Blind Defense - How to Defend Your Blinds
Introduction
In this article
- The problems involved with defending a blind
- The different ways of defending a blind
- The biggest leaks players have when defending blinds
The subject of this article, blind defense, refers to a situation in which you are sitting on the Small or the Big Blind and exactly one player has raised in front of you. This player is showing interest in the dead money from the pot (the blinds, which you've partly paid for, too) and is signaling that he has a hand he can fight with. All other players fold leaving you heads up with the aggressor, both before and after the flop.
This article will not discuss playing in a blind position after another opponent limps, but some of the aspects we will discuss also apply to such a situation.
A cold caller between you and the pre-flop aggressor changes the dynamics of the hand radically. Many of the concepts we will discuss in this article do not apply to such situations.
Why should I defend my blind?
In every form of poker, there is a compulsory bet that has to be paid before any cards are dealt. Whether this is in the form of blinds or antes, these compulsory bets are the reason why poker is played as it is. Without such bets, there wouldn't be any reason not to just wait for the strongest hands and then play very aggressively in hope of ...
- ... a bad player not knowing your strategy and paying you off.
- ... another player making the second best hand.
The dead money in the blinds and antes motivate players to participate in a hand.
The battle for the blinds in NL Hold'em looks simple at first glance. The blinds are such a small part of your stack - especially on the micro and small stakes - that it's not worth defending them with marginal hands and having to possibly risk playing for your entire stack. Once you reach the low and middle stakes, however, you will notice many players attacking the blinds too often. You will be easy prey if you can't learn to defend your blind with less than ideal hands, and you won't get paid off when you do catch a monster.
This article will now show you which things you have to consider when defending your blinds. We will also show you which options you have for getting the most value out of your strong hands and limiting your losses when you have a weaker hand.
What makes the battle for the blinds so important?
First we need to look at the actual dynamics that apply to a player sitting in the Small/Big Blind. There are four important points which make playing for the blinds such a special and difficult subject.
Especially in No-Limit Hold'em, position is one of the most important factors to being able to play your hand as profitably as possible after the flop; that's why you increase the size of your range as you reach later positions. You can play marginal hands more profitably from late position, which is why weaker hands can be found in your late position range than in your early position range.
When you're playing from a blind position, you will only be in late position pre-flop - you will usually be out of position after the flop and be first to act. This is the foremost reason why blind defense is such a difficult subject, as your position offers fewer possibilities for pot control and it will be tougher to get the maximum value out of medium strength hands.
In the next example, we will show just how difficult such a situation can be.
Example 1:
Reads:
CO: $200, thinking TAG
Hero: $200
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed )
Pre-flop: Hero is BB with 9
, 9
2 folds, CO raises to $7.00, SB folds, Hero calls $5.00.
You make a pre-flop call because you want to play your pocket pair for set value against your opponent's open raise.
Flop: ($15.00) Q , 4 , 4
(2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $10.00, Hero calls $10.00.
Unfortunately your set doesn't come and the continuation bet doesn't say anything about whether he has hit the flop or not. Because the opponent's open raising range is very big in such a situation, and because he will make a continuation bet with 90% of this range, you will often be ahead on such a flop, so you call the continuation bet.
Turn: ($35.00) J (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets 25$, Hero folds.
The turn reveals another overcard to your pocket pair and the opponent fires a second barrel. You haven't got a clue where you stand now and whether or not you can call a second bet. Out of fear of having the worst hand in this situation too often, you fold.
Conclusion: You're in a losing position, both on the flop and the turn, because you have no information about the opponent's hand strength, which doesn't give you any idea of where you stand. The problem is even bigger though: if you make it your standard line to check/raise second pairs on the flop, you will make a bluff out of hands with some showdown value, since your opponent will only call the check/raise with better hands. He might even re-bluff you with weaker hands, causing you to pay a high price for folding a better hand.
This is also the case on the turn: whatever line you choose, any form of aggression will turn your hand into a bluff. It doesn't matter if you choose to check/raise or to donk/fold, it doesn't make the situation any better - your hand turns into a bluff. Choosing to check/call on the turn makes it very obvious for your opponent to see that your hand does have a certain showdown value, but can't stand too much pressure.
In order for you to make some sort of hero call on a 3rd barrel, you need very specific reads on your opponent. Because these are very rare, you will often have to check/fold the river, even on a blank.
Whichever way you look at it, the positional disadvantage makes it very hard for you to be able to play the hand profitably after the flop and it isn't just medium strong hands that are problematic, even real monsters will be very hard to play. We will show this in the following example.
Example 2:
Reads:
CO: thinking TAG, Stack: 200$
Hero: Stack: 200$
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed)
Pre-flop: Hero is BB with 4 , 4
2 folds, CO raises to $7.00, SB folds, Hero calls $5.00.
You call for set value before the flop.
Flop: ($15.00) 3 , 7 , 4 (2 players)
Hero ???
The flop brings a 4 and you hit your set; now you want to get as much value out of your hand as possible. But how? Should you check/raise or donk/3-bet the flop? Or is perhaps better to first check/call this flop, in order to donk the turn? Maybe you even want to check/raise the turn after a check/call on the flop.
Conclusion: This example shows that such a flop makes you ask yourself a thousand questions, all at the same time. Deciding on which line to take in order to extract maximum value out of your hand proves to be very difficult here.
If you play check/raise or donk/3-bet on a flop like this, you will need a lot of luck finding an opponent willing to go all-in with something like an overpair. Due to the big open raising range, it is far more likely that your opponent has something like two overcards. A hand like this will be folded very lightly to a check/raise and will often be folded to a donk bet, too. He will bluff re-raise in the rarest of occasions.
The exact same problem would arise on the turn if you would check/call the flop, hoping your opponent hits something like a top pair: a donk bet will barely get any value out of one pair hands, as your opponent will only call you to re-evaluate on the river. When check/raising, there is always the danger of giving away a free card which would take away any opportunity of getting some value out of your hand. If you do manage to get in a check/raise, any decent opponent would fold the entire range of hands you would beat and only stay in the pot with better hands.
You see how hard it is to play for a big pot out of position, even when you have a monster.
Both of these examples show you how you positional disadvantage makes life difficult after the flop, which you should always keep in mind when making your pre-flop decision. Both hands clearly show that the possibilities you have for playing a hand greatly depend on your blind defense range. You need a plan for the bigger picture in order to determine the best move with a middle made hand/monster in the situations above.
In addition to the positional disadvantage, it is also very important to accurately estimate your opponent's range. The open raising ranges of different opponents can vary greatly. Two points should be considered:
Remember: the later the position, the bigger the open raising range of your opponent. Many players have learned the basics of positional play on the mid-stakes and adjust their range according to their position. A button raise can therefore be considered to be a lot weaker than a raise from UTG.
The issues described above don't apply to every player to the same degree - you can't assume that all players adapt their ranges in the same way that you do. That would presuppose a certain level of competence, while each player is, of course, competent to his own extent. Therefore, you shouldn't think the following when you are in a blind position and are considering how to react to a steal: "How should I play Hand x against a raise from UTG/BU position?"
Instead, you should be thinking something along the lines of: "How should I play hand x against this particular opponent's open raising range from the position he is in?"
The *Attempt to Steal* value on your PokerTracker or PokerStrategy Elephant HUD can help you estimate how individual opponents adapt their ranges according to position.
If you are in a blind position, one thing needs to be clear to you: the dead money that you're defending isn't yours.
The fact that you are the one who put the chips into the pot doesn't make them your property (the opposite is the case). You shouldn't let the fact that some of the dead money once belonged to you cause you to play bad or inappropriate hands just because you want "your" money back. Who the dead money originates from is irrelevant - it's simply in the pot. Don't let the fact that some of it was once yours have a negative effect on your play.
Are you in the Small or Big Blind? The answer to this question has a big effect on how you play. Depending on your position, you may or may not be able to close the action.
If you are in the Small Blind, you should always factor the information you have on the player in the Big Blind into your decision. A call can turn into a fold when facing an opponent who tends to squeeze, make light 3-bet calls or even 4-bets in the battle for the blinds.
Your calling range from the Small Blind should change a lot if you know that there is a player behind you in the Big Blind who really likes to exploit these situations by 3-betting to take the pot down before the flop. Simply having a player in the Big Blind who loves to squeeze can be enough to change a call into a fold.
In practice...
Up until now, this article has dealt with the various situational variables in theory. It has not yet offered direct instructions on how to defend your blinds. However, this theoretical prelude wasn't for nothing: If you wanted to, you could now sit down at your desk and come to your own conclusions concerning how you should defend your blinds based on the factors that have been described above. You already have an idea of how to adapt your range according to the situation at hand. You should know by now that there is no perfect strategy that every player can incorporate into his game. You need to find a healthy mixture that suits you overall, and you should invest a lot of time doing this.
But so much for that - let's move on. In the beginning, a specific question arises: What are your options when defending your blind? You can choose between two different approaches before the flop, which will be called 'passive defend' and 'active defend' in this article.
'Passive defense' means simply calling a pre-flop raise in order to see the flop cheaply. The advantage of just calling is that you keep the pot small and won't be committed with marginal hands out of position after the flop. After calling before the flop, there are many different lines that you can use after the flop. Checking to the pre-flop aggressor isn't an absolute must. You can turn the positional disadvantage into an advantage by choosing the right spots to donk bet on the flop. You should never automatically and instantly click on the check button as soon as the flop is dealt; always re-evaluate the situation.
In general, you still have an obvious disadvantage when defending passively: you have to play out of position and without initiative after the flop This is the worst possible starting situation for post-flop play and you usually don't have enough information on the opponent's range. You need good post-flop and hand reading skills to play profitably in such a situation.
We use the term 'active defense' when you 3-bet an open raise. A 3-bet has several consequences, which can be either positive or negative, depending on the particular situation:
- You create fold equity and can take the pot down directly
- You contribute to your 3-bet image
- You force your opponent to give you more information on his range
- You get the initiative after the flop
- You force your opponent to think about how he should react to future 3-bets when in position
- You will be playing for a medium/large pot out of position after the flop
As you can see, actively defending your blind creates larger pots and gives you the initiative, enabling you to win pots that you otherwise wouldn't have won. Force your opponent to make a decision on whether or not he really wants to fight for a small amount of dead money gives you an advantage and show your willingness to fight for the pot.
The most common mistakes in blind defense situations
The next section deals with what you need to pay attention to if you have opted to defend your blind, and mistakes that are commonly made in these situations. At this point, it is important that you understand the principles that come into play in these situations, so that you can integrate them into your own game. If you can analyze the situation correctly, then there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to integrate creative and profitable blind play into your own game.
We will start by examining a very common type of blind defense situation. You are dealt a small to medium pocket pair (22-99), and must decide how you should defend your blind. You will, of course, be familiar with the fact that one can often call for set value quite profitably with small to medium pocket pairs. There are various possible guidelines for whether or not you can call, e.g. that you can call when you and your opponent both have enough in your stacks, so that you can win 10 to 15 times the amount that you have to invest for a call, meaning that you usually have sufficient implied odds to make the play +EV.
Set mining can be very profitable. However, please don't believe any rule that says you can call for set value if you can win x*cost of calling. According to some rules you might have run across, you can always call a raise with a pocket pair if your and the opponent's remaining stacks are x times larger than the amount that still needs to be called. The result is that a $1 difference in a bet's size can mean the difference between having the right implied odds and calling and having to fold. Unfortunately, poker isn't so simple. You can't say whether calling with a pocket pair is + or - EV just by looking at the stack sizes. That would be too easy.
What does this mean? Many players call for set value with their pocket pairs without taking the whole situation into account. The range and tendencies of your opponent are important criteria for whether or not you can call profitably. You can only give yourself the right odds when your opponents range is "strong" enough to have the 2nd best hand, and when your opponent is weak enough to go broke on it. Therefore, it is often simply incorrect to call an open raise from the BU in the SB with a small to medium pocket pair purely for set value, as the opposing range is often so wide, that your sets won't get paid off often enough. Not only that, but you often have to fold the best hand to a continuation bet when up against such a wide range. The fact that you will be out of position and without initiative after the flop often makes it difficult to extract maximum value when you do hit, which also plays a major role in this situation.
Don't just call every time you have a pocket pair and then see what happens when you don't hit a set. There's no shame in folding a small to medium pocket pair before the flop, even if the implied odds look good at first glance. Furthermore, it should be clear that pocket pairs have relatively good equity against wide pre-flop open raise ranges. You can, by all means, 3-bet with them. This gives you the initiative after the flop. You could even win the pot without going to the showdown. And, of course, you could hit a set and stack an opponent with a hand like top pair in a re-raised pot.
As you can see, a simple call with a pocket pair that follows a couple of set mining guidelines is not automatically +EV. Search for these situations in your Elephant or PokerTracker database and take a look at the various ranges. The best way to plug this leak is to work on this part of your game away from the tables. You should see that calling for set value depends on the opponent and situation at hand.
Another mistake that many players make is practically flipping their cards face up when they passively defend. This is because they tend to flat call with pocket pairs from the blinds, raising or folding all other hands, which makes it easy for the opponent to play profitably against them after the flop. Make sure to balance your lines, especially when it comes to oop post-flop play.
You can't donk/3-bet when you hit a set, check/call when you have a medium made hand, and fold to a third barrel on the river every single time. Your ranges should be balanced, so that they always include a couple of semi-bluffs and a couple of monsters - this is especially important for your pre-flop calling range. Don't only call with pocket pairs! Add hands like KQ, AQ, JT, so that your calling range isn't completely unbalanced. Your ranges for moves like donk/3-bet flop, check/raise flop, or maybe check/call flop - donk turn can then become wider, forcing your opponent to sometimes call your flop check/raise and turn bet with top pair no kicker. The opponent won't know whether you have a set, or are semi-bluffing with the 2nd best hand.
The next leak is one that often occurs when actively defending. When considering a pre-flop 3-bet, you need to consider the opponent you are facing, your table image is and the history you have with that specific player. A lot of regulars make very light, small 4-bets, especially in the mid-stakes. If you are facing such a player and aren't willing to call a 4-bet without a monster hand, you might want to consider leaving out the 3-bet altogether. You could end up being easy prey for an aggressive 4-better.
If you have a tight image and are playing against an active regular, take advantage of your image. If you are faced with a small 4-bet and your opponent isn't pot committed, there's nothing wrong with opting for a bluff 5-bet and pushing your whole 100 BB stack into the middle. You create huge fold equity with these bluffs, especially when you have a tight image, and you will also get a bit more value out of your monsters later on. Of course, a push in this situation isn't a pure bluff; it's actually a semi-bluff, since you practice good hand selection and are certain to have a fair amount of equity against normal push-calling ranges.
If you assume a calling range of JJ+, AK, for example, pocket nines have 33% pot equity, ATs 29% and AQs 31%. That's not all though: if your opponent starts widening his calling range in these situations, you will get a lot of value for AA and KK, and your semi-bluffs will have more equity.
When considering how to play against active 4-betters, it is important to realize that flat calling a 4-bet is quite often a very bad decision. Apart from that, you have to adapt to the situation and hand without letting yourself be pushed around. Once again, there is no magic formula to success. The adjustments you make can even end up being a leak themselves, when, for example, you start pushing too often before the flop.
Should your continuation bets always have the same size? Are there certain board textures that you should always bet on? Yes and no.
In this section we examine continuation bets in a 3-bet pot after having actively defended your blind. One important point is that your continuation bets should be smaller (compared to the total pot size) than in a normal raised (2-bet) pot. But why?
The continuation bet itself usually provides no information on the strength of your hand; the point of this bet is, firstly, to force your opponent to make a decision and secondly, to build up the pot so that you can be all-in by the river (assuming you have a strong hand, course). If you are playing in a 3-bet pot and choose a simple bet flop - bet turn - bet river line, then you will rarely have trouble going all-in by the showdown. You don't need to make 3/4 pot size bets on the flop - big continuation bets just invite your opponent to raise you all-in on the flop, or to simply call on the flop, leaving you with an awkward decision on the turn if your hand is still unimproved: firing a second barrel and probably committing yourself, or giving up your hand.
As you can see, one symptom of this leak is that you often contibet the flop and then check/fold the turn, wasting huge sums of money. A continuation bet of around 1/2 to 2/3 pot size will usually be enough.
Wrong bet sizing isn't the only leak found in continuation bets out of position in 3-bet pots - the board. You always have to look at the board texture. You know that players with smaller stacks are more willing to go broke on a less than ideal hand when it comes to post-flop play. You don't always have to contibet with KK on a J high flop. Your opponent will often try to take the pot and end up unintentionally committing himself.
Apart from that, you should, of course, always try to estimate your opponent's 3-bet calling range. In general, if we assume the opponent is a thinking TAG, the range will contain relatively few aces, but more pocket pairs and speculative hands. This means that dry A or K high flops are very good for a continuation bet with unimproved hands.
However, you should also keep an eye on pot control, which is still important in 3-bet pots. If you hold a medium strength hand that has a good chance of winning an uncontested showdown, then you should tend towards refraining from betting.
Depending on the opponent, you should have no difficulty check/folding J9 on a T52 flop after a pre-flop 3-bet. Remember the balancing leak we discussed. This can also be applied to active blind defense. If you want to check/raise all-in on the flop at times, you have to balance that line with check/fold flop.
One aspect that many players forget when 3-betting hands from the blinds is that their 3-bets tend to polarize the opposing ranges to a certain degree. What exactly is meant by 'polarize'? Let's take a look at an example.
An active TAG open raises from the button and you are in the BB with ATo. If you opt for a 3-bet, you should be aware of the fact that your 3-bet will make your opponent fold all weaker aces that were in his range and usually only call aces that have a Q+ kicker. This means there's no reason to celebrate the action you get after hitting an A on the flop.
Always be aware the effect your 3-bet has on your opponent's range.
You are faced with a similar domination problem if you just call an open raise before the flop. Weak aces and kings are poor hands to play; you will be out of position after the flop and can't be happy about putting your money in, even when you hit. You can't control the size of the pot out of position, either. All in all, you should avoid playing hands that can be dominated when out of position altogether.
The above also applies to your range for 3-betting in a blind position. You should refrain from 3-betting with medium-strength high card hands, simply because your hand could be dominated.
Your legitimate 3-bet range is pretty tight, and you may not get any action when you do 3-bet. You can balance this by polarizing your own range. You could, for example, 3-bet with hands that are ahead against your opponent's range, or 3-bet hands that are not likely to be dominated and have high playability after the flop (for example suited connectors, which you can then easily fold when you don't hit big). You then win big when you do hit that perfect flop and your opponent can't get off his hand.
Closing Remarks
This articles will hopefully have shown you what you should pay close attention to in blind defense situations. Study your own game vis-a-vis the leaks that have been discussed here and plug any that you may have. A couple of hours spent studying these questions will elevate your understanding of the game to a new level; additional dollars will flow into your bankroll.
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