Playing the Blinds in Hold'em

Hand Selection from the Small Blind

You can play some additional hands from the small blind if the pot was not raised and the conditions are right. You are getting a discount to call, and you have all the information about how the pot has developed unless the big blind happens to raise. This is somewhat offset by the fact that you will be in the worst possible position for the rest of the hand. If you only have to call 1/2 of a small bet, you can call with lots of hands, especially good multiway hands when there are many limpers. If you only have to call 1/3 of a small bet, you would almost always call unless you expected the big blind to raise. If you have to call 2/3 of the small bet, you should fold much more often and be much more selective about the hands you call with. For this discussion, we will assume that the small blind is 1/2 the size of the big blind.

Stay away from hopeless hands like J6 offsuit. There are just too few ways to win with hands this weak and too much chance the hand could be dominated. You can usually call from the small blind with any hand listed in the late position hands or better when the pot has not been raised. You should avoid playing hands that contain a 2 or 3 because even if you pair the board, you will have a low pair or low kicker. Thus, if you have to flop two pair or better to expect to win the pot, the hand is not even worth a partial bet. You prefer to call with hands that have additional ways to win.

If you decide to play a hand like T9 offsuit, you may make the best hand by flopping a T or 9, and you have the additional potential to make a straight. You still however, must consider how many players are in the pot. You can call with the Blinds hands listed in the recommended playing hands if the pot has developed in a way that fits your hand. Following one limper, you would consider playing any A or K. You will be less inclined to play offsuit hands in a multiway pot, and more inclined to play suited cards, connectors, and any pair. If you don't get a great flop, usually check and fold.

If there is a preflop raise, you should almost always fold unless you have a premium hand. If you do have a premium hand, you should consider reraising from the small blind to force out the big blind and other players and try to get heads up with the raiser. You would definitely consider a reraise with a big hand when you are facing a possible steal raise from late position.

Hand Selection from the Big Blind

In the big blind, your positional disadvantage and your inability to cut down the field with a raise usually make raising out of the big blind unprofitable for all but AA, KK, and AKs. [MJ: Raising AK and QQ here for value doesn't hurt either, as chances are you have the best hand at the table.] To avoid giving away your hand, you should avoid raising from the big blind altogether unless the situation allows you some profitable edge. For instance, if the pot was raised from late position following many limpers, a reraise should get some of those limpers to fold and increase your chance of winning the pot as well as get more money in the pot when you have a huge hand like AA, KK, or AKs. This is a worthwhile situation to raise from the big blind, because when the pot gets big, you want to do anything to increase your chance to win, so you don't really mind that your remaining opponents may realize you may hold one of these hands. You would be happy if everyone folded on the flop and you won the pot right there.

Calling a raise from the big blind is somewhat similar to calling up out of the small blind when there is no raise. You must consider the size of the pot and the number of likely opponents. You want to get away from medium offsuit cards that are likely to be dominated and give more consideration to hands with additional ways to win. You are getting at least 3 to 1 odds to flop something when you call a raise from the big blind. You can usually call a raise from the big blind with any hand listed in the late position hands or better.

If the pot is multiway, you should be inclined to call a raise with even more hands, especially hands that play well in multiway pots like any pair, any suited hand, and connected cards as low as 54. You will be getting even better pot odds to call and see a flop, but you will often be folding if you don't get an excellent flop. Whenever there is a raise, and even more so if there are cold callers, you can expect to be up against very good hands, and you will need to get a great flop to continue the hand, you are only calling the preflop raise because you are getting a big discount to see the flop. If you make the mistake of going too far with a weak hand after the flop comes, you will lose far more than the discount you get to call in the first place. You will usually want to check and call on the flop with any profitable draw, but if you believe you flopped the best hand, you should bet out or check-raise on the flop.

Next:Flop Strategy