Defending Your Blind

I understand the need to sometimes defend your BB in tournaments, but is this tactic highly overrated in ring games? I've made some of my biggest payoffs when someone wrongly thought I was stealing the blinds just because I was raising from the button.

For instance, if someone bets 3xBB from the button and you have AJo on the button, is this a dangerous call? A no-brainer? A raise situation?

Edit: This is assuming no reads on the villain, and full buyins.

sI'm assuming you meant to say AJ in the BB. If so, without reads I'm usually calling this (even though I hate playing OOP). If it's an habitual stealer I'll 3bet and if the guy only raises with the goods regardless of position I'll toss it.

Oops, yeah that was AJo on the BB. In this particular hand, I folded, but I could see myself going either way on this one.

In the situation you describe, either fold it and forget it or re-raise and see if he is serious. Either play is acceptable, and I might be inclined to choose the re-raise if you have recently been quiet. It does no harm sometimes to let the table see that you are awake.

In general, however, there is little point in arguing unduly over the blinds in a ring game. They usually represent too small a proportion of the stacks to be worth worrying about.

reraise...defend that blind. Or fold. Either is acceptable IMHO. Any extra info would be determining factor. IE villans playing style..whats he shown down??/ This one is on the fence fer sho!

Wait, you would fold AJ from the BB to a raise? I'd probably take the flat call preflop and bet out postflop regardless line. Whether it was a steal or legitimate hand that misses the flop I think this line is profitable in the long run. AJo is easily beating a typical range for a preflop open raise from the button. Don't think about it as defending your blind. Think about it as getting value out of what is most likely the best hand. A 3-bet here isn't bad either.

I agree with OP I think defending your blind is a bit overrated. Some players will take it as a personal attack and come after you with marginal hands. I usually play pretty tight from the blinds as long as the raiser wasn't in steal position.

Depends on the limit as well. If its micro, let them have it all day long. Your getting it back plus a lot more later on if they think stealing at those levels is a wise thing to do.

If you really think villian is making a steal attempt from the button and your holding AJ in the BB then your only move is to re-raise.

shinedown.45 said:

If you really think villian is making a steal attempt from the button and your holding AJ in the BB then your only move is to re-raise.

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I think flat calling with the intention of betting the flop no matter what (stop-and-go) is also a reasonable alternative. There are many hands that he can be "stealing" with that would justify a pre-flop call of your reraise, but would require a fold after missing the flop.

In addition to that, a reraise can help them narrow the range of hands you have in the blind. If they know I will call with any of the better 50% of my hands, it's going to be really tough for them to know that any particular flop didn't hit me. A reraise generally means big cards or a pair, and if the flop comes with uncoordinated rags, I find that it becomes harder to steal against it if I have reraised.

There is also something to be said for minimizing the amount you are paying to play a hand out of position. By reraising, you are reopening the betting, and if they decide to push on you, then you're either racing with AJo or giving up what you have invested in the hand.