Blind battles - playing from the small blind
Introduction
In this article
- What range you should play with
- How to adapt against different stack sizes
- How to play against passive and aggressive opponents
- How to play against regular players
Aside from the normal blind defence situation against players outside
the blinds, there is a special situation which differs from all other
situations on a short-handed or full ring table and is itself a very
dynamic subject: the blind battle
The blind battle situation is where no other players have put money
into the pot and the small blind has the opportunity to act first and to open the round.
This article will examine the game from the perspective of the small blind in such a battle - how to act and how best to adapt to opponents.
What are the characteristics of the game for SB vs. BB?
Naturally, the question is why is the blind battle so special and how should we go about adapting to it. We must draw your focus to the special play dynamics of a heads up situation. The situation is essentially nothing more than a single hand of heads up on a short-handed or full-ring table. For you, this means that your game is very much
dependent on the game of your opponent and you must pay attention to his
play tendencies and consider how to exploit them. It is thus the case
that there is no standard manner of play of which you can be confident that it is
+EV.
The psychological aspect is at the forefront of
the game, but you
cannot evaluate this as easily as you could in standard heads up, since
the time
between blind battles can be long, particularly on aggressive tables.
This means your opponents are less likely to remember what happened in
previous
blind battles. You cannot always count on your previous call down or
float to remain in the memory of the opponent.
If he is playing several tables or is doing other things on his
computer besides online poker, he will often have long since forgotten
the situation. This will never happen in standard heads up play, since
players will be trying to adapt to their opponents.
Other than the psychological peculiarity, there is another factor to take into account. Since you are now in a heads up situation, the strength of the hands involved has changed dramatically. It is harder to throw away a top pair, middle kicker against an opponent's "raise flop / bet turn"-line on a dry board, where normally this would be a standard fold 6-handed.
Equally however, you can hardly say that calling down with a top pair is a standard line in this situation. While there is a low probability that with just one opponent both players hit a good flop, the opponents' game tendencies are of such importance that you always have to adjust to them.
In such a blind battle, one needs the courage to be able to follow one's reads, for instance to call down with mid-pair no kicker against a "raise flop / bet turn / bet river"-line from an aggressive opponent in order to catch a bluff. Such specific adjustments will be covered later. First we will address some more fundamental issues.
What is the difference between a blind battle from the small blind in comparison to the big blind?
The question is, what is the difference between playing the small blind
and the big blind in a blind battle? Why are there two articles instead
of just one? Can't one play almost identically, whether one has paid
the small blind or the big blind? After all it is basically the same game
situation.
It must be said however, that while a blind battle always describes exactly same game
situation, that this situation can always seen
from 2 completely different points of view. This difference in
perspectives results mainly from the difference in position from which it is played.
Playing from the small blind, you always have a positional disadvantage since you must act first in every betting round. This means your opponent has an informational advantage. You will never be able to end a betting round with your first decision and thus have little control over the pot size. At any time, you might have to deal with a raise from the opponent and could suddenly be faced with playing for a large pot out of position with a marginal hand. This will be an enormous inconvenience for you, since you will often end up in marginal spots, where, against very good opponents, you will hardly have any edge and can at best play with neutral EV.
Your concern is therefore to avoid losing too much money in such situations. This also requires you to play the game differently than your opponent.
Open-raise or complete from the small blind?
First we should answer the question: With which hands should you raise and which should you only complete with?
There is no general answer to this question since it is too simply posed, thus prompting simple and wrong answers. Your decision - whether you raise or complete - depends not only on your hand, but is strongly dependent on the opposing player's tendencies.
Looking briefly at the situation from a mathematical point of view, it is clear that you always have the correct pot odds to complete. You get odds of 3:1 for completing and thus need only 25% equity in order for it to be +EV. From this perspective, every hand has EV(Call) > EV(Fold). This is a very one dimensional way of looking at things, however.
When looking at the situation only from a mathematical standpoint you are entirely neglecting the fact that completing is not the end of the betting round and your opponent could well raise, forcing you to pay a higher price to see the flop. You should also not forget that complete/call leaves you playing out of position post-flop without the initiative against an opponent who could have all sorts of hands.
As a basic strategy, it is therefore recommended to either raise or fold, at least to begin with. This will also make it easier to determine your opponent's tendencies. Why raise or fold? The reason for this is simple. By raising, you gain the initiative and simplify the post-flop game against a normal opponent by pressuring him and forcing him to make errors. In addition, you gain immediate information about your opponent's pre-flop tendencies by playing aggressively.
What if he folds too often to such raises? Then this is good for you - you can carry on playing aggressively and profit directly from the situation. If he tends to call your raises or to 3-bet, you can also adjust your game to this.
But if you do not begin by playing aggressively, then you are losing this information about your opponent and your cannot directly assess them. In addition, you do not gain any information about the opponent's range by completing and he could thus hold a monster on any flop. If your hand reading skills are not well developed, then you can quite often find yourself in unpleasant situations post-flop by completing and are more likely to make mistakes. Making mistakes is to be avoided if you wish to play profitable poker.
How much should you raise pre-flop?
In principle, one might say the difference in bet size is not very large. Nevertheless, there is a small difference. The question is: with 100 BB effective stacks should we raise by 3 BB or 4 BB from the small blind?
There are arguments which support both decisions. The advantage of a larger raise is that we generate more fold equity and will find ourselves playing out of position post-flop less often.
In support of a smaller raise is the fact that you will be playing for a smaller pot post-flop should you be called. One should consider the advantages of each and choose based on their own play style which way to go.
The differences that exist always have consequences on an individual level, and may affect one player adversely, but have positive benefits for another player. It is necessary for you to find an individual 'right answer' which feels right. A raise size of 3,5 BB can also be useful. It all comes down to one's own style of play.
What does a standard open raising range from the small blind look like?
Very often, when one asks for a standard range, they want a specific table of hands they can stringently stick to. One could sit down and construct an open raising chart for use against unknown opponents with stacks of 100 BB.
As a quick fix, we could use the following range, for example: 22+, A2s+, K9s+, QTs+, T8s+,
95s+, 65s+, A2o+, KTo+, QTo+, 87o+
There is surely nothing wrong with using such a range as a basis for playing against an unknown player, then adapting it as you gain more information about them. Looking at the above range closely you can see it is not a bad starting point for establishing a raising range. There are serious flaws with it, however, which you might be tempted to overlook.
Particularly with small aces, we must make restrictions since they are too easily dominated. It is very difficult to play a hand that tends to be dominated out of position. In a blind battle, you are always playing aces with reverse implied odds and must be aware of this fact.
Therefore you should make a partial reduction with off-suited aces and raise only A8o+.
For the suited aces, the same idea applies, but we have the additional possibility of ending up with a flush draw, which if played aggressively, has very good implied odds. Thus we do not make such a large reduction from our range as with the off-suited aces. Depending on your own play, you could raise all suited aces or omit a very small number of them.
Another type of hand in question are the small pocket-pairs. Many players play all pocket pairs from any position. In a blind battle, it should be noted that unimproved pocket-pairs out of position become a bluffing hand that has little chance of improving. If you do not hit your set, you will mostly play this hand as
bet/fold flop, bet/fold turn or bet/fold flop, check/fold turn,
check/fold river.
So if you are playing against an opponent who tends to call your post-flop bets and puts your small pocket pairs in increasingly uncomfortable situations, you should think about perhaps removing the very small pairs from your range, since they will hardly ever have a chance of winning a showdown unimproved after your continuation bet has been called. As of 66 and 77, you start having a better chance of winning a showdown against hands which called the flop due to having hit a small pair on the flop.
Against an unknown opponent, you can start with small pocket pairs in your range, if you are reasonably sure you can handle the situation post-flop. However, if you start having trouble playing post-flop after making your continuation bets, there is no shame in no longer open raising these pairs.
Overall, your hand range should consist of two different types of hand:
- Hands with a good chance of hitting top pair on the flop
- Hands with good playability and great potential
For both types of hand, there are exceptions to the rule, as outlined above. Though A4 may have good equity against an opposing calling range, with a chance of making top pair, it has bad reverse implied odds. The decision is ultimately left to the player where to draw the line. It is important that you do not maneuver yourself into situations pre-flop, which you can't handle post-flop.
You can see that you it is in fact possible to determine a standard range. You should realize however that your standard range should tend to be tighter since your position works to your disadvantage post-flop. If you later acquire information about your opponent, you can adjust your range accordingly.
How do you adjust to different stack sizes?
Many players forget that their game should be adjusted to suit different stack sizes. We note these adjustments in the following section.
There are two situations you need to be able to adapt to - ones where the effective stack size is larger than 100 BB and those when it is smaller than 100 BB.
With such large stack sizes you should note that your positional post-flop disadvantage has an enormously negative effect, since a good player will call your pre-flop raises more often, knowing that they will be compensated with positional advantage post-flop.
Given this opposing play style, we should adjust our range so that we open raise more speculative hands in order to exploit the huge implied odds. Some players consider top pair - top kicker a nut hand in a blind battle without taking account of the stack sizes. Using this shifted hand range (it shifts in the sense that you raise more speculative hands and less hands which are likely to be dominated) you can abuse the lack of adjustment on the part of your opponent. You will then decide with which hands you will play a large pot out of position with, and reduce the probability of playing a dominated hand out of position.
In such a situation, you should therefore refrain from open raising such hands as A6, K9 or similar, with which you will often win a small pot, but given any resistance there is the risk of domination. The temptation is to try to get to the showdown cheaply but you will rarely succeed. In order to keep away from these problem situations, a pre-flop fold is definitely recommended!
If you are playing against an opponent who 3-bets a lot when large stacks are involved, you shouldn't follow temptation to call with many hands out of position, simply due to implied odds, if you intend on playing the rest of the hand in a straightforward manner. The implied odds you can give yourself are very dependent on your position. Since you are out of position, it is a lot more difficult to invest your whole stack in situations which are very favourable for you. Therefore you should not call too many 3-bets with speculative hands.
Here it is up to us to find out how far the opponent is willing to go pre-flop. With a well chosen 4-bet size, you can question your opponent whether he wants to play for his entire stack or if he would rather fold. Depending on whether your opponent is willing or not to go all-in with hands like 88 or AJ for 140bb pre-flop, you should tend to 4-bet him more often (that is, if he does NOT tend to go all in with these hands!) otherwise shrink you open raising range so that you are increasingly in a position where it is favourable to put all your chips into the center.
Another possible response to a regular 3-better is the following idea, which should be used with caution. You can start calling the 3-bets pre-flop. Here we are not calling on the basis of implied odds.
Our aim is to win some medium sized pots by donk betting on the flop and/or turn, using a bet between 1/2 and 2/3 pot size.
When considering this adjustment, you should make sure to pay attention to whether your opponent has a tendency to bluff raise post flop. If he is happy to make bluff raises in a 3-bet-pot against such donk bets, you would only be throwing away money.
If the opponent is rather weak and straightforward, the tendency will be that they fold to your donk bet in a 3-bet pot or at least that they part with a large portion of their range. Continuing the play on the turn will usually leave you pot committed however, thus you should make this play with a fairly balanced range, including not only pure bluffs but also sets and nut-flush draws, making it very difficult for your opponent to determine what you are doing.
Weak tight opponents, in particular, will tend to fold rather than push in large pots, making this play profitable against them, while also restricting their pre-flop-3-bets. If you make this play with a failry balanced range and include hands such as AA and
KK in your range, you can set yourself up for many very +EV spots.
You should exhibit caution when making this play, however. There is a high risk of making spewy plays if your opponent sees you doing this too often, so they respect your donk bets less on many boards and starts making bluff pushes.
You should give some thought as to against which opponents and what boards you can make this play. You will have a better understanding of when to employ such plays when you consider each possible line of you and your opponent given what you know.
When playing with deep stacks, it is important to keep track of your opponent's tendencies and to adjust your range accordingly. If you continue to play with your standard range and continually find yourself being outplayed, then there is the danger of tilting, which is very bad for your win rate.
If you are playing against stack sizes such as 95 BB or 80 BB, you are not forced to alter your game very much. If you are playing against a 50-BB-stack or even a short stack with 25 BB or smaller, you should certainly be concerned about adjusting your game.
There are two different ways in which you can adapt, and these can be combined.
One adjustment is to keep your hand range the same but adjust your bet sizes.
The other possibility is to keep your bet sizes the same and alter your hand range. The method you choose is dependent on your opponent and yourself.
A short stack in a blind battle is perfectly suited to exploit raises by making use of his wide re-steal range, so you need to adjust your range to play against them. You can now begin to even consider a first in all-in
push, or structure your hand range so that you have an easy decision between raise/fold or raise/call. Both approaches have their advantages.
By using a push, you are exploiting your fold equity almost perfectly, since, as is the case in a tournament, the short stack is forced to call only with acceptable hands. Continuing to raise normally on the other hand will allow you to trap your opponents when they push with hands that have considerably less equity than you raise/call range.
You might consider the following when choosing between the two options: If you guess the opponent is a "professional" short stack, you should go with a push instead of a normal raise, since he is likely more familiar with the ideal re-steal range and you can't really be optimistic about him making mistakes in this situation.
Pushing directly forces him to assess your hand range and to choose between the options of calling or folding, which he will find quite difficult to choose between, since a "professional" short stacker will usually be playing many tables, making it hard for him to make good reads. The more competent the short stacker, the more you should lean towards a direct push. If you are playing against a passive fish who does not utilize his short stack, you can open raise normally, since you will still produce large post-flop fold-equity.
So far, this does not sound so bad, but it is still not clear which lines are best to apply against which opponents. We therefore carry out the following mathematical analysis.
To begin with, we list the variables important in this situation.
S: Stack size of the short stack after deducting the blinds (measured in big blinds)
pH: Our pushing range (expressed in %)
cH: Opponents calling range (expressed in %)
E: Equity of our pushing range vs. opponents calling range
Fold equity: f = 1 – cH
There are three different options at the start of such hands:
- a) You fold the small blind -> The short stack wins 1,5 BB, you lose 0,5 BB.
- b) You push and the short stack folds-> you win 1,5 BB, the short stack loses 1 BB.
- c) You push and the short stack calls -> your equity determines how much you win/lose.
The next step is to calculate three expected values, one for each case, so that we can add them together and get the overall expected value for using the push or fold strategy against a particular short stack opponent.
- a) EV1 = (1-pH) * (-0, 5 BB)
- b) EV2 = pH * (1-cH) * (+1,5 BB)
- c) EV3 = pH * cH * [E * (S + 1,5 BB) – (1-E) * (S + 0,5 BB)]
EVtotal = EV1 + EV2 + EV3
If we now insert the above equations into this equation, we can simplify it so that we require less calculation, but the specifics of this are not important.
The final simplified equation is thus:
EVtotal = pH * [2 – 1,5*cH + cH * (2*E*S + 2*E – S –0,5)] – 0,5
Example
Stack size after deducting the blind bets S = 20 BB
Estimated opponent's calling range cH = 77+, A9s+, AJo+, KJs+, KQo
Your pushing range pH = 55+, A2s+, A2o+, K9s+, KTo+, QJ
Using this automation, we can view our EV. To do this we use Equilator to determine our hand range percentage and equity.
cH = 9.35%
pH = 24.13%
E = 40.185%
You can either calculate the three expected values and add them together, or use the condensed formula for the total EV. To demonstrate that both methods give the same results, we present both calculations below.
EV1 = (1-0,2413) * (-0,5BB) = -0,37935BB
EV2 = 0,2413 * (1-0,0935) * (+1,5BB) = 0,328107675BB
EV3 = 0,2413 * 0,0935 * [0,40185 * (20BB + 1,5BB) – (1- 0,40185) * (20BB + 0,5BB)] = -0,081724702BB
EVGesamt = -0,37935BB + 0,32810BB – 0,08172BB = -0,132967BB
Or
EVtotal = 0,2413 * [ 2- 1,5 * 0,0935 + 0,0935 *(2 * 0,40185 * 20 + 2 * 0,40185 – 20 –0,5)] –0,5 = -0,132967BB
If your assumption about the opponent's calling range is correct, then your pushing range is probably not perfect, since you can expect to lose in the long term. Your pushing range is not entirely wrong though, since you still have greater EV than the strategy where you just fold 100% of your hands (EVfold = -0.5BB).
Your goal should not only be to beat the 100%-fold-strategy with your pushing range, but to maximize you EV in every situation. To get a better result here we will tinker with the various hand ranges and see how their individual EV compares.
If you now decide to push the top 50% of all hands, we get the following EV:
pH = 49.32% = 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J6s+, T7s+, 98s, A2o+, K2o+, Q6o+, J7o+, T9o
E = 35.345%
EVtotal = +0.15684BB
If you push any 2 (pH = 100%, E = 31,505%), you get the following EV:
EVtotal = +0.6802BB
It is likely that this is the maximum EV that can be achieved, since you must make sure that you do not lose too much money by making open-folds against short stacks. Due to the smaller amount at stake we can accept reductions in our equity and thus it is correct to widen our hand range. As stacks grow larger, there comes a point at which your loss of EV due to lower equity is greater than what you would otherwise save by having a wide range.
Using this method, you can experiment with different pushing ranges against opponents with different calling ranges and stack sizes in order to find out which yield the largest EV.
To simplify the process, we have provided an Excel spreadsheet for your use: Excel-Chart to the EV of First-in Pushes
Simply change the three values in the table and the EV will automatically change. With a bit of work you will be able to supply yourself with the best pushing range against various opponents with certain stack sizes.
Aside from this method, which provides opponent specific ranges which are +EV for a push from the small blind, there is also another method we can use to determine safe pushing ranges against all opponents.
We are referring to the so-called Sklansky-Chubukov-numbers, which we use to determine whether we should push a hand or not.
This concept and its derivation is beyond the scope of this article. There is a separate article which you can find here: Sklansky-Chubukov Numbers and Preflop-Pushes
Although it is written from the perspective of the short stack strategy, but we can also utilize this strategy as a big stack when we are first in in the small blind, because the effective stack sizes mean we are essentially also playing with a short stack.
It is however still interesting to take a mathematical look at the raise/call and raise/fold lines.
Again, we list the parameters.
S: Stack size of the short stack after deducting the blinds (measured in big blinds)
rH: Own raising range (in %)
r: Your open-raise bet size (in BB)
cH: Opponents calling range (in %)
pH: Opponents pushing range (in %)
pcH: Your push calling range (in %)
E: Your equity with your push calling range vs. opponents pushing range
Fold equity: f = 1 – cH – pH
Now for the various end results:
- a) You fold the small blind -> the short stack wins 1,5 BB . You lose 0,5 BB.
- b) You raise, the short stack folds -> you win 1,5 BB. The short stack loses 1 BB.
- c) You raise, the short stack pushes, you fold -> The short stack wins 1 BB+r. You lose r.
- d) You raise, the short stack pushes, you call -> Your equity determines how much you win.
- e) You raise, the short stack calls -> You have no idea how much you win or lose long term post-flop and have no assumptions about it.
So you see, there are now 5 different possibilities. This presents us with a big problem - since we cannot calculate the EV of each of the different possibilities. The complexity of the possible post-flop scenarios is too great without making some unreasonable assumptions (such as that the opponents will always play push-or-fold from the big blind) meaning that we will have distorted results.
We are therefore faced with a sizeable problem. On the basis of these assumptions we cannot make a qualified statement about our expected value, even if we were to know the opponent's hand range, since the post-flop game is just too complicated to mathematically represent and solve.
Overall however, should you be in this situation, bear in mind that to always play raise/fold with hands such as QTo or A6o is the wrong approach without an approximation of your opponent's hand range and knowledge of how they might behave post-flop. Before launching into such plays, consider the potential push calling range of your opponent and work out a good first-in pushing range for yourself. For this strategy, you now have the necessary mathematical foundation.
If the short stack is very tight in regards to his pushing range however and tends to call pre-flop and play "fit or fold"-poker post-flop, you can continue to open-raise normally, because this opponent will not force you out of the hand pre-flop too often. Against such an opponent, you now have two different possible adjustments, which you can apply separately or together.
- You widen you raising range
- You increase your pre-flop raises
Both approaches pursue the same goal in slightly different ways. You want to punish your opponent for his weak-tight behaviour in the best possible way by forcing a fold when you both hit nothing, but he potentially has the best hand and abandons a great deal of pot equity.
The first option allows you to steal many more pots. The second gives you the chance to steal larger pots
You should, however, have an approximate idea of your opponent's hand in these situations and know what your equity looks like on the flop against a made hand so that you don't make a bad insta-fold against an opposing push. If the odds are good, then you should call.
Here's an example of a situation where you should not fold too quickly, when we know that the opponents plays "fit or fold".
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed )
BB: 35$, weak-tighter Shortstack
Hero: 200$
Preflop: Hero is SB with A
, T
3 folds, Hero raises to $7.00, BB calls $5.00.
Flop: ($14.00) K , 8
, J
(2 players)
Hero bets $10.00, BB raises to $28.00, Hero ???.
You must call $18 in order to win $52, so you are getting pot odds of 2.88:1 and thus you need 25,7% equity against the opponent's hand range in order to make this a +EV-call.
Since you know you can expect the opponent to hold only made hands, his range is likely to be:
- Sets (JJ, 88)
- Two pair (KJ, K8, J8)
- Top pair (KQ, KT, K9)
- Midpair (AJ, QJ, JT, J9)
- Bottom pair (A8, T8, 98)
- Medium pocket-pairs (TT, 99, 77)
Your total equity against this range is 30,1%. A call here is +EV and so you should not fold!!
Now and then you will run into a set, but this does not mean that a call was incorrect. If our assumption about his whole pushing range is accurate, it is always the case that a call is +EV here.
Note that we have not included semi bluffs in this range (e.g. straight draws), against which our equity would be even greater.
If you are playing against an opponent with a stack of around 50 BB, you should adapt your play to their specific post-flop tendencies. If the player knows how to utilize his stack size well by floating in position, it is difficult for you to proceed, since any moves on your part would require investing the whole 50
BB, so it is recommended that you tighten your raising range and do not make continuation bets 100% of the time when you hit the flop.
Here it is ok to go to the showdown in medium-small pots, since a hit gives you a good chance of winning. If the opponent is willing to play for his whole stack whenever he hits, however, you can go broke against him with your top pair hands, since you are favoured to win the showdown. It therefore depends on the opponent as to what you should do, but be aware that he has an ideal stack size to make post-flop semi-bluff pushes, owing to his large fold equity.
You will try to protect yourself from your opponent using this move on you, or even use it against him yourself, giving him the decision of an all-in call and getting the fold equity on your side.
How do you play against calling stations that call every flop and turn with mid-pair?
If you are playing against someone who very often calls pre-flop raises and does not fold his medium made hands on the flop or turn, you need to find out how he plays when you give him the initiative. It makes no sense for you to continue with the standard play of making a continuation bet if you have nothing before deciding whether to fire a 2nd
Barrel on the turn.
You must therefore temporarily let go of your aggressive play style and see how he reacts when you start checking flops to him. He will either have a tendency to try and steal pots, or a tendency to check behind. By checking on the flop, you are able to discern more information about your opponent.
Depending on how your opponent responds to your informational check, you can adapt your play. If you find that he checks behind frequently on the flop, you have a found a good pot control mechanism for when you yourself have marginal hands you want to get to the showdown with. If the opponent frequently bets on the flop, the possibility of making check raises opens up. Not only can we check raise for value, but this move has potential as a bluff.
If your opponent is capable of calling when you play the line - "check/raise flop, bet turn" with his mid pairs, you now have an ideal line for getting the maximum value out of your top pair hands.
If the opponent gets annoyed at your bluff raises on the flop, he may begin to start checking behind with his medium strength hands, which is also helpful to you, since it makes it easier to get to the showdown cheaply out of position.
The idea of playing check/call as the pre-flop aggressor is somewhat dangerous, as you gain no information about the quality of your opponent's hand and end up in a difficult decision on the turn. I would generally advise against this line when playing this type of opponent, because it has greatest expectation value against an aggressive (semi-) bluffer where you can use it to induce bluffs against your medium strength hands.
If you note, however, that the calling station doesn't have any post-flop game, then you should tighten your own pre-flop range so you frequently have top pair hands which you can make thin value bets. Your goal is to bet all three streets for value with thin bets, so that you may eventually get the opponent to start folding mid pairs right away on the flop or turn.
How do you deal with a notorious flop raiser or turn floater?
Some opponents like to call very often pre-flop, then make frequent semi-bluff or pure bluff raises in order to steal your standard continuation bets. Here it is valid to return similar action to the opponent or to use your good hands as bluff catchers if the opponent keeps firing on the turn.
The more harmless the board for your hand, the greater your reason for calling the flop-raise and playing check/call on the turn and river to catch bluffs. If the board becomes dangerous for you on the turn, you can play check/raise and get your stack into the center of the table, showing your opponent they can't make easy money from blind battles.
If the board is already draw heavy on the flop and you have a medium strong pair, however, the following example is relevant.
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed)
BB: 200$, aggressive post flop bluffer
Hero: 200$
Preflop: Hero is SB with A , T
3 folds, Hero raises to $7.00, BB calls $5.00.
Flop: ($14.00) T , 8 , 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $10.00, BB raises to $34.00, Hero ???.
You should tend to make a direct 3-bet on the flop. Since you are ahead of any draws, it is better to make a normal 3-bet instead of pushing all-in. The advantage here is that you suggest to the opponent that he still might have some fold equity and so will raise again sometimes with draws. If you push directly, though he may fold only some of his draws, he will never fold a better hand than yours.
Should you hold only a nut flush draw in this situation, you should behave in the same way, since you may then get some partially dominated draws to go all-in. Moreover, if you're opponent sees that you play draws like this, you may lure him into such a battle for his stack with a solid hand when he holds just mid pair with a good kicker, which would have good equity against a draw, but is actually way behind.
It is now clear that you can play good draws and top pair hands fast against such opponents. What should you do with medium strength hands? Your objective should be to get to the showdown.
The following example is in a situation against a player who is happy to bluff raise on the flop or float on the turn in position.
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed )
BB: 200$, aggressive Postflopbluffer
Hero: 200$
Preflop: Hero is SB with K , J
3 folds, Hero raises to $7.00, BB calls $5.00.
Flop: ($14.00) Q , J , 5 (2 players)
Hero checks and calls a flop bet.
Turn: ($X) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks and calls a medium sized (e.g. ½ pot size bet) 2nd Barrel.
River: ($X) A (2 players)
Hero checks and calls another bet.
This "check/call all streets"-line, which was presented before is not effective against calling stations but is best suited to this opponent. We do this with the aim of keeping the pot small and getting to the showdown with the least possible cost. You should be aware however, that this situation is not comparable to the call down situation in Fixed Limit Hold'em. Here it is important to respect the bet sizes of the opponent because otherwise the river call can be very expensive.
It is also important to note how the board changes. In this example, the ace on the river is an important card, since it is a scare-card for your hand, and the opponent knows it. It is therefore the perfect opportunity for him to bluff with hands which have no showdown value.
Had the hand progressed so that the opponent checked behind on a particular street, you should still not take the initiative. If you bet at any time, you will not extract any value from worse hands and may have to give up your hand or make some expensive calls since the opponent is representing enormous strength with his raise. With this board, a hand such as Q8 would play just the same and you will have the same problems with it as KJ.
If you play against such an aggressive opponent and fail to hit something on the flop, you should worry whether a continuation bet is really the right action. It is not a large mistake to play check/fold after raising pre-flop in this situation if your hand has little potential for improvement and/or cannot stand up to much resistance.
Against these opponents, you want to turn their strength into their weakness. They should not be collecting pots out of sheer aggression when they possess hands which can only win with a bluff raise or a float. You want them to be bluffing against your better hands, and in effect, handing money over.
You should therefore cut back on your own bluffs. The option of a re-bluff should only be considered if you realize the opponent does not have "the guts" to follow through with a turn-float against a small check-raise. You should be careful in these situations not to be too spewy and lose money in the long run.
How do you play against good regular players in a blind battle?
Good regulars are characterized by their adaptability in such a situation. In fact, one can say that all the concepts of customization from Article to Blindbattle from the Big Blind apply. Against such opponents, it is particularly difficult to play out of position post-flop since it is difficult to hand read against an adaptive player. You should therefore not create much of a confrontation since you can end up in some very difficult post-flop situations.
Because you know that you don't have much of an edge against a good regular, you should try to limit your losses. You should make sure your open-raising range is very tight in this situation. You should then try to play your strong hands straightforwardly for value, attempting to break even from the small blind. This possibility for adjustment is certainly the easiest to implement and has low variance when you have to play against a regular.
You should not however make the mistake of classifying every player who plays regularly on your limit as a good regular and launch into the standard mode of play. Here we describe two types of regulars which you should familiarize yourself with.
One type of regular is that which typically plays 8 tables at the same time and employs a tight aggressive strategy. You can be sure that this player is not giving his full attention to all of the tables and is liable to play in a straightforward manner in a blind battle situation.
There are some moderately good regulars, who because of their multi-tabling, will not often call your open raises because they have "no time" to engage in such a marginal spot which can lead to difficult post-flop decisions.
Against such a player you don't have to wait until you start opening your raising range but can actually start extending your raising range right away. These opponent usually don't have the time to adjust accordingly and will simply use a raise-or-fold strategy, which means they will be folding their blinds far too often.
As long as this doesn't change, you can make a habit of stealing their blinds and collecting pots on the flop with continuation bets.
People get to know you pretty well if you frequently play with them on the same limit. There are regulars with whom you will develop a unique history and against whom the game has very special dynamics. This can be due to information won in previous pre-flop-3-bet and 4-bet-battles or post-flop light (semi-) bluff-raises.
If you play against such a person from the small blind, you should be aware of this special history. Since you play out of position both pre-flop and post-flop, you should hold back to begin with, playing a tight and straightforward game, until you know how to adapt. The reason for this is that you will find the opponent very often makes a move against you whereby the only response is to make a move of your own, but because of his special reads, he will often be able to make a light call with a made hand of his.
Bluffing in this situation will not be successful very often . If you play tight, you are often in the position where you hold a good hand and don't need to make any of your own moves, but rather where you might catch your opponent making moves. Often, such a regular will not understand that you are playing particularly tight in this situation and will see your raises as bluffs which he can catch with his top pair no kicker.
What mistakes must you avoid at all costs?
This part is especially important, since there are two standard errors TAGs make during a small blind-blind battle.
The first standard error is called the "one bullet" error. This is where you make a continuation bet on every flop, then play either check/fold
or check/call on the turn. It is a good idea for the big blind to call a continuation bet with a weak pair or even ace high here, since his hand has showdown value. If you just want to see where you stand on the turn by firing a continuation bet without any future plan (check/fold any turn isn't a plan), you are playing a long term losing game in the blind battle.
Scare cards on the river and turn are great for putting pressure on the opponent, while with medium made hands you want to control the pot size and get to the showdown.
Take your time, think about the hand, the board texture and the opponent and do not make continuation bets and then abandon the hand unimproved. If you do this, the opponent will always know if you have hit something.
The second fundamental error is caused by the player's attitude to a blind battle. Many solid
TAGs begin by giving up their solid play and behave very aggressively. The idea is often that they have a lot of fold-equity against one opponent and can bluff them off their hands with increasingly rubbish hands. An aggressive style of play is not wrong, but one should choose one's spots wisely.
If you play a hand as a bluff, make sure your hand has acceptable equity against the opponent's range, should he call. The following hand serves as an example of what not to do.
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed )
BB: 110$
Hero: 200$
Preflop: Hero is SB with K , J
3 folds, Hero raises to $7.00, BB calls $5.00.
Flop: ($14.00) Q , 7 , 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $10, BB calls $10.
Turn: ($34) A (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets 23$, Hero raises to 66$, BB calls 43$ (All-In)
You believe you have some fold-equity in this hand, but you are very far behind if he calls. Such a bluff is very spewy in the long run.
If the hand changes as follows, the bluff can be suitably made.
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed )
BB: 110$
Hero: 200$
Preflop: Hero is SB with K , J
3 folds, Hero raises to $7.00, BB calls $5.00.
Flop: ($14.00) Q , 7 , 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $10, BB calls $10.
Turn: ($34) A (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets 23$, Hero raises to 66$, BB calls 43$ (All-In)
Compare both situations and see how your equity differs. In the first example, your equity against these hands is thus:
- Set: 9%
- 2Pair: 9%
- One Pair (Ax, Qx): 12%
In the second example it is:
- Set: 22.7%
- 2Pair: 22.7%
- One Pair (Qx, Ax): 29,4%
This is a huge leap, because in the case of the pure bluff you are often drawing dead. You may think you can bluff frequently in a blind battle, but you should do so with hands which are not almost drawing dead should you be called.
Conclusion
This article has shown you how to deal with blind battles as the small blind. What is important is that you do not make standard plays, but adapt to special circumstances and deal with particular hands. The opponent's style is very important.
Play in a blind battle as the big blind is covered in this article: Blindbattle - The play from the Big BLind
Here is a link to the Excel file you can use for making first in pushes: Excel-Chart to the EV of First-in Pushes
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