Theory Question of the Day--Playing from the Small Blind
An interesting discussion is raging now about playing tight pre-flop over at the forums at Bet the Pot, and it seems that many players there are split on the issue.
There is a camp who play uber-tight, with VP$IP's in the low teens. There is another smaller camp, of which I'm a part of, that plays with a VP$IP of around 20%. And of course, yet another camp who plays more loosely, with VP$IP's in the thirties and even sometimes higher.
The uber-tight players put out a very sensible theory on playing from the SB. They say basically that if you wouldn't play the hand UTG, then don't play it in the SB. It's not really revolutionary thought, after all, after the pre-flop betting, the SB is essentially UTG. My problem with that theory personally is that, especially in an unraised pot, isn't it worth playing a speculative hand for half-price? I'm not talking junk, like 64o, I'm talking about small pairs, like 22, 33, suited paint like KJs, KTs, QTs, bigger suited connectors like 98s, or even offsuit aces like A9o. My VP$IP from the SB is near 29%--probably very loose, but I'm not cold calling pre-flop raises, these are just tossing in an extra quarter to see if I hit a flop hard.
Is that playing crappy poker? Am I losing too much by tossing in those extra quarters at the $50NL? I am a winning player from the SB, winning 0.02 BB/hand. I'd like to hear the community's take on this!
BTW, after 600 hands (sample size, I know, I know) at $50 NL, I'm winning at 18.04 BB/100. Thanks again, April!!
There is a camp who play uber-tight, with VP$IP's in the low teens. There is another smaller camp, of which I'm a part of, that plays with a VP$IP of around 20%. And of course, yet another camp who plays more loosely, with VP$IP's in the thirties and even sometimes higher.
The uber-tight players put out a very sensible theory on playing from the SB. They say basically that if you wouldn't play the hand UTG, then don't play it in the SB. It's not really revolutionary thought, after all, after the pre-flop betting, the SB is essentially UTG. My problem with that theory personally is that, especially in an unraised pot, isn't it worth playing a speculative hand for half-price? I'm not talking junk, like 64o, I'm talking about small pairs, like 22, 33, suited paint like KJs, KTs, QTs, bigger suited connectors like 98s, or even offsuit aces like A9o. My VP$IP from the SB is near 29%--probably very loose, but I'm not cold calling pre-flop raises, these are just tossing in an extra quarter to see if I hit a flop hard.
Is that playing crappy poker? Am I losing too much by tossing in those extra quarters at the $50NL? I am a winning player from the SB, winning 0.02 BB/hand. I'd like to hear the community's take on this!
BTW, after 600 hands (sample size, I know, I know) at $50 NL, I'm winning at 18.04 BB/100. Thanks again, April!!
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