as a way of shift my vote, not as a foundation for my decisions.

In other words, I would analyze the board the same way whether it was Gus Hanson or Action Dan. I have High confidence that combinatorics will give me a better guess than any live reads I have post-flop. When I think about the action, the range I build may be adjusted to fit my opponents tendencies and flow of the game.

[jim]

I’d love to know what hands would or would not be included in various players’ 3betting ranges in those four spots: folks, what kinds of hands would you 3bet from the CO or BTN but not the SB or BB? What kinds of hands would you 3bet from the SB or BB but not the CO or BTN? Are suited connectors or dry blockers equally good for either or both? What about your value range, is it thinner or wider?

[yamel]

Here are some thoughts to get the conversation started:

CO – should have tightest 3bet range in this configuration since they have the big stack next to act and small stacks after. Against this spot, I prob defend with QQ+, AK and maybe KQsuited

BTN – There are smaller stacks left to act and we don’t really need to go for stacks at this point given ICM, I don’t think I defend at all here

SB-Here I think it depends if cutoff or button call…if there is dead money in there, SB could be tempted to squeeze and I will defend wider, maybe a jam is warranted to put pressure on him? If there is no call in between, then I think SB range is tighter b/c he doesn’t know what BB will do and facing a short stack so maybe this situation is comparable to CO 3bet

BB – this player could have closed the action, if he decides to raise here and previous players folded, I think we can call with condensed range that can connect with a lot of flops and continue and/or apply pressure when they miss. I think here we can go with KQ, QJ, JT, pairs and most broadways. If there were some calls in between and he raises, I think it depends on number of callers…we may need a tighter range since spr will be low on the flop and we may end up playing for a big pot.