What Is a 3-Bet in Poker? The Third Bet of a Hand
What is a 3‑bet? It is the third bet of a hand: the big blind counts as the first, the open as the second, and the re-raise of that open is the 3‑bet. Example: the cutoff opens to 2.5bb and the button re-raises to 8bb. As a pure bluff, that 3‑bet has to win the pot right away 66.7% of the time; when called, it builds a much bigger pot than the open did.
A♦4♣ in the big blind, heads-up
Heads-up, the button opens to 2.2bb and you are in the big blind with A♦4♣, 100bb deep. Fold, call or 3‑bet to 9bb?
See the answer
The options:
| Option | What you add | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Call | 1.2bb | 27.3% equity |
| 3‑bet to 9bb | 8bb | 71.4% folds for a pure bluff |
Before the flop, A♦4♣ against hands a heads-up button opens:
| Button's hand | A♦4♣'s equity |
|---|---|
| 9♠2♥ | 64.2% |
| K♥7♠ | 59.9% |
| T♦7♣ | 57.5% |
| Q♣9♦ | 57.5% |
| K♠Q♠ | 54.1% |
| J♠8♠ | 53.7% |
| 6♥5♥ | 53.6% |
| A♥3♠ | 53% |
| A♠T♥ | 30.1% |
| 8♣8♥ | 30% |
A♦4♣ is ahead of every unpaired hand in this table except A♠T♥, and it takes one ace out of the button's hands. When the 3‑bet is called, it is often by hands like A♠T♥ or 8♣8♥, against which A♦4♣ drops to 30%. The expected answer is the 3‑bet.
The name of each bet
An example hand at 100bb, from the first bet to the fifth:
| Bet | Who makes it | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1st: the big blind | the big blind | 1bb |
| 2nd: the open | the cutoff | 2.5bb |
| 3rd: the 3‑bet | the button | 8bb |
| 4th: the 4‑bet | the cutoff | 20bb |
| 5th: the 5‑bet | the button | 100bb, all‑in |
After the flop, the count starts from the first bet of the street: a bet, a raise, then the re-raise of that raise, also called a 3‑bet.
Keep going
- Calling or raising an open: cold call vs 3‑bet.
- What comes next when you get 3‑bet: facing a 3‑bet out of position.
- The same spot with position: facing a 3‑bet in position.
- The next raise: the 4‑bet value range.
- Preflop with two players: heads-up preflop.
- Preflop decisions to practice: the preflop quiz.
- One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
- The next raise: what is a 4‑bet.
- Calling the big blind instead of raising: limping in poker.
- Thinking in sets of hands: poker range.
- What happens after the flop: how to play 3‑bet pots.
Sources
- Every equity is computed by exact enumeration with the app's equity module, and every price with its pot odds module, checked on October 11, 2026.
- The answer to the spot follows rules written by the app's author; it does not come from a solver.