Defending blinds

[MattRyder]

I rarely try to defend the blinds without a monster starting hand. Otherwise I'm just throwing money away. It's a MUCH better use of my time to play the hands that I have a chance of winning without the bluffing required to defend a weak hand from the blinds.

 

[TeUnit]

pay attention to the villans fold to 3bet and punish them

 

[Alex Melnik]

It depends on the size of the blinds and stacks of yours and your opponent. If you have more stack then I would certainly protect.

 

[terryk]

If you set an aggressive tone at the table,you don`t have to concern yourself with `defending` blinds.You`ll receive alot of `walks` as others don`t want to confront an aggressive player.Easier said than done of course,but it comes with experience. If you don`t stick your neck out once in awhile you will never progress,,,,

 

[walluyo]

I rarely try to defend the blinds without a monster starting hand. Otherwise I'm just throwing money away. It's a MUCH better use of my time to play the hands that I have a chance of winning without the bluffing required to defend a weak hand from the blinds.

Depending on the current blinds and our stakes sizes, if we are in short stake, i think it is worth defending blinds with middle pairs and suited connector.

You can't fold all your blinds you must understand the table dynamics and how often the late position player are hunting your chips. Defending only big pairs and suited connectors as some other guys have already mentioned is a pretty solid strategy but a basic one.

Incorporate some other hands like suited gappers and make them rethink about stealing your chips. I totally agree with SpeedBump621 you must 3 bet light sometimes and always balance your game in those spots. Pick up extra carefully those spots. Don't bleed chips from the blinds but don't give up too easy.

Defending your blinds in one of the toughest tasks in poker because almost always you will need to play out of position but try to find out by practicing what works good for you in the longterm!

Cheers

 

[0_5v]

The bubble is that time to stay away from defending anything let the fools all kill them selves until in the money.

 

[Dmutruu89]

in this case, everything depends on the situation and strength of the arms.with weak hands, playing on the bluff you can lose not only the blinds but also half the pot

 

[Dmutruu89]

under babl worth playing with maximum caution.to lose the blinds is terrible.patiently wait for strong hands and attack

 

[almaihotz]

near bubble if your stack allow you to fold and survive is better to do so instead risk chips and didnt reach the money.early stage of tournament depending on the position if the opening is near you u can protect your hands wide blind vs blind even shove allin is better to protect a steal with a decent hand.

 

[619Leafs]

I'm so poor at defending blinds that it is easier two steal me a blind than stealing acorns from a blind pig.
I mean especially bubble phase.

Any tips, how could I improve this element of play?

With what hands I should defend? I should rather call or re-raise and how to play if I re-raise and the opponent calls?

In my opinion, only defend blinds if you have a decent enough hand such as suited or semi connectors i.e. 67 suited or 89 suited for example.

Raise if you have premium such as high pocket pairs or big slick, AQ or AJ.