MTTs – C-Betting On Low-Card Boards in 3-Bet Pots

Since we already covered c-betting on low-card boards in single raised pots, today we will dive deeper into the strategy for 3-bet pots.

We will examine IP and OOP strategy after 3-betting preflop and summarize key takeaways for each section.

TLDR: See AI summary of this article.

Low-card boards in 3-bet pots favor the preflop aggressor. Whether in or out of position, small and frequent c-bets keep control and pressure opponents effectively.

In Position at 40bb: C-bet 84% of your range using a 25% pot size. You have the range advantage, so apply consistent pressure and check only weak ace-high or backdoor draws.
In Position at 20bb: No standard 3-bet range remains. Play a simplified strategy—call with top and bottom holdings and shove everything in between, especially pairs and strong Ax.
Out of Position at 40bb: C-bet your entire range (100%) with mostly small 25% pot bets. Mix in occasional bigger bets (~12%) with hands that need protection, like 99 or 77.
Out of Position at 20bb: Mostly call or shove preflop. If you 3-bet, c-bet 86% of hands using a mix of 25%, 50%, and all-in sizings. Overpairs, strong Ax, and top pairs drive aggression.

Key Takeaways
* C-Bet Small and Wide: On low boards, your range advantage allows frequent 25% pot bets to pressure weaker holdings.
* Simplify at 20bb: Collapse your preflop strategy into shoves or calls; postflop, favor simple and aggressive lines.
* Protect and Pressure: Use bigger bets or shoves only when necessary to deny equity or secure fold equity.

Low boards reward structured, aggressive play—bet small, bet often, and use position to dictate every decision.

Table Of Contents

C-Betting On Low-Card Boards In Position – 8d6h2s
- Key takeaways
C-Betting On Low-Card Boards OOP – 8d6h2s
- Key takeaways

C-Betting On Low-Card Boards In Position – 8d6h2s

Key assumptions:

The hand is played 40 bb deep with 12.5% ante
Our opponent opens from the cutoff
We 3-bet from the button
CO calls to see the flop and checks to us

Let’s start by looking at an example on a dry board of 8d6h2s.

C-Betting On Low-Card Boards In Position - 8d6h2s

In this spot, we are c-betting with 84% of our range and sticking to a small bet sizing of 25% of the pot in all cases.

Since we have a range advantage, we can easily put the pressure on our opponent. They will have a hard time defending OOP, and small sizing lets us continue with a wide range.

We only check back a few ace-high combinations, as well as some broadways and runner-runner draws.

When the stacks drop to 20, we no longer have a 3-betting range, and we either reshove all-in when facing an open, call, or fold.

C-Betting Low-Card Boards In Position 8d6h2s

Our range becomes polarized, so we call with the strongest poker hands and the bottom part of our range, and move all-in with everything in between. In this scenario, we are shoving all pocket pairs up to QQ, some broadways, and Ax combinations.

Key takeaways

C-bet very aggressively on dry boards with around 84% of hands
Always pick a small bet sizing of one-fourth the pot when continuing
Mostly shove, call, or fold preflop when stacks move down to 20bb

C-Betting On Low-Card Boards OOP – 8d6h2s

Now, let’s look at the same hand out of position. In this case, we face an open from the BTN and we 3-bet from the BB.

Key assumptions:

The hand is played 40bb deep with 12.5% ante
Our opponent is opening from the button
We 3-bet from the big blind
The button calls

Let’s look at 8d6h2s to see how we should adjust here after 3-betting.

C-Betting On Low-Card Boards OOP - 8d6h2s

Once again, we will continue betting aggressively and picking small sizing in most situations since we have a range advantage. To be more precise, we will be betting with all of our hands.

As for the sizing, the default bet is 25% of the pot with 88% of the hands, and we should choose larger bets around 12% of the time.

Big bets are mostly reserved for specific hands that need protection, like 99,77, some top-pair and second-pair holdings, and a few combinations of overcards.

When the stacks get down to 20bb, our strategy changes significantly.

In this spot, we will be calling with 65% of the hands preflop, moving all-in with 14% holdings, and 3-betting just with 6.5% of the range.

When we do 3-bet, we will continue with a very wide c-bet again on 8d6h2s.

We are betting 86% of the time, but varying our bet sizing quite a bit. While we still pick small 25% pot-size bets around half the time, we also use bigger sizing. This is how are bets are distributed:

25 pot size bet – 42% of the time
50% pot size bet – 17% of the time
All-in – 28% of the time

As you can see from the example above, we are not only using small or bigger sizing for a c-bet but also moving all-in with a significant part of our range. This includes a few overpairs, one-pair hands, the strongest Ax type holdings, and even some overcards.

Key takeaways

C-bet your entire range on dry low-card boards when out of position
Stick to a small sizing of 25% of the pot with almost your entire range, and mix in bigger bets around 12% of the time
When stacks drop to 20bb, we mostly call or move all-in preflop, leaving a small 3-bet range of around 7%
If you 3-bet with 20bb stacks, c-bet aggressively and use a mix of both small and big bet sizings