Defending your blinds during Tournament play

Jam Castro · Apr 23, 2009

Hi Guys

!
We all know that Tournaments are hard nut to crack unlike ring games where you can be profitable in just a few accumulation of chips. I know we have to defend our blinds but not most of the times. Defending our blinds is very crucial; and we can't wait for the premium hands all the time coz you might be left behind paying for the blinds as it rises. Well, I just want to ask you guys...what are the hole cards you usually play to defend your blinds or what's your strategy in defending your blinds

?

N.D. · Apr 23, 2009

I still haven't mastered it. Somehow whenever I go to defend the person on the button or in the SB happens to be holding AA.

diamond_06_06 · Apr 23, 2009

Like all things in poker it depends. But as a very general rule defend more liberally against a looser opponent and fold more against a blind steal from a tighter player. When defending your blinds the better way is to 4-bet your opponent as opposed to just calling. Unless of course your opponent is a weak LAG who shows aggression in early streets but then tends to back off when faced with some resistance. Then you may try some trickier plays like flat calling pre flop and then re-stealing with a check raise on the flop.

Just a few random thoughts off the top of my head.

TheseNutsWin · Apr 24, 2009

i think, but i might be mistaken that you should also consider consider your/his stack sizes and looseness/aggressiveness of your opponent and how is he perceiving you based on the past hands. Have you 3bet him or showed weak hands in the past. Does be perceive you as a nit? will you get away with a 3 BET cause he folds weaker hands? Is he a donkey? Defending blinds by aggressiveness against donkeys dont tend to work because they call you no matter what. Always consider your opponents and how you are being perceived by them..

jaymfc · Apr 24, 2009

I don't defend my blinds and they (CCers) all know it so they steal with ATC everytime if checked around to them . if I call they just make a good c-bet and if I didn't hit I'll fold . they are mercyless so they can be trapped good but only if I get the cards . same when I'm the SB the BB will always steal knowing unless I wake up with a hand I won't defend .
I like the real bullys that bet big or AI to drive you out , they usually have a large amount in the pot before they realize I have a hand

I will fight back with a marginal hand a small percentage of the time but if you're going to fold to a c-bet unless you hit then you might as well fold PF and save money . I'm not a great poker player but thats JMO

kevkojak · Apr 24, 2009

Early on i'll top up my small blind or call a minimum raise in the BB with any 2 cards. Literally any 2!
Later on when the blinds start eating away and represent more than 3% of my stack, it'll depend on the size of the raise i'm facing. Minimum raise? I'll generally call with any royalty combined with 7+, any suited connectors and any pocket pair. Cant be overly tight when you already have half the money in the pot.
Larger raises are different. Need Q 10+ to be thinking about committing chips I dont have to, quite often its easier to let the blind go and steal someone elses!

BluffYou123 · Apr 24, 2009

I try not to defend my blinds if there is a raise unless I have good cards.

It will only get you into trouble.

I will only defend my bb if someone is constantly raising me to steal.

My general rule is that if I wouldn't play the hand if I wasn't in the blinds, I won't play it when I am.

VOL · Apr 24, 2009

In early phase or middle phase no need to defend blinds, but in the late phase i try to re-raise if cards allow me to do it but some times can make some bluff

Tom1559 · Apr 24, 2009

A lot depends on the hand betting situation. If everybody has folded round to the SB and they raise me I would call with almost anything. If somebody raises from early position they are telling you they have got a good hand and unless I felt I could match them I would fold. The most difficult is when the button raises. That is a harder decision and a lot depends on what I know about that player.

LuckyChippy · Apr 24, 2009

Early on in a tourney i really don't care if they take it 40 times in a row. What's 20 or 100 chips? They mean nothing. Later on i'm much more likely to re-steal. Calling is pretty bad IMO unless it's really early on.
If i'm going to defend early on i need a big hand, big ace or big pair, I may call with connectors.

Later on i'll re-raise with almost anything if i think he's at it. If I have connectors or better i'll probably re-pop it. It depends on how loose the raiser is, the looser he is the looser I am.

When i'm big stacked, you better have a hand cause i'll probably come after you unless you've proven solid. If i'm short i'm liable to shove it with anything, I prefer J4 to A6 in that situation.

As someone said before, I prefer stealing blinds, and i'll most likely give up mine unless you're a loosey goosey, then i'm coming after you. Until I find a reason to stop

ElTrain · Apr 24, 2009

It depends on so many things for me. How many people are in the hand. How big is the raise? Do I have at least a marginal hand?

roy22284 · Apr 26, 2009

defending your blinds?

I don't defend my blinds unless I have the cards to call with, I like a variety of whole cards. I like to call with nothing sometimes to setemup for the fall too. Just play to the best of your ability no? If you must try to defend your blinds, usually if you reraise their reraise they will let you know what they have by how they play, if they just call or reraise again... sometimes they r just bluffin, you just neva know!

BKonnak · Apr 29, 2009

LuckyChippy said:
Early on in a tourney i really don't care if they take it 40 times in a row. What's 20 or 100 chips? They mean nothing. Later on i'm much more likely to re-steal. Calling is pretty bad IMO unless it's really early on.
If i'm going to defend early on i need a big hand, big ace or big pair, I may call with connectors.

Later on i'll re-raise with almost anything if i think he's at it. If I have connectors or better i'll probably re-pop it. It depends on how loose the raiser is, the looser he is the looser I am.

When i'm big stacked, you better have a hand cause i'll probably come after you unless you've proven solid. If i'm short i'm liable to shove it with anything, I prefer J4 to A6 in that situation.

As someone said before, I prefer stealing blinds, and i'll most likely give up mine unless you're a loosey goosey, then i'm coming after you. Until I find a reason to stop

I adhere to the same strategy.

left52side · Apr 29, 2009

i think, but i might be mistaken that you should also consider consider your/his stack sizes and looseness/aggressiveness of your opponent and how is he perceiving you based on the past hands. Have you 3bet him or showed weak hands in the past. Does be perceive you as a nit? will you get away with a 3 BET cause he folds weaker hands? Is he a donkey? Defending blinds by aggressiveness against donkeys dont tend to work because they call you no matter what. Always consider your opponents and how you are being perceived by them..

Well said ...
I will usually get a good jist of the table before I even start tring to protect my blinds.
See who and were I can make A steal or two and protect mine.
I am not going to wory about it to much early on in a tournament,although many might disagree.
I will start focousing more when the blinds tend to increase a bit.

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Defending your blinds during Tournament play

Jam Castro

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N.D.

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diamond_06_06

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TheseNutsWin

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jaymfc

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VOL

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Tom1559

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