Playable hands for small blind

B

bullofclay

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Obviously there's a lot of different situations that arise which determine whether or not to call as small blind but it's always a little tempting to play any two cards. Is there any general starting hand requirements for small blind?
 
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PISSST

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Small blind is a bad position, you are first to act after the flop and you are forced to put in money preflop. I always think that you mostly cannot call a raise in sb you have to either 3-bet or fold. Exceptions being small pp and SC when you can just call. hands like J10, Q10, JQ, K10 etc. should be folded to a raise.

If there are a lot of limpers, you can complete with any two half-playable hands, so even 67off can be played here, because if you flop something nice, there is already a lot of dough on the table. Hands like J3, 10 2, still aren't playable however. If it has been folded to you, there really isn't any incentive to play, so limit you're starting hand selection.
 
silverslugger33

silverslugger33

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It depends what has happened before you. If there are 4 or more limpers, I would call with pretty much ATC, figuring that you are getting the odds even considering you'll have to hit a monster. However, with maybe one limper or 0 in front of you, you should just fold your bad cards. No sense putting in twice as much as you need to with cards that you wouldn't want to put any money in with in the first place.
 
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btn1111

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Yeah, normally, whenever I'm small blind and I play pre-flop as if I wasn't either of the blinds I usually end up playing better. In other words, unless you know your opponents, play more conservatively on the small blind. One of the hardest hurdles to get over when playing is to learn that folding in cases where you have money in can often be more beneficial than calling.
 
Exit141RTe1

Exit141RTe1

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I would agree, playing junk in the SB spells trouble ...quick. I play very selective hands in this position and don't mind the fold.
 
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