The goal of preflop strategy is to set ourselves up for success postflop. Depending on our position, stack depth, hand, and the action before us, we will want to take certain actions to maximize our EV.
Raising first in
Raising first in (RFI) refers to being the first person to enter the pot with a raise. In general, we want to avoid open limping and instead opt to raise or fold. Raising first in allows us to build a larger pot with our good hands and collect dead money from the blinds. It also tends to lead to more heads-up (2-player) situations postflop, which allows us to play our hands more profitably.
Solvers can compute optimal opening ranges and sizes for every position, and it is common practice for any serious poker player to have a good understanding of what these charts look like. GTO Genesis offers free preflop ranges for all of our solutions. If you are unsure what ranges to use, we recommend taking a look at 6-max cash game ranges.
In general, we want to open tighter from early positions and looser from later positions. If our opponents are not 3-betting us enough, we can open a bit wider – especially from late positions – than the charts suggest.
Defending from the SB
The small blind player generally wants to 3-bet or fold to an open because if we call, the big blind has good odds to call behind and we will often have to play pots out of position postflop. The big blind can also squeeze (3-bet after a raise and a call) and put us in a tough spot. For these reasons, we generally want to raise or fold from the small blind.
The exception to this is against early position opens. For example, since UTG has such a strong range, we can call more from the SB because the BB is less likely to squeeze against the strong UTG opening range.
Defending from the BB
The big blind is a unique position because we have already invested a full big blind into the pot. Coupled with the fact that players cannot raise behind us, we can call wider from the BB than from any other position. We still want to 3-bet our best hands, but since we have a calling range we must balance our 3-bets with some bluffs. Therefore, we 3-bet a polar range from the BB.
Cold calling
Cold calling is when we call a raise without having invested any money in the pot. We generally want to avoid cold calling because it allows other players to enter the pot behind us or squeeze us.
If we do cold call, we want to do it from later positions since it is less likely we have to play OOP postflop or face a squeeze.
We generally do not want to cold call a 3-bet – if facing a 3-bet and you have not committed any chips to the pot yet, we recommend either 4-betting or folding.
3-betting/4-betting
3-betting is when we raise the original raiser. The big blind is the first bet, the original raiser is the second bet, and our raise is considered the third bet. If we are playing a 3-bet or fold strategy (e.g. UTG opens and we are the HJ) we want to 3-bet a linear range, or only our best hands. If we have a calling range, we want to 3-bet a polar range since we have to balance our 3-bets with some bluffs.
When raising preflop, we also want to make sure we are not committing too much of our stack to the pot. If we 4-bet too large and our opponent goes all-in, we would either have to fold and lose a massive initial investment or call with a weaker range. As a rule of thumb, if your raise would commit at least half your stack, we recommend going all-in instead.
Preflop sizing
Sizing depends on rake, stack depth, and position, but here are some general heuristics:
- RFI 2bb to 2.5bb from early position so we don't lose as much if we have to fold to a 3-bet.
- RFI slightly larger from BTN so the SB and BB have to pay more to see a flop.
- RFI even larger from SB because we are out of position and want to discourage the BB from calling.
- 3-bet larger OOP to lower the SPR and generate more folds.
- Increase your raise size when there are multiple callers since there is more dead money and we would prefer not to go multiway to the flop.
- When 4-betting, be careful not to commit too much of your stack in case your opponent goes all-in and you have to fold.
Common preflop mistakes
Beginners often:
- limp into the pot or cold call 3-bets.
- open too wide from early positions and too tight from late positions.
- call 3-bets too wide, especially when OOP.
- blindly follow preflop charts – if your opponents are only 3-betting their premium hands, you do not need 4-bet bluffs like range charts suggest.
Key takeaways
Understanding preflop strategy and becoming familiar with GTO preflop solutions is the single most important step to improving your poker game. Once you have a solid understanding of what optimal preflop strategy looks like, you can adapt your ranges on the fly to exploit your opponents. A solid preflop foundation will also set you up for success in postflop play.
We offer unlimited free preflop solutions on GTO Genesis – check our our growing catalogue of solver ranges for your preferred stack depth and rake structure.