Playing the blinds..

DennisG

Alright...sitting in sb...when is it time to call, even with 'rags'? 3-1? 5-1? 7-1?...I know for myself...I weigh it upon which cards...but..when is it really warranted see a flop? Ex. 7-8 off in sb..no raises/calls to you? You are getting 3-1 for your money...do you blow it off, or call? Never call but raise?

adpro

Ihaveyourname;163118 wroteAlright...sitting in sb...when is it time to call, even with 'rags'? 3-1? 5-1? 7-1?...I know for myself...I weigh it upon which cards...but..when is it really warranted see a flop? Ex. 7-8 off in sb..no raises/calls to you? You are getting 3-1 for your money...do you blow it off, or call? Never call but raise?

For me, it depends on the table and what type of game.

If you have 7-8 offsuit you are usually looking at a straight draw after the flop at best. Maybe two pair. So, limping with these to see a flop that gets raised is useless in a tournament, because the flop always gets raised.

If you are playing a cash game with only 5 people, limp in and hope for a straight draw. You have a better chance of seeing your card hit, cause people don't raise with A high as often, and you won't have the possibility of as many scary hands.

So, yeah, it all depends on what type of game you are playing and how many players.

It also depends on what type of table image you are trying to give.

If you do limp and the BB raises, get out of there fast. You only spent half the BB to find out he has a decent hand.

The_Awesome

Depends on the table. If I know BB is likely to raise I am folding. I value position more then I do blinds so I have no real issue folding my blinds. If I am pretty sure BB will check it unless he has a good hand then I'll just call. I am not raising here unless I feel the conditions are right for a steal.

adpro

The_Awesome;163141 wroteDepends on the table. If I know BB is likely to raise I am folding. I value position more then I do blinds so I have no real issue folding my blinds. If I am pretty sure BB will check it unless he has a good hand then I'll just call. I am not raising here unless I feel the conditions are right for a steal.

Agreed

I was playing the other night with a guy who was raising almost every time he was the BB. He made it 12 to play every time.

So, this forced me to play top hands and I took a lot of money from him. It was great.

Anyway, yeah, play them smart and if you do play, make sure you are seeing a cheap flop. You are in a horrible position when SB.

I also like to fold if a lot of people see a flop and I have pretty much anything but highish suited connectors or above.

However, the other day I was playing in a tournament, was in the BB, got raised with 6c 8c to see the flop come out with 9c 8h 7c. Turn was 5h and river was 5c. Another guy had 4 5's. If I saw that flop I would have taken 4 full stacks. (everyone checked the flop and the turn, and another guy had a flush - not sure about the 3rd or 4th guys though - they all went all-in on the river)

Either way, that happened once out of about 400 times I have folded that same hand, so the end result would have been leaving me under.

So, yeah, it's sometimes nice to see a cheap flop, depending on the table and the game, and your bankroll or chip stack and blind level, of course.

Pantsonfire

Ihaveyourname;163118 wroteAlright...sitting in sb...when is it time to call, even with 'rags'? 3-1? 5-1? 7-1?...I know for myself...I weigh it upon which cards...but..when is it really warranted see a flop? Ex. 7-8 off in sb..no raises/calls to you? You are getting 3-1 for your money...do you blow it off, or call? Never call but raise?

Before we can get into this, we have to distinguish between rags and speculative hands. Q2o, J3s, 83, etc. are rags. Axs, 97s, 87o, KJo, 54s, etc. have some potential.

Now we need to define the game. Let's assume NL. In this game, implied odds are very important so the stack sizes relative to the blinds will define how often I get into a pot in the SB. Also, I would say I play both tournaments and cash games pretty much the same when the stacks are deep. If a tournament has players who are pretty loose and wild in the early going, I have a much wider range since some of these players are willing to commit all their chips with just top pair. That's really good implied odds.

Anyways, your question is pretty much general and the answer has to include a lot of factors. I think the key to good poker is play according to how the table is playing. Sometimes that means tightening up and sometimes it means getting into lots of pots.

DennisG

Pantsonfire;163154 wroteBefore we can get into this, we have to distinguish between rags and speculative hands. Q2o, J3s, 83, etc. are rags. Axs, 97s, 87o, KJo, 54s, etc. have some potential.

I guess my 78 was a poor example..lol..it was just what I happened to have in my hand at the moment of writing ( I know..posting and playing..bad..lol)..I was quite referring to rags.

Yes the question was quite general, but basically was covered..and the general consensus seems to be the same..really, the question was just more to get my feet wet on the forum..lol

On a side note..twice this morning, called the bb (small blinds) with J9/J10 and both times..flop hits J-J-x..lol..one of those days...lol

herschelw

The_Awesome;163141 wroteDepends on the table. If I know BB is likely to raise I am folding. I value position more then I do blinds so I have no real issue folding my blinds. If I am pretty sure BB will check it unless he has a good hand then I'll just call. I am not raising here unless I feel the conditions are right for a steal.

Generally I agree with this. Although, I play a really unorthodox blind vs blind strategy that takes about an hour to verbally explain. So obv I cant type out the concepts here in a reasonable amount of time. Generally in tournament poker you have to play most spots somewhat standard. Thankfully blind vs blind play is a place where you can do some very odd things and still be mathematically correct in doing them. So I play a mathematically viable unorthodox strategy. It gives others fits when you can play a strategy that is both mathematically viable and non-standard. They can't exploit mathematical mistakes like you normally can against non-standard play and they're unsure of your situational thinking because they havent seen much of it before.

ReefAquarium

herschelw;163415 wroteGenerally I agree with this. Although, I play a really unorthodox blind vs blind strategy that takes about an hour to verbally explain. So obv I cant type out the concepts here in a reasonable amount of time. Generally in tournament poker you have to play most spots somewhat standard. Thankfully blind vs blind play is a place where you can do some very odd things and still be mathematically correct in doing them. So I play a mathematically viable unorthodox strategy. It gives others fits when you can play a strategy that is both mathematically viable and non-standard. They can't exploit mathematical mistakes like you normally can against non-standard play and they're unsure of your situational thinking because they havent seen much of it before.

I gotta know more about this!!!!

herschelw

ReefAquarium;163541 wroteI gotta know more about this!!!!

It probably would be among the best choices of topics for the group lesson I'm giving away.