Defending Your Blinds

By defending your blinds, I am referring to situations in which someone has opened with a raise from late position (the cutoff or the button) and you are responding from either your small blind or your big blind. A late-position raiser is usually doing so with a hand with which he would normally not raise or even play from other positions, but is hoping to win your blind money by getting you to fold. If you call, he has position over you and is hoping to either catch a good flop or simply bet you out of the hand at some point. You need to recognize this and frequently play more aggressively than you would in other cases. The following six hands, taken from live-action play, illustrate how you should respond in many of these situations.

Hand No. 1 ($30-$60 game): You are in the big blind with the K 3. Everyone folds to the button, who raises. The small blind folds and you call. There is $140 in the pot and two players.

The flop is Q J 10. What should you do?

Answer: You should either bet or check with the intention of check-raising. In a heads-up situation like this when facing a button steal-raise, you must make a play for the pot at some point. Right now you have an open-end straight draw to catch any ace or 9 with two cards to come. Your opponent may well fold a medium or small pocket pair or any ace with a low side card. If he calls, you have lots of outs with two cards to come. Making a play now on the cheap street makes your action less committable than trying to pop him on the turn. Furthermore, if you hit on the turn, you got the money in early; otherwise, you might lose your market.

Hand No. 2 ($30-$60 game): You are in the small blind with the A Q. The button opens with a raise. You reraise and only the button calls. There is $210 in the pot and two players.

The flop is K 10 3. You bet and the button calls. There is $270 in the pot. The turn is the 3. What should you do?

Answer: Preflop, you correctly three-bet a button steal-raiser with your good, solid hand. On the flop, you led at your lone opponent with your gutshot-straight draw and an ace overcard, which was also good, aggressive poker. His flop call does not mean a lot at this point, since the pot is getting large and he is still on the cheap street. Reraised pots that are heads up between a blind and a button steal-raiser have their own special rules. You are the aggressor and should maintain control of the hand. I would bet.

Hand No. 3 ($20-$40 game): You are in the small blind with the 6 6 and the button opens with a raise. You call, as does the big blind. There is $120 in the pot and three players.

The flop is Q 5 2. You bet, the big blind calls, and the button raises. What should you do?

Answer: Although the button could be raising on a flush draw, his raise coupled with the big blind calling your bet means in almost all cases that you have two outs. There is simply not enough money in the pot to play a 23-to-1 shot. You should fold.

Hand No. 4 ($30-$60 game): You are in the small blind with the Q 9. The button opens with a raise and you are the only caller. There is $150 in the pot and two players.

The flop is 10 9 3. You bet and the button calls. There is $210 in the pot. The turn is the 6. What should you do?

Answer: You should bet. If the button had top pair or a diamond flush draw on the flop, he probably would have raised your flop bet. The 6 is likely a blank or, at best, gives him a flush draw if he has a diamond in his hand. If you get raised, you can fold. But when you check, you set yourself up to get robbed either here or on the river.

Hand No. 5 ($30-$60 game): You are in the big blind with the K J. The cutoff opens with a raise and only the small blind and you call. There is $180 in the pot and three players.

The flop is Q 9 3. The small blind checks. What should you do?

Answer: You should bet the flop. This is a three-way pot with one opponent checking. The preflop raiser was in a steal-raise situation, so he does not need any kind of premium hand for his preflop action. You might win the pot outright, and you have outs if you are called or raised. You have seven outs with a 10 or a king, plus a backdoor-flush draw. Your jack may even give you three more outs. If one of your two opponents folds and the other does not raise, this suggests that your remaining opponent is probably weak and you might be able to bet him out of the hand on the expensive street even if a blank comes.

Hand No. 6 ($20-$40 game): You are in the small blind with the 7 7. The cutoff opens with a raise. The button folds. You reraise and only the cutoff calls. There is $140 in the pot and two players.

The flop is Q J 3. You bet and he calls. There is $180 in the pot. The turn is the 6. What should you do?

Answer: With only one opponent who didn't raise your flop bet, you should bet again. He might have some sort of straight draw or flush draw working. With two big cards on the board, you should bet the turn in these heads-up situations, since he will frequently fold a medium pocket pair like tens, nines, or eights. If you check, he may decide to bet and now you'll have to fold, since it would be too easy for you to be playing for only two outs.