Offence vs Defence in poker
Bencb is back with a mindset tip that will help you make better practical decisions at the tables.
It comes down to a simple concept in sports, the concept of offence vs defence. Thinking in terms of attacking offensively or playing strong defence applies to poker, something many players don’t understand in 2022! The idea is that when we have a strong hand or strong bluff we go on the offensive, with bets and raises, while when we have a bluff-catching hand or enough odds to continue, we play strong defence, calling to see what develops.
For example, when we raise a strong hand as the preflop aggressor, we often have the range advantage versus the caller, who by default is playing defensively. This means when we go to a flop we often will have the advantage, and continue in an offensive manner with a c-bet. The defender will either continue to play defence by calling, or have a strong enough made hand or draw to go on the offensive with a raise.
You might wonder, why do we want to put ourselves in defensive situations, where we can’t immediately attack? Why defend the big blind often, when we will often be put on the defensive with weaker hands?
This is a very important question to answer as a poker player, so take a second to think about it.
Offence vs Defence
Play offence with strong hands, and attack. Play simple and solid defence with your calls, and wait for your moment to counterattack when you hit a good hand.
The reason why we must play defence as well as offence in poker comes down to the price we’re getting, or the odds. In the big blind, we’ve already invested money in the pot in the form of our blind, so the odds that we’re getting versus a raise make it worth it to defend our money with mediocre hands in the hopes of hitting something decent to attack with. Even if we’re the slight underdog, we’re still getting the right price to call, even if we must play defensively postflop
How most players think
Most players think about the big blind (and other defensive positions), as a position they always need to be attacking from with bets and raises. Often however, the best play is to defend the correct amount of hands and wait to strike gold on the turn or the river.
Your goal is not to make massive, big-brain plays to try to get your opponent to stop attacking. Rather, you should bide your time and wait for a hand that makes sense to attack with. Let your opponents play offence, and work on having a great defensive strategy, so that when it’s your turn to strike back you’re prepared.
My mind switches between offence and defence while I’m playing. Play offence with strong hands, and attack. Play simple and solid defence with your calls, and wait for your moment to counterattack when you hit a good hand.
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