Why Defend Your Blinds?

[IntenseHeat]

Generally speaking, we defend our blinds to keep late position players from taking advantage of us and stealing our blinds. Defending your big blind is pretty much based on the assumption that the player raising from the button, cutoff, or hijack seats isn't necessarily raising based on the strength of their hand, but is instead raising on the chance that none of the players left to act behind them will have a hand strong enough to call a raise with. Remember the gap principle, which states that we need a stronger hand to call a raise than we do to raise.

There are some players, often referred to as defenders, who will almost always battle for their blinds. In fact they will often times not just call to defend their blinds, but will frequently re-raise players raising their blinds from late position. This is a statement letting them know that player's blinds won't be so easy to steal.

While I don't defend my blinds religiously, I tend to be skeptical of players raising my blinds from late position. Some defenders tend to be willing to play any two cards against any one player in defense of their blinds. I am not one of those players, but I will definitely widen calling range if I get the sense that my blinds are being picked on.

 

[tayday79]

why defend your blinds! sometimes it dont matter but when they are high you might want to! easy money and other players are watching , they will try to bully you around the table

 

[maxivega]

I don't like spending my money on mediocre hands, I only defend my blinds if they are worth it. It also depends on the level of betting and who are the ones that raise.

 

[akmost]

The blind positions are always the worst , because most of the times we will play out of position against our opponent.

We have to consider several things in order to defend our blinds.
-Position of the open raiser: The later the position the wider we can defend our blinds , sometimes any suited starting hand may be good enough for a defend. Overfolding your BB will lead to exploits , against a tight BB defender I would open raise literally any two in later position in some cases!
-Aggression of the open raiser: Against a fairly tight villain personally I defend a reasonable/tighter range compared to a looser villain.
-Depth of our stack:I won't mention situations where we have a small amount of blinds and the only +EV play is to 3bet jam for example. But to be fair there is a different defending range vs a early position open with 100 bbs vs 40 bbs etc. In the limits I play it won't lead to mistakes but I wanted to mention it.

As I have mentioned already overfolding/overcalling are mistakes.Participating in a hand with a trashy hand it may lead us to tough spots.Knowing what to open raise and what to complete in the blind spots is super crucial.

 

[NicoVlopez]

It depends on what we call "Defend". The concept to be taken into account is always the odds, and from the odds, to know if the call is profitable or not. An ORx3 from UTG is not a stealing situation, therefore we only have to call if our hand is good enough to invest 2BB in a pot of approximately 6BB, if no one has called yet. On the other hand, a situation in which the BTN makes us OR 100% of the time, perhaps it is profitable to defend hands that in other situations we would not consider calling, since the player is OR with any card.

 

[63burner]

Opportunity cost as blinds go up.

Defending your blind, early in a tourney, not as important as position, for example But as blinds start eating into your stack, it makes more sense to defend your blinds, if the cards make sense.
Basically, if the cost of the blind is great, defend with all reasonable hands.

 

[lcid86]

It depends. Always calling from your blinds can wipe you out faster than just folding. When strong attack their blinds. All about position.

 

[Rico Calde]

I should begin by stating that I do defend my blinds; I don't want to fold to exploitative open-raises just because I'm in the Big Blind and the open raiser is observant.

However, defending my blinds is something I never gave much though into - I just did it. Why should blinds be defended though? Is it because we are already "invested" in the pot when other players aren't (excluding ante games)? Is it connected to being out of position? Or is it simply to prevent exploitative open-raises like I noted?

I think most beginners defend their blinds, on a basic level, because they feel "invested" into the pot via forced bets (blinds). However, is there more reasoning to this? Here is my thinking: the button rotates around the table (as do the blinds in relation), so long-term, everyone will have the blinds an equal amount of time. Therefore, are we really losing chips by not defending our blinds - everyone must put chips in (blinds) sooner or later, so wouldn't this be considered a wash and even out?

Most ranges for Big Blind continuation is around 50% (which is why the player in the Big Blind is likely to remain in the hand), so what is the reasoning for such a wide range of hands in the Big Blind compared to other positions and why should the blinds be defended at all if everyone gets them equally?

Defending the blind can lead to yourself getting trapped so be careful. I'm ok with defending the blind. Just don't do all the time because people will exploit that. Plus, let's be honest here, some hands you just shouldn't defend the blinds with. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[Matt_Burns88]

I should begin by stating that I do defend my blinds; I don't want to fold to exploitative open-raises just because I'm in the Big Blind and the open raiser is observant.

However, defending my blinds is something I never gave much though into - I just did it. Why should blinds be defended though? Is it because we are already "invested" in the pot when other players aren't (excluding ante games)? Is it connected to being out of position? Or is it simply to prevent exploitative open-raises like I noted?

I think most beginners defend their blinds, on a basic level, because they feel "invested" into the pot via forced bets (blinds). However, is there more reasoning to this? Here is my thinking: the button rotates around the table (as do the blinds in relation), so long-term, everyone will have the blinds an equal amount of time. Therefore, are we really losing chips by not defending our blinds - everyone must put chips in (blinds) sooner or later, so wouldn't this be considered a wash and even out?

Most ranges for Big Blind continuation is around 50% (which is why the player in the Big Blind is likely to remain in the hand), so what is the reasoning for such a wide range of hands in the Big Blind compared to other positions and why should the blinds be defended at all if everyone gets them equally?

Great question.

You're correct that everyone pays the blinds in equal proportion, but that does not mean that everyone loses the same from the blinds in equal proportion.

Knowing when to defend your blinds can be the difference between being the weakest and strongest player at the table.

If you are folding basically every hand in the blinds excepts monsters, I am going to be open raising against you 100% of the time, because I know that I can pick up 1bb from you around 80% of the time and when you raise back, I can fold most of my range, losing only 2.5/3bbs. So...I raise to 2.5 against your BB 100 times you fold 80% of the time = I'm up 80bbs, of the 20% of the time you 3-bet, I'm folding around 75% of my range pre-flop, so I lose 37.5bb. I'm up 42.5bbs plus for the remaining 5% of the hands, I have position and the strongest part of my range.

If you are defending well, it makes it much more difficult for me to raise with marginal hands because your calling range is going to be strong compared to the bottom end of my opening range. This will drastically reduce how much I will win from the blinds, probably about 15bbs and more importantly for you, reduces how much you lose.

 

[Phoenix Wright]

Great question.

You're correct that everyone pays the blinds in equal proportion, but that does not mean that everyone loses the same from the blinds in equal proportion.

Knowing when to defend your blinds can be the difference between being the weakest and strongest player at the table.

If you are folding basically every hand in the blinds excepts monsters, I am going to be open raising against you 100% of the time, because I know that I can pick up 1bb from you around 80% of the time and when you raise back, I can fold most of my range, losing only 2.5/3bbs. So...I raise to 2.5 against your BB 100 times you fold 80% of the time = I'm up 80bbs, of the 20% of the time you 3-bet, I'm folding around 75% of my range pre-flop, so I lose 37.5bb. I'm up 42.5bbs plus for the remaining 5% of the hands, I have position and the strongest part of my range.

If you are defending well, it makes it much more difficult for me to raise with marginal hands because your calling range is going to be strong compared to the bottom end of my opening range. This will drastically reduce how much I will win from the blinds, probably about 15bbs and more importantly for you, reduces how much you lose.

It has been a few months I've had to put into practice, but this example and explanation is spot on for me In fact, I just recommended this thread in another cardschat thread (and that is what gave me the idea to comment to this post here).

Yes, defending the blinds is very important to cut your loses from this spot (SB and BB). This is an advantage to someone defending far too often (like 100% of the time) and also for someone defending too infrequently (like 10% in the example given).

 

[jimmiandersen]

Because the button range is very wide. Lots of crap that the button should not be stealing your blinds with. So defend with a range advantage and fold crappier crap.

 

[peaceofcoke]

One must defend own blind without being too nutsy about it, I mean you can see players going completely nuts and 3 betting with rugs. IMO, you can mix it up, call with the bet with a wider range to meet the button's, the hijack n cutoff ranges. 3bet or 4bet with ~25% and mix it up on the flop, a check raise is always of use.

 

[TeUnit]

I have heard that defending your blinds is kinda like fighting in prison, the more you do it... the less you have to do it.

 

[Cinhos_2000]

Yeah, basically because you have already invested some chips. To defend your blind you willl have usually to invest only some more chips to get the pot. Just think about how many chips you're investing and how much equity you have.

 

[mibra870]

thanks i have understand this learning post.:deal:

 

[Maekz1999]

I do not do it that often right now. Keep loosing more when I try to.. So.. Just M opinion

 

[Costy69]

Why defend your blinds

You defend your blinds so you let your opponent know he just cant punk you around.

 

[uri73796]

clearing the big blind with a good hand to gain is sometimes very profitable

 

[Jim Rivas]

I should begin by stating that I do defend my blinds; I don't want to fold to exploitative open-raises just because I'm in the Big Blind and the open raiser is observant.

However, defending my blinds is something I never gave much though into - I just did it. Why should blinds be defended though? Is it because we are already "invested" in the pot when other players aren't (excluding ante games)? Is it connected to being out of position? Or is it simply to prevent exploitative open-raises like I noted?

I think most beginners defend their blinds, on a basic level, because they feel "invested" into the pot via forced bets (blinds). However, is there more reasoning to this? Here is my thinking: the button rotates around the table (as do the blinds in relation), so long-term, everyone will have the blinds an equal amount of time. Therefore, are we really losing chips by not defending our blinds - everyone must put chips in (blinds) sooner or later, so wouldn't this be considered a wash and even out?

Most ranges for Big Blind continuation is around 50% (which is why the player in the Big Blind is likely to remain in the hand), so what is the reasoning for such a wide range of hands in the Big Blind compared to other positions and why should the blinds be defended at all if everyone gets them equally?

I defend my blinds depending on the number of players in the hand and also the hole cards. In this I think that the variance could help, but heads up with another player and paying with 50% range makes the defense a bit difficult.

 

[steve01991]

i kind of agree, its a pride thing, you dont want anyone taking chips you put in and if the raise is not significant, i always call it.

 

[zerosalex]

I try not to have an ego so I don't protect my blinds. because it can cause me to lose chips. I play solid most the time and nothing can get me out my game not even blinds. sure I'll call a small bet with k6 suited if i'm BB, when I will 100%fold every time out of position. but ill still be careful if I flop a flush because I don't have the A and someone else can have it. so I fold most the time unless I have the nuts. years ago when I started playing like more than 10 years ago I use to check BB rag cards like 93off and flop full houses like 993 or good flops only to lose vs better fulls or cards come the river. not worth it over the long run so I will fold 93 off on BB instead of checking. it saves my chips, everyone else in the table time, we all move on to the next hand eventually. if I flop a full house, no big deal, it wont be my last hand more than likely.

 

[davidsincara]

Defend the defendable, that's something good piece of advice

 

[korbal29]

I tend to defend my blinds when I am in a cash game and short handed tables. For sure if you keep getting raised out of your blinds you gonna be in a deep hole ,because,in general for you to get quality hands AA KK QQ it gonna be far in between.
It depends also of the cash game: if you are playing 0,01/0.02 no much raising of blinds will be done

 

[CSLysander]

I did far more research into this than I thought I would. The basics of defending the blind is that it is a positive EV if done correctly. If you would play the hand, but a little worried about aggression, defend. The flop can help make the right decision past that. Remember that many just want to steal blinds and see people folding around as a way to do this.

 

[bonart]

Not possible in a tourney to defend the blind unless you're the big stack. I only play cards in my range depending on position esp if on the shorter stack. Can't risk losing my chips as every chip is precious. IMHO