We recently covered how to defend versus c-bets on ace-high boards in 3-bet pots, and today we will dive into defending c-bets on high-card flops to analyze how to play them.
In this article, we will cover various board textures and look into both out-of-position and in-position scenarios after calling a 3-bet preflop.
Defending On High-Card Boards In Position – Ks6h2c vs. Kh8d7d
We will start with an in-position example in a spot where we open from the BTN, face a 3-bet from the BB, and decide to call preflop.
Key assumptions:
- The hand is played 100 bb deep
- We are opening from the button
- Big blind 3-bets
- We call a 3-bet
- Our opponent c-bets on the flop
Let’s firstly look at an example of Ks6h2c. This is one of the boards that significantly favours big blind range, so he will be c-betting here close to 100%.
Since our opponent will be using the same poker strategy with his entire range and sticking to 60% bet sizing almost exclusively, we won’t have any raising range in this situation, and continue by calling 65% of our hands.
While our strategy on dry king-high board is very straightforward, our opponent starts checking more often as the highest card on the flop becomes lower. That being said, the main thing for us to consider is bet sizing since we need to expand our defending range against smaller bets.
If our opponent bets one-third of the pot or smaller, we can start introducing some raises and mix them between our entire range.
That being said, things start to look quite different on a connected board such as Kh8d7d.
First and foremost, our opponent will use smaller bet sizes more often and should stick to a default bet of 25% of the pot in most situations.
Against this sizing, you need to defend around 82% of the hands, calling with 69% of your holdings, and raising 13% of the hands.
Apart from pretty much raising pocket aces all of the time, you will mix your raising hands almost throughout your entire range and will do so with some value hands and bluffs as well. Other than that, you call with any pair or any draw that you have.
The only hands we are folding in these situations are ones that have no equity and no runner-runner potential to improve.
In the situation where you face a larger c-bet, you play it almost identically to a dry board and call over 60% of the time without having any raising range.
Key takeaways
- Defend around 65% of the hands on a dry board by calling.
- Defend over 80% of the hands versus a small bet on connected boards and have a raising range of at least 10%.
- Defend around 60% of the hands by calling when facing a big c-bet on a connected flop.
Defending On High-Card Boards OOP – Kh8s2d vs. Ks9h8h
Let’s look at some hands where we are playing out of position. We will analyze the spot when we open from the CO, face a 3-bet from the BTN, call out of position, and then face a bet after checking to our opponent on the flop.
Assumptions:
- We are playing 100bb deep
- We are opening from the CO
- BTN 3-bets
- We call a 3-bet
- We check to the BTN on the flop
Let’s firstly look at a dry board of Kh8s2d.
In this situation, your opponent will c-bet almost 100% of the time and will mix the sizing between big and small bets. Naturally, we will need to defend more often when facing a small bet because of the MDF, so let’s analyze this situation.
As you can see in the example above, we are calling 33% of the time and check-raising around 6% of the hands.
The hands we raise most often are the middle set and a couple of the strongest top pairs, balanced with some good bluffs with runner-runner potential. Other than that, we call all of the hands we continue with.
Connected boards are quite different, so let’s look at Ks9h8h next.
Your opponent will also c-bet this board very aggressively with over 90% frequency. That said, since we have many more hands that hit our range compared to the dry flop, we will need to defend this aggressively.
According to the PeakGTO solver, we should call around 39% of the time and check raise 25% of the time.
Our raising range includes flopped sets, two pair combinations, open-ended and gutshot straight draws, and even a few instances of Broadway combinations like KJs and KTs.
The rest of the hands, like top pairs and other one-pair holdings gravitate towards calling.
When you face an occasional bigger c-bet, you will need to reduce your raising range from 25% to 15% and call with around 33% of the hands, folding the rest.
Key takeaways
- Always check on the flop after calling a 3-bet OOP.
- Do not raise often when facing a bet on a dry board, but call with 40% of your hands.
- Raise aggressively versus c-bets on connected boards versus small bets.
