Playing out of the blinds

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Jbdrmaster

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I have found a glaring leak in my low stake cash game and am looking for advice to fix it. I loose all my money out of the blinds, and am profitable in every other position. I guess the easy fix is to just always fold, but that's not learning the game. What I would like to know is if I'm going to play a hand out of the blinds should I just always re-raise and only play hands that I feel comfortable doing this with? How do you guys play out of the blinds? Do you look at it as the price of sitting with the table, and are ok with giving them up easily?
 
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i give mine up pretty easy except:

1) if the same guy keeps raising. after about the 3rd or 4th time, i'll play back at him. even if i don't win the pot, it sends a message.

2) if there's a lot of limpers, and i'm getting at least 3 to 1 to come in, i'll see a flop with any 2 cards. if the flop comes something like 9-4-2, i'll lead out.

3) i always come in with the full buy in, so it doesn't bother me to fold every blind if that's what i have to do.

just remember that you'll be out of position. don't even think about calling an UTG raise from the blind -- i see guys lose their whole stack because they called from the BB with K/2 suited and they flop a king and wind up against A/K....if you're playing rags out of position, you need to flop 2 pair or better to keep going. if you're up against an over pair, your small 2 pair is tenuous at best....
 
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Everyone loses money in the blinds. Every hand is less profitable in the blinds than any other position. Restealing in the BB is important in tournaments, but completing in the SB is just burning money in just about all poker games.
 
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I have found a glaring leak in my low stake cash game and am looking for advice to fix it. I loose all my money out of the blinds, and am profitable in every other position. I guess the easy fix is to just always fold, but that's not learning the game. What I would like to know is if I'm going to play a hand out of the blinds should I just always re-raise and only play hands that I feel comfortable doing this with? How do you guys play out of the blinds? Do you look at it as the price of sitting with the table, and are ok with giving them up easily?






Seems the same for me aswell sometimes!
 
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Everyone loses money in the blinds. Every hand is less profitable in the blinds than any other position. Restealing in the BB is important in tournaments, but completing in the SB is just burning money in just about all poker games.

couldn't agree more, protecting your blinds in tourneys is much more important, especially deep in the tourney. as far as a cash game, no biggie. the blinds are such a small % of your stack (unless you buy in for the minimum, which i don't agree with at all) that it's not worth investing that much in a small pot. i don't know how many times i've tried to defend my blind and ended up losing half my stack or more in a pot that wasn't worth it to begin with.

i'm assuming that you're playing full ring games. i leave the short handed games alone.
 
Kasanova King

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Every hand is less profitable in the blinds than any other position..



* With the exception of AA - which out of the BB is just behind the button and cutoff in terms of EV.
 
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* With the exception of AA - which out of the BB is just behind the button and cutoff in terms of EV.

I was going to say the only hand I like playing out of the SB is AA, but there are certainly situations where it's debatable. The SB is just death, avoid it at all costs.
 
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* With the exception of AA - which out of the BB is just behind the button and cutoff in terms of EV.

i would honestly make the argument that even AA has a reduced EV in the blinds...

Against an ABC player AA is easy to play, but against anyone with the ability to think on multiple levels, the advantage of position gives a definite edge in any situation...

I suppose if people are going to just be blind with AA and commit without even looking at the board than SB / BB does matter though right...
 
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It is pointless to protect your blinds in a micro stakes ring game. You are much better off protecting your button. The only time it is advisable to protect your blinds is in a tourney where you are getting into blind trouble. As far as the small blind is concerned that is the worse place to loosen up your starting range in because you are first to speak after the flop.If you don't flop a monster you end up checking and giving away the hand to a raiser behind you.
 
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I am fairly new at computer poker, but have since learned from my coach to keep an eye on the blinds. I usually play all good hands and fold on the trash. I use the hands between blinds that are definitely not good hands to fold and save chips. But, if I get something good, I will usually go in low so I can fold when it comes back around the table if I see things that may indicate that I went in at a wrong time. Then I simply fold. Remember that the name of the game is to save chips and not gamble with trash hoping you will hit. Usually when my chips get below 500, I evaluate the situation and am subject to go all in with a descent hand. Good luck on the felt.
 
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I am fairly new at computer poker, but have since learned from my coach to keep an eye on the blinds. I usually play all good hands and fold on the trash. I use the hands between blinds that are definitely not good hands to fold and save chips. But, if I get something good, I will usually go in low so I can fold when it comes back around the table if I see things that may indicate that I went in at a wrong time. Then I simply fold. Remember that the name of the game is to save chips and not gamble with trash hoping you will hit. Usually when my chips get below 500, I evaluate the situation and am subject to go all in with a descent hand. Good luck on the felt.

I am going to assume that the comment above is in reference to action during tournaments ? in which case i agree...

In a cash game, protecting blinds is always dangerous for reasons i assume everyone knows, but if i were to defend my small / big blind i would be raising a large amount to isolate one opponent and decrease the variance of my hand.
 
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Try not to play out of the blinds unless you have a strong hand. If someone is re-raising a lot in late position, then re-pop him and get him to respect your blinds more.

Whatever you do don't call, unless you can balance your play well, it almost always ends badly.
 
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I was going to say the only hand I like playing out of the SB is AA, but there are certainly situations where it's debatable. The SB is just death, avoid it at all costs.


does that mean u fold everything else that gets dealt to you in the SB if its been raised? obvs it situational but if a "good" player raised from MP and got no callers would you be foldin AK/AQs or Js/Qs there or reraising? were talkin cash games. i know you probs player a way higher limit then i do. imma noob.
 
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Ak is all-in pre-flop 98% of the time imo, so yeah SB equals raiseaments, try and be the shover not the caller.

Generally you want to play good card in the blinds. The small blind really does suck, whatever you do, never complete unless EVERYBODY else has limped before you so you have odds. Trust me folding everything except premiums is instantly more profitable than calling.

Against a late position raiser who you know will play the button wide, you can open up your range and 3-bet.
A MP raise you should just get out of the way unless your hand is big enough to raise. AJ is foldable against a non awful TAG imo. A10 definately.

This is all FR btw. 6-max i'm a lot looser.
 
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ya for sure im never ever callin unless to set-mine and even then i like to have at least a 3 way pot goin, or maybe if i have a SC and its a 4-5 way pot. shove AK preflop with 100bb stack? last night i was getting all my big hands in the SB so i would raise it real big, like 7-8bbs+ if there were limpers and way more if there was a raise just to isolate but is shoving a safer/+ev way to play it?
 
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by big hands i mean AK/AQs or Js+. AJ is an easy fold there for me. yes, im also talkin about FR here.
 
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ya for sure im never ever callin unless to set-mine and even then i like to have at least a 3 way pot goin, or maybe if i have a SC and its a 4-5 way pot. shove AK preflop with 100bb stack? last night i was getting all my big hands in the SB so i would raise it real big, like 7-8bbs+ if there were limpers and way more if there was a raise just to isolate but is shoving a safer/+ev way to play it?

i would say preflop shoving is a horrible play... if you are playing out of the SB make the re-raise large enough that it isolates... where your big hand has an advantage against 1 person...

the purpose of raising / re-raising is not just to isolate but to define a hand and get insight into the hands of your opponents, if you blind shove 100bb only a hand that beats you is calling (unless you have AA obviously)
 
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does that mean u fold everything else that gets dealt to you in the SB if its been raised? obvs it situational but if a "good" player raised from MP and got no callers would you be foldin AK/AQs or Js/Qs there or reraising? were talkin cash games. i know you probs player a way higher limit then i do. imma noob.

No I don't fold everything else and I probably don't play higher limits.

In live, loose passive games I will complete with a reasonable range of hands, like medium suited aces, 98s+, stuff like that. Folding suited garbage like Q6s or K4s and other junk. If there is an UTG straddle, I will fold all of that and even fold stuff like AJo/KQ if the straddler is very likely to raise. (If there's a straddle, I play the BB like I would the SB).

In a limped pot I'm merely completing with many very good hands...In most situations I am only raising literally TT+/AK....In many situations in limped pots, stuff like AQ or 88 can be a monster but I'm playing it cautiously if I don't have more than 1 pair.

In a raised pot I am folding a lot of good hands, sometimes as good as AQ and 77...there has to be a good chance of getting it multiway for me to play the SB with 22 or something.
 
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Most of my play anymore is at the limit tables and therefore my view here is from that perspectove. I don't want to get involved in the hand to begin with unless I think I have the best hand to begin with. As others have stated previously, I concur that the blinds can be big disadvantage. However, the blinds can at times gives me that option to check/raise others hoping narrow the field and or get the extra bet(s) from others. Ususally, in the SB I only want to play premium hands and if I do play obviously it will always be for a raise-re-raise. In the BB I am a bit more liberal, especially if I think the CO or dealer is trying to steal from me and will raise or re-raise his play.
 
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I tried folding everything in the SB yesterday in my live $1/$2 game. On more than one occasion, a player or dealer said to me, "You fold for $1?"

I had figured out that I was losing roughly $30-$40 a night in the SB. I'd win some small pots when no one had anything but I'd lose more chasing. And it's almost never worth chasing in the SB even on premium draws because players in position are less likely to pay you off.

More typically, I'd end up in stupid spots like this: I complete with QJo in a limped pot, the flop is Q93 two-flush, I lead out for $12 or something, get 2 callers, and someone in late position repops to $40...What can I do but fold, often with the best hand.

(Despite this, no one seemed to notice the one time all night when I called an UTG raise in the SB...UTG raises to $15, gets 4 callers, I call in the SB with TT. Flop is JT8, UTG bets $60 with KJs, it folds back to me and I shove.)
 
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ok, i guess i kinda missinterpreted your first post when u said u only like to play AA in the SB. i thought that would have to be the nittiest u can play ever, but now i see where your comin from.

funny story bout that live game. is awesome when people dont pay enough atention to how others are playin, even when comments are made about it. so i figure he called the shove?

its true being OOP can never make up for itself from all the times u hit a big hand cause you never win the maximum. my game improved when i heard a pro say one time, "you win more and lose less when you play in position." that line you wrote about the QJ explains that perfectly.
 
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