The Art of War: How to Play Deepstack 3-Bet Pots
In any poker tournament strategy, the battleground where the biggest edges are won and lost is the deepstack 3-bet pot. When stacks are 100 big blinds or deeper, the game moves far beyond simple preflop charts. It becomes a multi-street war of maneuver, range advantage, and psychological pressure. Simply knowing what to 3-bet isn’t enough; you must master the postflop. Coach Brian Kim dissects several critical 3-bet pots from the WSOP Europe 10k Main Event.
The Flop in 3-Bet Pots: An Exploitative Red Flag
The first hand of the review immediately highlights a key piece of advanced poker theory. Horn 3-bets preflop with J-5 offsuit—a play Brian identifies as far too loose for deep-stacked play. But the real lesson comes on the K-8-4 flop. Horn c-bets, faces a raise, and then 3-bets the flop.
Brian’s analysis here is crucial for any live player. While a poker solver would have a balanced flop 3-betting range the live population in 3-bets on the flop are very underdone and, as a result, are more likely going to be a very linear range. Which is to say, when a human 3-bets the flop, they almost always have a monster. This is a perfect example of where you can deviate from GTO. Instead of calling with your solver-approved bluff-catchers, you can make a massive exploitative fold, saving yourself a ton of chips.
Exploiting Capped Deepstack GTO Poker Ranges
The most important hand of the review is a masterclass in attacking GTO poker ranges. Ioannis Konstas (HJ) opens with KQs, and Jeda (BTN) 3-bets with KTo. Constance calls, and they go to a J-T-8 flop, 135 blinds deep.
Both players check. Brian notes that Ron Jeda, the 3-bettor, has a massive range advantage here and should almost always bet. Jeda’s decision to check back is a natural play but a critical mistake. It caps his range, meaning he is effectively announcing to his opponent that he does not have a monster (like a set or a straight) and is heavily weighted toward one-pair hands and Ace-high.
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Konstas, who is out of position, correctly identifies this. When the 5c hits the turn, he leads out with a massive overbet, turning his KQs gutshot into a bluff. This is a brilliant, high-level exploit. Konstas knows a smaller bet would be called by Jeda’s entire one-pair range. The overbet is the only sizing that puts maximum pressure on that specific, capped range, forcing all but the very top of it to fold. This is the essence of advanced poker theory: understanding what your opponent’s actions mean about their range and then using the perfect tool to exploit it.
Missed Opportunities and Poker Mindset
Not all 3-bet pots are about aggression; they are also about identifying your opponent’s weakness. Brian reviews a final hand that is a textbook example of poker mindset coaching and missed opportunities.
Jeda (AQs) calls a 3-bet from Horn (33), who is 100 blinds deep. The flop is J-8-4. Horn c-bets, Jeda calls. The turn is a King—a major scare card. Horn checks back. Brian immediately flags this as a massive missed bluff. This King is a “card that people just put you on… all the time,” and Horn, with his 33, has the perfect hand to “over bluff” and represent it.
The river is a 6. Jeda checks, and Horn checks behind, winning with his pair of threes. Brian points out this is a second missed opportunity, this time for Jeda. After Horn checks back the King, his range is clearly capped and weak. Jeda’s AQs has no showdown value, good blockers, and is the perfect hand to turn into a river bluff. Both players, in this instance, lacked the aggressive poker mindset to seize control of the pot.
Conclusion: Mastering the Deepstack Game
Playing deepstack 3-bet pots is a complex art. As Brian Kim and his fellow GTO LAB coaches like Nick Petrangelo demonstrate, it requires a skill set far beyond preflop memorization. It demands a deep understanding of GTO poker ranges, the ability to identify population-specific exploits (like the under-bluffed flop 3-bet), and the tactical precision to attack capped ranges with the perfect sizing. This is how to study poker at the highest level—by learning not just the “what,” but the “why” behind every single decision.