Should you ever raise 3x before the flop in Hold’em vs. Dealer?

Where raising 3x comes closest

Average result per unit of ante (the blind equals the ante; trips not included), with the best play on every later street. Exact: every card that can still come and every dealer hand.

Why

A hand worth raising is a hand that is ahead, and when you are ahead you want the most money in: 4x. A hand that isn’t worth 4x is better off checking, because checking keeps the option of betting 2x on the flop or 1x on the river after seeing more cards. Raising 3x gives up that option without getting the full bet in, so it is never the best of the three.

Related questions

• When should you raise 4x before the flop in Hold’em vs. Dealer?

  With any pair from 3s up, any ace, any suited king, K-5 offsuit or better, Q-6 suited or better, Q-8 offsuit or better, J-8 suited or better and J-10 offsuit. Check everything else, including pocket 2s.

• Should you raise 4x with any ace in Hold’em vs. Dealer?

  Yes. Every ace is a 4x raise, even ace-deuce offsuit. The weakest aces are only barely worth it, but raising still beats checking.

• Should you play the trips bet in Hold’em vs. Dealer?

  Only where it pays 9 to 1 on a full house and 7 to 1 on a flush (50-40-30-9-7-4-3): there it costs less than 1% of the bet. On the other common paytables it costs about 2% to over 6%, so skip it.

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