Hands to call on the blinds?

EchoEllis

EchoEllis

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hi, just wondering on some opninons on what hands you think you should call to a raise on the blinds or pehaps to 3 bet or not ? - hands such as:
a 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 off
k9
q9
j9
suited conectors
one gapper suited connectors
connectors
other hands you would consider? and how much of a raise depends on it?
some opinions would be greatly appreciated
 
Dorugremon

Dorugremon

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Defending blinds is tricky, especially at no-limit play. Your position is horrible, and doesn't get better, unlike stud. That you get a "discount" to call is pretty much irrelevant, and serves to suck in the fish.

Unless you are certain you're up against a "thief" on the button, or in the cutoff or hijack, I'd throw away the hands you mention here. If A7-o is garbage UTG, it's garbage in the BB, and even worse since, at least, the UTG has position on the SB and BB.

Playing out of the blinds is the worst situation to be in since it's a sure fire losing proposition. You will often be better off discarding when in the blinds than calling unless you're holding a strong hand.

In limit play, you can defend more vigorously as position isn't so important in limit play as it is in no-limit play. Being limit, your whole stack isn't at risk when you play OOP, not as costly to make mistakes, as these cost you only a few bets. Still, it just doesn't pay to try to prevent every act of larceny when you're in the blinds.Even in limit play, you're better off being in position, as it's easier to get extra bets in when you're ahead, and to save bets when you believe you're behind.

It's bad to be OOP, but there's not much you can do about it: it's the nature of the game.
 
Beanfacekilla

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hi, just wondering on some opninons on what hands you think you should call to a raise on the blinds or pehaps to 3 bet or not ? - hands such as:
a 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 off
k9
q9
j9
suited conectors
one gapper suited connectors
connectors
other hands you would consider? and how much of a raise depends on it?
some opinions would be greatly appreciated

Is this for a tournament? Cash?

I will go ahead and give my input for cash, because that is what I play most.

In cash, some people like to "defend" their blinds. This is stupid. It is just a blind, and you will have terrible position postflop. Even against maniacs it is silly to risk chips OOP when you can fold for so cheap.

In cash games, I play it pretty tight out of the blinds. I would only 3-bet big hands, and only call a raise with A-10s or better. Even A-10s is kinda poopy out of the blinds, but it depends on the raiser.

If it is a cash table, I would not be calling with speculative mediocre hands. Just let the blind go and fold.

As always, just my opinion. Take it or leave it.
 
EchoEllis

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sorry yeah it's tournament NL, so you think you should always give up your BB unless you have a strong hand? I find it very hard to fold a6-a9 off with 2.5-3x the BB raise
 
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Imho you are better off defending the button in tourny play rather than the blinds.
 
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smidjet

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its just 1 hand....when in doubt blow it out
 
Beanfacekilla

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sorry yeah it's tournament NL, so you think you should always give up your BB unless you have a strong hand? I find it very hard to fold a6-a9 off with 2.5-3x the BB raise


I am a cash player. My advice was for cash play (since you did not specify tourney or cash).

As for a tourney - A-6 ~ A-9? It really depends on opponents, stack sizes, table dynamics, etc. I think it would be a loose call on the blinds with weak aces. You will be playing OOP for the duration of the hand... How would you play it if you hit the ace? Or the 6? Trouble hand.

Just my opinion. And I am not a tournament specialist.
 
EchoEllis

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i guess all im calling to hit a monster flop, should i only call if i intend to get tricky after the flop?
 
hobonc

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In tourney play <p>
If you are SS less than 10 BB and it is going to be a heads up hand then any Ax should be an all in for you, especially at a table with 6-7 or less. Possibly suited connectors as well. Any other time a fold will guarantee you stay out of trouble. If the same guy has raised your blind several times then a reraise with Ax os or suited connectors may be a good play. <p>
In a cash game, fold and wait.
 
Beanfacekilla

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i guess all im calling to hit a monster flop, should i only call if i intend to get tricky after the flop?

As I said before I am not a tourney expert. I will offer my $0.02 anyways.

How are you going to get tricky OOP? Just a tough spot to be in. You could potentially take a huge hit trying to outplay someone post flop. Probably not a risk I would like to be taking.

A tournament is like a marathon, not a sprint. Save your chips for better spots. Play in LP, and play only good cards OOP. That is my advice.

But I am sort of a nit from playing so much cash. I wish some experienced tourney players would jump in here....
 
EchoEllis

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so lets say utg+3 min raises (we're all deepstacked) on the button i have a8 (s), should i call? with the bb pretty much guranteed to call a min raise? and then i have to outplay 2 players after the flop? or 3 bet?or fold?
say the situations the same but im on the bb and its 2.5x the bb? i hardly ever defend the button in this spot as i havent had to put any chips in but i would always on the bb, is this wrong??
 
Beanfacekilla

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so lets say utg+3 min raises (we're all deepstacked) on the button i have a8 (s), should i call? with the bb pretty much guranteed to call a min raise? and then i have to outplay 2 players after the flop? or 3 bet?or fold?
say the situations the same but im on the bb and its 2.5x the bb? i hardly ever defend the button in this spot as i havent had to put any chips in but i would always on the bb, is this wrong??

Could you reword this? I don't understand the last scenario. You are talking about the BB but saying you didn't have to put any chips in.

As for the first scenario, I would probably call a minraise from the BB with A-8s. But I would proceed with caution post-flop.
 
EchoEllis

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Could you reword this? I don't understand the last scenario. You are talking about the BB but saying you didn't have to put any chips in.

As for the first scenario, I would probably call a minraise from the BB with A-8s. But I would proceed with caution post-flop.
Originally Posted by EchoEllis
so lets say utg+3 min raises (we're all deepstacked) on the button i have a8 (s), should i call? with the bb pretty much guranteed to call a min raise? and then i have to outplay 2 players after the flop? or 3 bet?or fold?
say the situations the same but im on the bb and its 2.5x the bb? i hardly ever defend the button in this spot as I havent had to put any chips in. However I would always on the bb, is this wrong??
 
fletchdad

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OOP= FML most of the time.

Fold or 3bet unless reads tell you otherwise, and then have a plan i.e calling and donking certain flops, calling and c/r certan flops, w/e but then you need to have a reason for wanting to do this.

. Calling bets OOP just makes life more complicated.

Of course, it will also be heavily influenced by the blind level and effective stacks, as well as table dynamics. As mentioned ITT certain stacks just want to GII. But IMO if your stack is healthy, dont mess around with hands OOP that could turn into a monster, cause that means the hand is shit right now, and that is where it will mostly be OTF.
 
kmixer

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So are we HU? Do we have Villian covered? Who is raising? Are the raising more than usual, less or the same? Will a shove force a fold from this player? All of these things must be considered.
 
EchoEllis

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So are we HU? Do we have Villian covered? Who is raising? Are the raising more than usual, less or the same? Will a shove force a fold from this player? All of these things must be considered.
I've explained all of this
 
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a raise 3xbb i will call most hands if i have decent chip stack, if theres a reraise i only call strong hands even fold a j off. when i call i hit top pair alot and still fold to big raise and wonder why i called preflop
 
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Such ambiguous questions are difficult to respond to. I defend a fair amount of hands from the blinds, but then again I can read hands fairly well. Whether you should raise/call/fold is a function of how well you play OOP and how deep-stacked you are + what type of hand range you put the villain on. It is all about what is the Best play. I disagree with the posted response here about A7. Just because A7 isn't a good hand UTG, doesn't mean in the blinds it is a bad hand. If a guy is stealing from the HJ/CO/BTTN at a high frequency, I tend to 3bet hands like A7 and take the initiative away.
 
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