Playing the Blinds in Limit Hold'em Part IV - After a Nonsteal Raise

Thus far, this series has discussed how to play the blinds if a late-position player raised with no one else in. Because this frequently can be a steal-raise, you can play quite a few hands. You can find those discussions, with the recommended hand-selection criteria and key thoughts, at http://www.cardplayer.com/.



In this column, we will look at a few scenarios in which the blinds are facing a raise from a different position or with more players in the hand. Specifically, we will examine the following situations:



• An early-position player raises, and everyone folds.

• An early-position player raises, and one person calls.

• An early-position player raises, and several players call.

• A middle-position player raises, and no one calls.

• A middle-position player raises after a player has called.

• A middle-position player raises, and several players call.

• A late-position player raises after one player has called.

• A late-position player raises after several players have called.

• The button raises after the cutoff calls.



Clearly, we cannot be comprehensive and cover every possibility, but this sampling should offer a good guideline of how to play the blinds when facing a nonsteal raise.



An early-position player raises, and everyone folds: If you were ever going to play tightly in the blinds, this is the moment. You are out of position against a player who has announced that he has a premium hand. If you are new to the game, you might think, "I don't know this guy, and maybe he raises more often than he should." If that were the case, someone else probably would have called or three-bet. The fact that everyone else folded should tell you that this is not the time to venture forth with a mediocre or poor holding. This is especially true if you hold an ace. In this situation, I would fold A-J automatically, and frequently would fold A-Q, as well. Small pocket pairs might be playable if you know the player is predictable (he will bet the flop and check the turn with a big ace, and bet with a big pair). If you are going to play a small pair from the small blind, though, you need to reraise to protect your pair from overcards held by the big blind, who will be tempted to call because you just made the pot bigger.



An early-position player raises, and one person calls: Even though you are now out of position to two players, you can play a few more hands here. Not only is the pot bigger, but the early-position raiser will play more honestly because of the additional player. Thus, it will be easier to tell where you are. However, bad aces play especially poorly here, even when suited, because if the raiser does not have a good ace, the caller might. Never play a bad ace. There is less reason to reraise from the small blind with a small to medium pair, as the extra player already has created too many overcards, and you primarily will be fishing for a set. Big cards are dangerous to play, but suited connectors can be played if you know how to fold them when you flop only a pair.



An early-position player raises, and several players call: You can call with a number of hands, but continue to avoid big-little combinations (for example, K-6 and A-4). Suited cards now have value, and you can play them, including suited aces (but beware of playing the hand if you flop a pair; you are looking for a flush draw or a miracle flop). One of the reasons you can play more hands is that most of the time the preflop raiser will bet. Since he is on your left, you will have excellent relative position for the first and maybe more rounds of betting. Thus, you can see what the others will do before committing yourself.



A middle-position player raises, and no one calls: Compared to the early-position raiser case, a middle-position raiser will have a greater variety of hands. As a result, the blinds will be able to play more hands. Actually, I recommend that the small blind still fold all but premium hands here, as he is still in a raise-or-fold situation, and is facing a real hand. The big blind can add back those suited aces, as well as K-Q and K-J, as they are less likely to be dominated here.



A middle-position player raises after a player has called: I have included this case because this raise has some interesting characteristics. It can't be a steal-raise, as there is no hope of winning the blinds without a contest (the limper will call). But it could be an isolation raise made with mediocre values if the caller is a weak player and the raiser is aware of that and is capable of capitalizing on it. If this is the case, either blind can make a play with a decent hand by reraising. This may get the limper (and the big blind, if the small blind reraises) to fold, creating dead money and taking the initative away from a player who was just making a play. Note that this is a dangerous play, as the raiser may not have been thinking along the lines of an isolation raise and simply may have a premium hand. You really need to know your opponents to try this. If not, simply play as if the middle-position player had open-raised.



A middle-position player raises, and several players call: You can treat this case much the same as if the raise came from early position. Your relative position will be good after the flop, and the raiser should play honestly because of the callers behind him.



A late-position player raises after one player has called: All of the comments about isolation plays hold true here, and perhaps even more so. Late-position raisers take all sorts of liberties with raises, especially if they do not respect the single caller. Again, you can play lots of hands here, but give serious thought to reraising if you are going to play, occasionally with some of your weaker playable holdings. You still can show a long-term profit if you are a good player by creating dead money and gaining the initiative if everyone misses the flop. Again, you will be playing from out of position and, especially if the caller does not fold to your three-bet, will have to proceed cautiously.



A late-position player raises after several players have called: Surprisingly, this is not as good a situation for you as the one in which an early-position player raised and there were several callers. First, you will not be last to act, and there may well be more raising. Second, if form holds, everyone will check to the raiser on the flop, and he will bet. That will put you in the terrible position of having to act before the entire field. Thus, you should play only very good hands, and I do not recommend small cards even if they are connected. You can play suited connectors down to 6-5 suited, but you will need to hit the flop quite solidly to continue. All pocket pairs are playable.



The button raises after the cutoff calls: This is an extreme case of likely isolation. You should reraise with any hand you are going to play from either blind. The cutoff clearly has a mediocre hand and is likely a weak player, as he did not open-raise from late position. The button has no fear of someone waking up with a hand behind him, and his raise simply could be a combination isolation/steal. Still fold mediocre hands, but three-bet any hand with good high-card strength.



Conclusion: You need to be selective in playing the blinds against a raise no matter where it comes from. But you need to think about the likely strength of the raiser's hand and your relative position after the flop to determine your playing criteria.



In the next issue, I will continue this series with some specific raising and reraising opportunities from the blinds.



Barry offers poker lessons tailored to the specific strengths and weaknesses of the individual student. Please visit his web site at http://www.barrytanenbaum.com/ or e-mail him at [email protected].