3-Bet Sizing In Position And Out

A Common Guideline Is To Three Bet To About Three Times The Open When You Will Have Position After The Flop And About Four Times When You Will Not, Because The Player Out Of Position Needs A Bigger Pot To Make Up For Acting First.

Preflop Lesson From Smarter.Poker, Updated 2026-09-22

The Guideline And Why It Exists

Three Bet Sizes Are Conventions, Not Laws, And Different Solvers And Coaches Settle On Slightly Different Numbers. The Shape They Agree On Is The One Above: Smaller In Position, Larger Out Of Position, And Larger Again Against A Player Who Calls Too Much.

The Reason Is Realisation. The Player In Position Will See Every Decision The Opponent Makes Before Acting, So They Can Win With A Smaller Pot And A Wider Range. The Player Out Of Position Is At An Informational Disadvantage For The Rest Of The Hand, So They Prefer A Bigger Raise That Forces More Folds Right Away And Leaves A Smaller Stack Behind To Play For Later.

What The Sizes Do To The Pot

Take A Cutoff Open To 2.5 Big Blinds And A Button Three Bet To 7.5, Three Times The Open. If The Blinds Fold And The Cutoff Calls, The Pot On The Flop Is 16.5 Big Blinds With 92.5 Behind, A Stack To Pot Ratio Of 5.6.

Now Take A Button Open To 2.5 And A Big Blind Three Bet To 10, Four Times The Open. If The Button Calls, The Pot Is 20.5 Big Blinds With 90 Behind, A Stack To Pot Ratio Of 4.4. The Larger Size Makes The Pot Bigger And The Remaining Stacks Relatively Smaller, Which Simplifies The Out Of Position Player's Decisions After The Flop.

Called Three Bet Pots At 100 Big Blinds, From The Examples Above
Spot	Three Bet To	Pot On The Flop	Behind	Stack To Pot Ratio
Button Over A Cutoff Open	7.5 BB	16.5 BB	92.5 BB	5.6
Big Blind Over A Button Open	10 BB	20.5 BB	90 BB	4.4

Adjusting To The Table

Go Larger Against Players Who Call Three Bets Too Often, Because Your Value Hands Win More And Your Bluffs Lose Little Extra Against A Player Who Was Never Folding. Go Smaller Against Players Who Fold Too Much, Because A Smaller Bluff Risks Less To Win The Same Pot.

A Common Guideline Is To Add Roughly One Open Size For Every Player Who Has Already Called The Open, Because Each Caller Adds Dead Money And Makes A Squeeze More Attractive To The Players Behind You. And Keep Your Sizing The Same For Value Hands And Bluffs In Any One Spot, So That The Size Itself Tells An Observant Opponent Nothing About Which You Hold.

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