Limit Lessons: Playing From the Blinds
Over at Bet The Pot, we've had a spirited discussion about starting hands to play from the blinds in Limit Holdem. Just as some people play a LAGgy style and win, and others play tight/aggressive and win, the many opinions out there regarding playing from the blinds can drive the unsure player crazy trying to figure out what way is best for them.
Here are some key stats from my 20k+ LHE PokerTracker database:
VP$IP from SB: 25.19% overall, 19.75% at 3/6.
Win Rate from SB: -0.06 BB/Hand
Win Rate from BB: -0.14 BB/Hand
Many players were surprised at my rather low losses from the blinds, as it is natural (with forced betting) that these will be your least profitable or highest losing positions. A lot of this is attributable to my rather low VP$IP from the SB, and that I don't get goaded into doing what ESPN's Norman Chad calls "playing for a discount."
Position in the blinds in LHE is somewhat of a quandary. Pre-flop, the blinds are the last to act. You have a positional advantage over your opponents before the flop, mainly to offset the enormous positional disadvantage you have after the flop. Because you are forced to bet a full small bet, 1/2 small bet, 1/3 small bet, or 2/5 small bet pre-flop, you are given the advantage of acting last and seeing what other players do. After the flop, however, the blinds act first, making a blind essentially play under the gun (UTG) on subsequent streets.
This is likely the biggest debate in the poker world with regard to playing from the blinds. Some people, including Sklansky, Malmuth, and Miller, in Small Stakes Holdem (SSHE) recommend that you play essentially any two suited cards from the SB, figuring that winning with any disguised hand you may make will offset any losses you incur from playing so many hands. Piers Majestyk, a highly successful mid-limit player for many years and a frequent poster and moderator over at BTP, advocates only playing those hands from the SB that you'd play UTG. I tend (obviously by my stats) to play far more like the latter. As for the BB, obviously any unraised pot gives you a free look at the flop, while a raised pot should yield similar tendencies to playing unraised pots from the SB.
Another controversial discussion is how and how often to defend (specifically) your BB. Here, we primarily employ and apply the "Gap Concept."
A great deal of this involves recognizing the position of the raiser. By the guidelines of the Gap Concept, if you're in the BB facing an EP raiser, you should only call the raise with a hand that you would raise with from EP. Likewise for MP and LP. I take this a little further and say that if I'm in the BB, and the button raises, I'll call and "peel one off" with basically any two suited cards or better to defend my blind from a steal. A chart for consideration:
This may not be ideal for you, depending on how well you play post-flop (the looser you play pre-flop, the better you need to play post-flop to play and make up for weaker holdings), but it may be a solid guideline. Also, as if you couldn't tell, my poker play is not from a chart. I create the charts as a guideline, then vary my play according to my read on the players. Live, this is quite easy, especially when playing the novices that play the 3/6, 4/8, and 6/12 games in Atlantic City. Online, this requires careful observation and is enhanced with tools like PokerTracker, GameTime+ or Poker Ace HUD (PA Hud). It is vital that if you have a read on a player who is raising pre-flop, that you consider that read in every decision you make from calling the raise to your post-flop play. Without a read on a player, it is undoubtedly better to tighten up either relatively or absolutely in blind defense. Better to save a small bet now than to cost yourself small bets and big bets later.
To a 3-bet, just as you would suspect, fold everything but absolute premium hands like AA, KK, QQ, and AKs. You never want to call 2 or more bets cold without an absolute premium holding.
You should play nearly as tight from the Small Blind as you do from Under the Gun (UTG)
The looser you play any position pre-flop, the better and more efficient your post-flop play needs to be.
Defending your blind is easier to do when the pre-flop raiser is in a later position.
When defending your blind, apply the Gap Concept and only call with hands better than you would raise with from the raiser's position.
If you play well post-flop, and have a read on your opponent, defend your blind more aggressively against a LP or SB raiser.
If you're 3-bet, and you don't hold a monster, let it go--you're likely waybehind.
A great deal of post-flop play is situation-dependent. For example, in a tighter game, where you only have 2 or 3 to the flop, and especially when the players to the flop are in late position and/or your blind counterpart, it is just about a guarantee that if I hit ANY part of the flop, backdoor flush draw, gutshot straight draw, any pair or even sometimes just a draw to a draw, I will lead out and bet. Many players see aggression from an early position player as representing strength, that your "BB special" hit the flop hard. In my experience in the tighter games at Stars, many players will fold to aggression from the blinds, and those that don't will either raise you, putting you to a decision of whether to call or raise or to dump it right there at a minimal cost, or call you, and essentially give you a free card on the turn. I get a large amount of folds on the flop, as my table image is tight-aggressive, and players figure me for a solid hand or that I hit the flop. Flops that are ragged, without draws, and featuring lower cards are usually best for stealing pots on the flop.
With players remaining in EP, you must be more careful taking a stab a pot without a decent hand or at least a draw to a good hand. Bluff those players you feel will fold (totally read-dependent), play cautiously around those players you feel are very strong. Regardless, I'm usually taking a stab at any pot I have any part of. I feel this is profitable mainly due to the high number of folds I get from opponents, but also to the fact that I'm playing mainly solid hands from the SB, and that I'm not paying anything over and above my blind from the BB, and that I'm showing early position aggression with a tight-solid-aggressive table image.
On the turn, the number of variables obviously increase, and sometimes a turn lead-out bet is enough to get rid of a straggly player who is hanging around, especially from the SB or in LP. You also need to start thinking that you may end up showing a hand down.
More PT stats:
From the BB: Win% in Position: 23.54%, WtSD: 24.66%, W$SD: 52.80%, PFR%: 5.29%
From the SB: Win% in Position: 12.36%, WtSD: 37.88%, W$SD: 51.00%, PFR%: 5.95%
What these indicate from here is that first, I do win more than expected by probability from the blinds, and far more than expected from the BB. I only play full-ring games, and it also indicates that I'm not showing down a lot of hands from the BB. I'm winning a majority of those hands before a showdown. This is a testament to not only my aggressive play, but to the weakness of my opponents. From the SB, I'm still winning more than my share at showdown, and that is solely a function of the hands I play in that position and their relative strength.
If the pot is multi-way through the turn, without a decent hand or again, a read on your opponent, you may need to consider dropping your hand, as the price for your bluff or semi-bluff now increases to at least a full big bet, and perhaps another one on the river.
If you're in an unraised pot pre-flop, and only have 2 or 3 players to the flop, take a stab at early aggression if you catch ANY part of the flop, including having just overcards.
Be more cautious dealing with EP limpers and tight MP limpers when showing post-flop aggression.
If you catch a solid hand on the flop, especially if you've been aggressive defending your blind previously, play it hard.
Don't get married to a hand in the blinds, regardless of how premium it is. You're out of position. Remember, without an A or a K on the flop, AK is nothing more than a drawing hand.
I hope this provides some insight on how I play from the blinds, and I hope it shows that while it's nearly impossible over the long term to defeat the blinds, it certainly is possible to minimize your losses and maximize your potential profit.
Here are some key stats from my 20k+ LHE PokerTracker database:
VP$IP from SB: 25.19% overall, 19.75% at 3/6.
Win Rate from SB: -0.06 BB/Hand
Win Rate from BB: -0.14 BB/Hand
Many players were surprised at my rather low losses from the blinds, as it is natural (with forced betting) that these will be your least profitable or highest losing positions. A lot of this is attributable to my rather low VP$IP from the SB, and that I don't get goaded into doing what ESPN's Norman Chad calls "playing for a discount."
The Importance of Position
Position in the blinds in LHE is somewhat of a quandary. Pre-flop, the blinds are the last to act. You have a positional advantage over your opponents before the flop, mainly to offset the enormous positional disadvantage you have after the flop. Because you are forced to bet a full small bet, 1/2 small bet, 1/3 small bet, or 2/5 small bet pre-flop, you are given the advantage of acting last and seeing what other players do. After the flop, however, the blinds act first, making a blind essentially play under the gun (UTG) on subsequent streets.
Pre-Flop Hand Selection
This is likely the biggest debate in the poker world with regard to playing from the blinds. Some people, including Sklansky, Malmuth, and Miller, in Small Stakes Holdem (SSHE) recommend that you play essentially any two suited cards from the SB, figuring that winning with any disguised hand you may make will offset any losses you incur from playing so many hands. Piers Majestyk, a highly successful mid-limit player for many years and a frequent poster and moderator over at BTP, advocates only playing those hands from the SB that you'd play UTG. I tend (obviously by my stats) to play far more like the latter. As for the BB, obviously any unraised pot gives you a free look at the flop, while a raised pot should yield similar tendencies to playing unraised pots from the SB.
Defending Your Blind
Another controversial discussion is how and how often to defend (specifically) your BB. Here, we primarily employ and apply the "Gap Concept."
You need a better hand to call a raise with than you need to make a raise with.
A great deal of this involves recognizing the position of the raiser. By the guidelines of the Gap Concept, if you're in the BB facing an EP raiser, you should only call the raise with a hand that you would raise with from EP. Likewise for MP and LP. I take this a little further and say that if I'm in the BB, and the button raises, I'll call and "peel one off" with basically any two suited cards or better to defend my blind from a steal. A chart for consideration:
Blind Defense
| The Pre-Flop Open-Raiser is in... | You should call with... |
| Early Position (UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2) | AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs, AQs, AK |
| Middle Position | AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, AKs, AQs, AJs, AK, AQ, KQs, KJs |
| Late Position (LP, CO, Button) | Read-Dependent: Pocket Pairs, Suited Paint (face cards), Big Offsuit Broadways |
| Small Blind | Read-Dependent: If SB is tight, no worse than LP. If SB is loose, perhaps any two suited (requires solid post-flop play) |
This may not be ideal for you, depending on how well you play post-flop (the looser you play pre-flop, the better you need to play post-flop to play and make up for weaker holdings), but it may be a solid guideline. Also, as if you couldn't tell, my poker play is not from a chart. I create the charts as a guideline, then vary my play according to my read on the players. Live, this is quite easy, especially when playing the novices that play the 3/6, 4/8, and 6/12 games in Atlantic City. Online, this requires careful observation and is enhanced with tools like PokerTracker, GameTime+ or Poker Ace HUD (PA Hud). It is vital that if you have a read on a player who is raising pre-flop, that you consider that read in every decision you make from calling the raise to your post-flop play. Without a read on a player, it is undoubtedly better to tighten up either relatively or absolutely in blind defense. Better to save a small bet now than to cost yourself small bets and big bets later.
To a 3-bet, just as you would suspect, fold everything but absolute premium hands like AA, KK, QQ, and AKs. You never want to call 2 or more bets cold without an absolute premium holding.
Pre-Flop Blind Play Summary
Post-Flop Play
DISCLAIMER: I play extremely aggressively post-flop and bet or raise nearly half the flops I see. If you can't let go of a marginal hand or you tend to chase too far, be cautious with the following advice. It can lose you a great deal of money.
A great deal of post-flop play is situation-dependent. For example, in a tighter game, where you only have 2 or 3 to the flop, and especially when the players to the flop are in late position and/or your blind counterpart, it is just about a guarantee that if I hit ANY part of the flop, backdoor flush draw, gutshot straight draw, any pair or even sometimes just a draw to a draw, I will lead out and bet. Many players see aggression from an early position player as representing strength, that your "BB special" hit the flop hard. In my experience in the tighter games at Stars, many players will fold to aggression from the blinds, and those that don't will either raise you, putting you to a decision of whether to call or raise or to dump it right there at a minimal cost, or call you, and essentially give you a free card on the turn. I get a large amount of folds on the flop, as my table image is tight-aggressive, and players figure me for a solid hand or that I hit the flop. Flops that are ragged, without draws, and featuring lower cards are usually best for stealing pots on the flop.
With players remaining in EP, you must be more careful taking a stab a pot without a decent hand or at least a draw to a good hand. Bluff those players you feel will fold (totally read-dependent), play cautiously around those players you feel are very strong. Regardless, I'm usually taking a stab at any pot I have any part of. I feel this is profitable mainly due to the high number of folds I get from opponents, but also to the fact that I'm playing mainly solid hands from the SB, and that I'm not paying anything over and above my blind from the BB, and that I'm showing early position aggression with a tight-solid-aggressive table image.
On the turn, the number of variables obviously increase, and sometimes a turn lead-out bet is enough to get rid of a straggly player who is hanging around, especially from the SB or in LP. You also need to start thinking that you may end up showing a hand down.
More PT stats:
From the BB: Win% in Position: 23.54%, WtSD: 24.66%, W$SD: 52.80%, PFR%: 5.29%
From the SB: Win% in Position: 12.36%, WtSD: 37.88%, W$SD: 51.00%, PFR%: 5.95%
What these indicate from here is that first, I do win more than expected by probability from the blinds, and far more than expected from the BB. I only play full-ring games, and it also indicates that I'm not showing down a lot of hands from the BB. I'm winning a majority of those hands before a showdown. This is a testament to not only my aggressive play, but to the weakness of my opponents. From the SB, I'm still winning more than my share at showdown, and that is solely a function of the hands I play in that position and their relative strength.
If the pot is multi-way through the turn, without a decent hand or again, a read on your opponent, you may need to consider dropping your hand, as the price for your bluff or semi-bluff now increases to at least a full big bet, and perhaps another one on the river.
Post-Flop Blind Play Summary
I hope this provides some insight on how I play from the blinds, and I hope it shows that while it's nearly impossible over the long term to defeat the blinds, it certainly is possible to minimize your losses and maximize your potential profit.
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