Playing from the SB in a "Battle Of The Blinds"

LizaBuv

LizaBuv

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Looking for a little advice playing the SB in these "Battle Of The Blinds" confrontations.

Please consider the following 2 battles.
***I open raise from the SB with A2s making it 15c to go. He has just been dealt in and 3 bets it to 45c. I make the call and flop bottom pair. I check and he leads out for 60c and takes it down.
***I complete the SB probably because I remember our last confrontation with KJ. He raises to 30c and I call. Flop comes 446 rainbow. He bets 40c and
takes it down.

Did not have much history on this player up to then but found out he is a Tight Aggressive Solid.

In the second example I was really wanting to c/r, should have. Any ideas to shed some light on these situations...LizaBuv
 
WVHillbilly

WVHillbilly

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Generally fold to the 3bet in the 1st example (OOP in a 3bet pot with a weak Ace sucks). Open raise in the 2nd example, limping sucks.
 
F

fx20736

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LizaBuv said:
Looking for a little advice playing the SB in these "Battle Of The Blinds" confrontations.

Please consider the following 2 battles.
***I open raise from the SB with A2s making it 15c to go. He has just been dealt in and 3 bets it to 45c. I make the call and flop bottom pair. I check and he leads out for 60c and takes it down.
***I complete the SB probably because I remember our last confrontation with KJ. He raises to 30c and I call. Flop comes 446 rainbow. He bets 40c and
takes it down.

Did not have much history on this player up to then but found out he is a Tight Aggressive Solid.

In the second example I was really wanting to c/r, should have. Any ideas to shed some light on these situations...LizaBuv
Click to expand...

When you are in the Small Blind you play every street out of position. In order to steal the blinds you need to risk 3x the bb to win 1bb. In order to make that profitable you need a villain who folds easily or cards that will play well if villain calls.

if villain folds easily you can raise ATC (until they adjust and start playing back at you). If villain doesn't fold easily you will need cards that have a good chance of flopping some equity. In other words, you are rasing for bluff or for value. If you bet for value you need hands that play well OOP. Small suited Aces and dominated Broadway hand like AQ, AJ KQ KJ etc. do not play well OOP. So you would be better playing pocket pairs and Ace-King in this situation.
 
Pascal-lf

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Unless you feel you've got a real edge against the opponent post flop, steal more from the button and less from the small blind, even if that does mean giving walks.

At micros players won't play back much without good hands so will likely adapt to your raises by flatting as opposed to 3betting which will end up being a pain for you.
 
No Brainer

No Brainer

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I had a guy sitting on my right the other day with a 45% steal over about 500 hands. His steal from SB was something ridiculous like 83% and fold to 3bet was nearly 100%. In about 20 orbits he opened from the small blind 5 times and I 3 bet him every time and took it down. He obviously didn't adjust by either tightening his SB range, 4 betting light or moving tables.
 
LizaBuv

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fx20736 said:
When you are in the Small Blind you play every street out of position. In order to steal the blinds you need to risk 3x the bb to win 1bb. In order to make that profitable you need a villain who folds easily or cards that will play well if villain calls.

if villain folds easily you can raise ATC (until they adjust and start playing back at you). If villain doesn't fold easily you will need cards that have a good chance of flopping some equity. In other words, you are rasing for bluff or for value. If you bet for value you need hands that play well OOP. Small suited Aces and dominated Broadway hand like AQ, AJ KQ KJ etc. do not play well OOP. So you would be better playing pocket pairs and Ace-King in this situation.
Click to expand...

Two questions
What should I do with suited Aces, AQ, AJ, KQ and KJ etc when up against a tough opponent; Should I just fold them? Really would have a tough time folding in this spot and not really crazy about limping with them either.

Second question, anybody reading this post interested in volunteering some ranges that might do well against an opponent who folds easily?

Thanks in advance...LizaBuv
 
LuckyChippy

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LizaBuv said:
Two questions
What should I do with suited Aces, AQ, AJ, KQ and KJ etc when up against a tough opponent; Should I just fold them? Really would have a tough time folding in this spot and not really crazy about limping with them either.

Second question, anybody reading this post interested in volunteering some ranges that might do well against an opponent who folds easily?

Thanks in advance...LizaBuv
Click to expand...

If they fold lots then try this:

22+,A2s+,K2s+,Q2s+,J2s+,T2s+,92s+,82s+,72s+,62s+,52s+,42s+,32s,A2o+,K9o+,Q9o+,J9o+,T9o,98o,87o,76o,65o,54o,43o,32o
 
GunslingerZ

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fx20736 said:
if villain folds easily you can raise ATC (until they adjust and start playing back at you). If villain doesn't fold easily you will need cards that have a good chance of flopping some equity. In other words, you are rasing for bluff or for value. If you bet for value you need hands that play well OOP. Small suited Aces and dominated Broadway hand like AQ, AJ KQ KJ etc. do not play well OOP. So you would be better playing pocket pairs and Ace-King in this situation.
Click to expand...

I would rather have two high broadway cards then small pairs, even OOP. Hitting top pair is a strong hand heads up, and if you flop just overcards you have decent equity against a smaller pair. Whereas with a small to medium pair, often many overcards will come, you won't know what your opponent is calling down with, and without hitting a set, it will be hard to get to showdown profitably.
 
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