Level 3 ramblings

[Phil Van Sexton]

The steal with A-rag this early post has motivated me to make a post about level 3 play.

We took a poll and people picked level 3 as the hardest level to play. I was a bit suprised. I actually like level 3.

If anyone cares, here is how I play level 3. I'm not saying it's right or even interesting, so feel free to stop reading at any time.

If I have an average stack of 800, I don't do much in level 3. The blinds aren't worth stealing, and you don't have a enough chips to really play a hand to the river. If I get a great hand, I'll play it fast (ie raise 200 preflop, and push on the flop). I'm guessing this is how most people play. If so, I'm not sure why they consider this difficult, but I digress.

As you know, I play more hands than most in levels 1 and 2. This often leaves me with a big stack or a small stack. In either case, level 3 arrives just in time for me.

Why? Because bad players like see the flop. In levels 1 and 2, their limps don't add up to much. By level 4, they usually tighten up. Level 3 is the sweet spot.

If 2 people limp at level 3, there's 175 in the pot including the blinds. Now we're talking real money. A blind steal at level 4 only nets you 150, so the rewards are already higher.

In fact, it's even better than that. In level 4, the BB had to post 100 and usually isn't going to just fold if you min-raise to 200. Therefore you have to risk more.

At level 3, the limpers and blinds only have 50 invested, so a raise to 200 will usually send them running.

Let's say you are in the BB at level 3 with $450 left. 2 people limp ahead of you and SB completes. What do you do? PUSH.

I suppose you could look at your cards first, but your cards aren't really important here.

At least in the 30s, people aren't going to call 450 preflop without a hand (well some do, but I hopefully noticed them already). If they had a real hand, they probably wouldn't have limped. If they make a loose call, you aren't going to be up against Aces, so you'll have a reasonable chance to suck out. I'd much rather push here with any 2 cards than push with KT in MP on level 4.

Let's say you are on the button with 87s at level 3 with $1200. 2 people limp ahead of you. What do you do? Raise to 200.

Again, if they had a hand, they wouldn't have limped. There's 175 in the pot, so go ahead and take it.

Alternatively, you could also limp with pretty good hands (ie AJ) from position. If you do flop something, you are going to get paid off big time. The pot is too big for a short stack to get away from any kind of hand.

If they miss, you can take the pot down without much effort (or much of a hand).

This is how I play a big and small stack at level 3. Many of you probably don't care because you almost always have a medium stack since you fold your first 20 hands. Maybe this is correct, I don't know.

I think about it differently. I *know* I can do damage with a small stack at level 3, so I have no fear at levels 1 and 2.

Don't misunderstand me: I don't play a lot of hands in the early levels. However, when I do play, I don't play scared. If I get TT on the button in level 2, I'm going to raise and I'm going to bet again on the flop the majority of the time. If I lose a few hundred, so be it. I'll just have to work harder in level 3.