Small Blinds

Should a small blind always complete the blind? I'm already in half the beat so I'm thinking why not. Should there be times when it's a good idea to fold and not complete the blind?

Well, small blind also means first to act after the flop, river, and turn, which means you're in worst position already (unless you're successful with betting/bluffing on the gun). Furthermore, if you don't really have a decent hand, you can catch top pair or something similar and fool yourself into thinking you have the best hand when someone else can beat you simply with a kicker. For instance, let's say you have J 2 off, and you call the blind and J 4 8 comes on the flop, you could loose a lot of chips calling raises thinking you have top pair, but someone else called the blinds with J 9. I guess you just have to be aware of that and make sure you read people well. It all depends on you and the other players, IMO. On the other hand, you can catch something like two pair, trips, straights, and flushes that people will have a hard time reading. I, personally, don't call as the small blind with bad hands.

Thanks for your reply Clubsta. I have learned it's not good to call everytime I'm the small blind even though I have heard people say, your already half in so why not.

Yeah . . . many factors including your stack size, other players, the quality of your hand, etc., but in general it's not good to call all the time, but perhaps it's called more often than not being a small or big blind.

SB play is somewhat intricate. I find appropriate to complete the call under these circumstances:

- All players fold including the button leaving heads you with heads up play
- All players limp in; excellent pot odds 4:1 or better regardless of what your holding

if there are multiple players that have limped in, I'm in favor of limping as well. However, if it folds to you in the small blind, I think its almost always a raising situation.

playing from the SB is an art not a science it depends on so many different things to get it right. As a beginner I complete the blind most of the time just to see the flop and when short stacked i'll fold or raise/all-in/bluff with one limper and the BB yet to act. It depends.....(lol)

I assume by "complete" you just mean calling the BB (just to be clear).

I complete on the SB with the same range I use on the Button. I'm looking to flop a strong hand so I can play it out of position; otherwise I'm check-folding. On a strong draw I might call a min-raise. In tournaments I tighten my range based on where my stack is compared to the blinds. You're almost always getting great odds to complete. Even just you and the BB gives you 3:1. With just a few limpers you can get close to 10:1.

FWIW this works about the same for BB calling min-raise. I tighten up a bit because I'm up against an actual RAISER and not a limper. Also, the odds don't always get as juicy since the raiser will flush out limpers.

A half priced piece of poo is still a piece of poo.

Keep that in mind the next time you are considering completing the sb.

I love being able to complete the bet when players limp in PF. I'll complete with any 2 gap hands, Kx suited and any suited cards that can make a strght. The only thing to watch out for is if you don't hit the nut stght. You gotta be able to lay that kind of thing down against stiff resistance.

that half-off price adds up after a while. i really don't want to play it unless this is a hand i'd play anywhere. it's a lousy position to be especially if it's limp city. even if everyone's folded and i got trash...most of the time i'm just going to let my buddy BB have it, unless you're raising. he's in position if you limp and sometimes he snaps back at your crap with a raise preflop...that 92o isn't looking like a "oh what the hell, why not?" hand anymore

Depends on the game....

In a cash game the incentive to play is much lower, so I'd only do so in very favorable spots, such as everyone having limped thus getting a good price to call. Or everyone has folded around and you have a better than average hand.

In a SNG, I tend to find more reasons to play here, especially late or around the bubble when everyone seems to fear losing. It can be a great spot to steal the blinds by raising over the BB if there aren't any other players.

I find it good to complete if there is some type of flush or straight draw, small pairs, or the pot odds are very good (i.e., there were a lot of limpers in front of you). Of course, you have to gauge the play of the BB as well.

I've also observed that when limping in against one or two, more experienced players, and the flop comes out a bunch of small cards, you will be given more "credit" for hitting your hand, and it's good to take a shot at the pot.

The SB is OOP for the rest of the hand. This is very very bad.

You make more money in position than OOP, just look at HEM / PT3 for confirmation of this.

some said

Like someone said it depends on a lot of things,,, It just isn't a cut and dry decision,,,,I like to play middle suited connectors or suited one gappers,,, if you hit yippie,,, if not ,,it's easy to get away from.
just my thoughts

I do with almost any two cards with the exception of weak aces, I will fold up to about A-7 or so because I know if the Ace flops I'm going to get myself into trouble, especially if 2 of them flop. The other exception would be an erratic player in the big blind, and usually if this is the case I'll move seats to get on his left anyway.

i personaly think that u are soposed to play the good hands with good kickers. but when you get 92 off or 75 off is it worth it to just call. in the long run not playing every small blind hand will make it so you go farther into tourneys. and you will win more money playing cash games. you will be saving yourself alot of pain in the end.