Small Blind

Have just recently watched all the WSOP 06 events.

The vast majority of the time the SB would call in order to see the flop with any 2 cards. Not so much when a raise was in but with limpers yes. This was the case when the blinds were also huge.

What are peoples views on this. Are any 2 cards considered good enough to put the extra in, or do you wait until you have good cards.

Can see the logic behind both doing and not doing this.

I dont mind this too much in a tourney but if you do this in a cash game it is a huge leak in your game. Also if you are a small stack seems pretty stupid to do this since if you are raised you will either need to commit all your chips or fold and lose chip you might of needed.


I just checked my poker tracker and I'm putting money in SB about 25.0 which I think is a little high must of been getting good hands latley.

I call on small blind often, unless im very short stacked then i wait for a good hand.

But you cant do it too often without the guy on your left getting sick of it and starting to raise after you. If blinds are up and everyone folds to you and BB and you win the hand, hes not gonna let you limp in again.

Hello withawedge,
You didnt indicate if you watched the 2006 WSOP events as they were being played live, or if you watched the made-for-tv events. This makes a huge difference as the made-for-tv events cuts out 99% of the hands played and will show only the hands that make a difference in the play.

Personally, I play the hands according to position (most of the time, dont want to give away ALL my secrets!). If I get dealt 7-2 off in the SB, I don't waste add'l money chasing the 1 in a 100 flop.

Hope this helps,
vatyx

Being in the mindset of "ah well, im half way there, may aswell post the rest" is one of my biggest leaks in cash games and one that ill be looking to plug.

It is tempting to do it more the lower the limits (especially when you see you would of flopped a set or house hand after hand when you fold) but as said previously when you start moving up limits this kind of play will damage your bankroll and its difficult to gain any info from the table playing out of position

In cash play it can be a nasty leak, but in tournies it's viable to call from the SB with all sorts of hands with limpers in front. Harrington suggests calling from the SB if you get 7 to 1 odds with pretty much anything.

The real art though is knowing when you havn't hit the flop hard enough and have to let it go as this can turn a justifiable limp preflop into a major leak. For example if you have J5 and there are 4 limpers in front and you call for 2% of your stack and the flop comes JT2 then it's knowing how to play it from there, and most importantly when to let it go that becomes the tricky part.

What you are really playing for is the Small Blind special, a juicy two pair or well-disguised straight that enables you to check-call and take down a big pot on the turn or river, but for every one of these you are going to find plenty of flops that you catch a piece of only to find that you are out of position and facing resistance and difficult decisions.

Definately worth speculating a few chips with the right odds though if you can avoid the bear traps