Playing From The Blinds In Poker

Playing well from the blinds can be a tough aspect in poker and next to no players will actually have a positive win rate over a significant sample size of hands. Throughout this article we will look at how to play from the small blind, how to play from the big blind and some key points to evaluate.

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Playing from the Small Blind

The small blind is a half of the big blind and is probably the worst position to be on the table. However, it’s a position that we will have to face every in every orbit of play so it’s important to do so at a high standard.

Even though we are out of position to everyone at the table (and always will be throughout the hand) it can still be a good place to accumulate chips in the right situation.

As the games across the board become tougher to beat due to the influx of players looking to improve their games, more players will look to steal the blinds as they know that whatever you decide to do, you will be playing out of position.

It’s important to remain relatively tight from the small blind. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking just because you have already invested money in the pot that you have to play. Look at the money in the blinds as a fee you have to pay to have the privilege to sit at the table (or a tax, if you will).

Calling is generally going to be a bad decision in the small blind due to the fact you will be out of position post flop, so we are looking to either fold or raise in an attempt to make the decision process of the player in position much tougher.

Picking spots in which to re-raise our opponents can be a great way to defend our blinds and send out a message to prevent them from trying to steal in future circumstances. However, it’s important to be selective of when we do so and who we do this against as overkill of this play will give us an un balanced range.

Playing from the Big Blind

Whilst many of the points we have mentioned when playing in the small blind can also be applied in the big blind, there are a couple of extra points to be made.

Being in the big blind means we are not necessarily going to be out of position all the time as if we get into a pot where the small blind has also decided to play, then we will have position on this player.

It also means pre flop we get to act last (assuming there has been no re-raise pre flop) which will provide us with a fair amount of information on the players that have elected to play in the pot so far.

The big blind is a great position to adopt the squeeze play with multiple players in the pot. By this we mean can re-raise in an attempt to take down the pot if more than one player is active in the hand.

As with anything in poker, it’s important to use this selectively as its very timing and opponent dependent.

Key Points

  • Look to tighten up pre flop as you will be out of position in most scenarios.
  • If you are going to play a hand, play aggressively.
  • Try to avoid limping (from SB) and calling too much.
  • Don’t feel that because you a little money invested in the pot that you need to play.
  • Use a tight image to your advantage and be selective regarding squeezing and 3 betting pre flop in an attempt to win pots cheaply.