Cold 4-bet

Also: cold four-bet, cold 4bet

A 4-bet made by a player who has not yet put money in the pot — someone behind both the opener and the 3-bettor. It represents an extremely strong hand because the player is up against two ranges that have already shown strength.

Example. Hijack opens, cutoff 3-bets, and the big blind cold 4-bets with pocket kings.

Cold 4-bets are made almost exclusively with aces, kings and sometimes ace-king or queens, plus the occasional blocker bluff by very aggressive players. Facing one, most 3-bettors fold everything except the very top of their range.

Related terms

Full glossary

Four-bet (4-bet)

A re-raise of a three-bet. Four-bet pots are large and usually decided pre-flop or on the flop; the range doin…

Three-bet (3-bet)

The third bet in a betting round — in pre-flop terms, a re-raise of the opening raise (the big blind counts as…

Blocker

A card in your hand that reduces the number of ways an opponent can hold a specific hand. Holding the ace of s…

Action

Any bet, raise, call, check or fold a player makes; also used for a game with lots of betting ("a great action…

All-in

Betting every chip you have in front of you. You can't be forced out of the hand after that, but you can only …

Check

Passing the action to the next player without betting, which is only allowed if nobody has bet yet on that rou…

Cold call

Calling a raise (or a re-raise) without having put any money into the pot yet in that round. Cold-calling a 3-…

Fold

Giving up your hand and any claim to the pot. Folded cards go face down to the dealer; you cannot get them bac…