Playing Aggressively in the Small Blind

[XYZ2123]

It seems that it has become conventional wisdom in coaching and on strategy sites to play more aggressively from the small blind, either by opening a wider range to steal the big blind or by 3-betting or folding in SB to a raise instead of calling. I find myself hesitating to do this because of the positional disadvantage. What do you think of this strategy and how often do you employ it?

 

[m0t22]

It seems that it has become conventional wisdom in coaching and on strategy sites to play more aggressively from the small blind, either by opening a wider range to steal the big blind or by 3-betting or folding in SB to a raise instead of calling. I find myself hesitating to do this because of the positional disadvantage. What do you think of this strategy and how often do you employ it?

There is no answer because you yourself mentioned three types of situations.

Playing out of position by limping, we also have the option to fold to demonstrate a certain secure image.
How can we be more aggressive and raise or re-raise.

First we must pay attention to how our opponent thinks, and then we must think what our image on the table is.
We must take into consideration how the player is playing, if he is very aggressive, we can play limp / call versus 3bet, and when shoort stack we can adopt a limp strategy so that after the BB raises we can shove some hands that we are in. front of the opponent's hand.

I believe the fewer blinds, the fewer raises to make; If you raise, choose a value range where you can structure a balanced strategy.

 

[ssangyongpoker]

i have learned in the long run, if you do not have a mediocre hand to protect your blinds, don't.. fold and move on

if you are planning to play a hand in the small blind, raise preflop, since you are the first aggressor post flop

 

[okeedokalee]

You are correct, unless you are stealing from the Big Blind, best practice is to play the small blind passively.

 

[thetick33]

i play more from small blind by a ton over protecting my big blind... i really wonder the book that says is ok to go all in on your big blind with queen six.... my small blind play is simple i get better cards there then anywhere else lol for whatever the reason i mix up bets all over the place honestly from this position

 

[rj_montana]

I've also found this to be a major adjustment to my game. SB shoving ranges into BB are nuts. I've always been inclined to aggressively re-raise with AK in the hopes of taking a decent pot down preflop and not playing out of position.

I've never 3-bet light from the SB but it makes sense when you consider button and CO opening ranges, especially if you can profile your opponent as the "one and done" type.

 

[TheDude6622]

It honestly depends. If it's heads up with the BB and you sense weakness, then absolutely. If it's a multiple player pot, sometimes it's good to raise to lessen the amount of players so you don't have to deal with a lot of variance. You just don't want to be caught with nothing.

 

[TeUnit]

I think you have to vary your play according to the villan and the situation, some villans you can min raise, some you can 3x, and with some the limp stab is the best play.

 

[eetenor]

It seems that it has become conventional wisdom in coaching and on strategy sites to play more aggressively from the small blind, either by opening a wider range to steal the big blind or by 3-betting or folding in SB to a raise instead of calling. I find myself hesitating to do this because of the positional disadvantage. What do you think of this strategy and how often do you employ it?

Thank U 4 Posting.

As always it depends on the player pool in your game. If you 3 bet CO or BTN and the BB always calls then widening your range is a very bad idea. If the BB will fold it is ok but if the CO or BTN are never folding any pair they make on flop or turn then again the wider range is a bad idea.

In low stakes games players will call down with 1 pair 100% more often on average than in mid and high stakes. Widening your SB range in that situation and building larger pots OOP is not a very good idea.

As you mentioned it is recommended by coaches but are you at the skill level that a coach would recommend this play to?
Have you achieved the level of skill where you understand what ranges to play OOP and what bet sizing to use? Are you correctly ranging you villains 90% of the time when OOP?
When playing OOP do you know exactly what your plan is on each street or do you find yourself guessing or getting lost on turn and river?


Hope this helps