Master poker strategy with PeakGTO. Try this poker solver for free.
The GTO strategy and ranges for the big blind defense against a button open at 100 big blinds are pretty straightforward. Facing a standard 3x raise, you’ll be calling with just over 25% of the entire range and 3-betting just under 13%.
Once the flop comes and you check to the button, your strategy against a continuation bet will vary quite significantly depending on the board texture. We already covered how to play on dry boards against the button c-bet, so now we will analyze a different scenario.
In this article, we’ll use common examples to devise the optimal big blind defense strategy for different types of wet flops.
Before we dive into specific examples, though, here are a few general pointers on how to play against a button c-bet on these types of dynamic textures:
- You’ll be checking 100% of the time across all flops – there is no GTO donk range
- Our defense strategy includes a fair bit of check-raising on non-ace boards
- Your raises should be quite polarized, containing a mix of strong hands and your weakest draws
- You’ll have a range advantage on low-card wet flops, so you should be battling hard for every pot
Tip #1: Mostly Defend By Calling on Ace High Boards
On ace-high wet flops, your strategy facing a button continuation bet should be fairly straightforward. You’ll be continuing with over 50% range overall, mostly calling with a very narrow raising range.
Let’s look at A♥9♦8♦ example.
Your exact strategy will depend on the c-bet size. In these spots, the button should c-bet around 37% of the time, predominantly using a large 70% of the pot sizing but also betting small about a third of the time.
When facing a big c-bet, we’ll be calling around 38%, with hands like:
- All top pairs (Ax)
- All middle pairs
- Bottom pairs about half the time
- TJs (with a small percentage of raises)
- Flush draws (about 75%)
When it comes to raising, against a small size, our check-raising range is around 9%, consisting of:
- Very strong hands: two pair+
- Gutshots (about a third of the time)
- Flush draws (about 25%)
- Bottom pairs at a very small frequency
Against a small c-bet, our calling range expands to include all pairs down to pocket deuces, and there are a few more raises added to the mix with hands like gutshot draws, so our calling range goes up to 50%, with 12% raises.
The bottom line is, on these types of wet textures containing an ace, we can’t represent too many strong hands, as many of those would be 3-betting before the flop. So, the safest route is to call with your showdown value hands, only raising with your strongest holdings and adding a few semi-bluffs into the mix for balance.
Tip #2: Defend a Lot on High-Card Wet Flops
Our big blind defense strategy on dynamic boards containing a high card other than an ace is a bit more versatile. Our defending range better coordinates with these types of flops.
Let’s look at the board of Q♥9♥8♦.
On these types of boards, the button will continue about half of the time, using the small c-bet sizing with a 20% frequency and the large sizing the rest of the time.
Our defense strategy will vary depending on the sizing:
- Against a small c-bet, we’ll continue with almost 70% of the hands, with 13% raises
- Facing a larger sizing, we’ll be continuing around 52%, with about 9% raises
So, compared to ace-high wet flops, we’ll be continuing at a much higher frequency on these types of boards, upping our check-raise frequency by a fair few percentage points across the board.
Facing a large c-bet, our calling range consists primarily of:
- All top and middle pairs
- Bottom pairs about 50% of the time (when we have a direct or backdoor draw to go with it)
- Flush draws (with a tiny percentage of raises added to the mix)
The raising range in these spots consists mostly of strong hands, i.e., flopped two pairs, sets, and straights, coupled with a few gutshot combos and sprinkles of flush draws.
Against a small c-bet sizing, our check-raise range increases to include a few more hands, like:
- Bottom pairs + combo draws
- Gutshot combos at a slightly higher frequency
We can also expand the calling range to include all pocket pairs under an eight about half of the time, as well as all bottom pair combos nearly 100% of the time due to getting a much better price.
Tip #3: Check/Raise Aggresively on Small Coordinated Boards
Wet flops containing small cards, such as 8♥7♥5♦ will favor you as the defending player, which means your overall strategy will see you stick around after a c-bet almost three-quarters of the time.
In these scenarios, the button player should be checking over 66% of the time, so you’ll face a c-bet only about a third of the time, and it will be predominantly small sizing of 31% of the pot.
When you do face a c-bet, you’ll be continuing with almost 73% of your entire range, and that strategy includes 17% of check-raises with hands like:
- All sets (mixing about equally between calling and raising)
- Flopped straights
- Gutshot + overcard combos (i.e. K9, Q9)
- Open-ender + overcard (i.e. K6, Q6, T6)
- Flush draws at a small frequency (around 10%)
Your calling range should predominantly consist of hands with a good showdown value, such as top pairs, middle pairs, and bottom pairs with overcards, pocket pairs like 55, 66, and 44, and pocket threes and deuces about half the time.
The bottom line is that you’ll have a range advantage on these types of boards, so you won’t face the c-bet nearly as frequently as in other instances, but when you do, you should be defending a lot and putting your opponent in difficult spots.
