Playing the Blinds: Top Pair/No Kicker in a Multiway Pot - Part I

As readers of this column might now, I am known as a very tight player. In fact, I play a bit tighter than even most experts suggest, and usually need a very good hand and a potentially profitable situation to enter a pot. Having said that, I sometimes defend my big blind with hands other people would fold, especially when the preflop raiser is a rather weak and/or predictable player. I will be especially likely to defend with a marginal holding if my opponent has a tendency to raise with all big offsuit cards, while often playing his wired pairs a bit less aggressively. Because quite a few players (especially the ones who think they play well) will always raise with hands like A-K, A-Q, and A-J, even from early position, but will just call with all medium pairs, this will influence the way you should play your blind. Against people with these types of raising standards, I often fold hands with which other people would call, and call with hands some people would fold. I'll be more concrete: When in the big blind against someone who is more likely to be playing two facecards (A-K, A-Q, A-J) than all other possible holdings combined, I will usually fold hands that might be dominated by the raiser – hands as good as A-J or K-Q offsuit. I will occasionally defend with hands like 9-8, 8-6, and small suited connectors, and even hands as weak as K-7 suited, especially if other players are in as well. I will do this only if:

• the raiser is rather predictable in his preflop and post-flop play.

• his raising standards are as discussed above.

• the other players in the hand are not especially tricky and/or aggressive.

• the others players also are more likely to be playing big or semibig cards rather than hands like suited connectors or wired pairs.

Even though I will probably have the worst hand going in, I call because after the flop it will be fairly easy for me to make the right decisions and because I think I can lure my opponent(s) into making the wrong decisions. I can safely fold when the flop is likely to have helped the others, and if this is not the case, I will be able to put a lot of pressure on them – even when holding a relatively weak hand myself. Because of all of this, I believe defending with these types of holdings can actually give you a positive expectation for the hand – or better, a lower negative expectation than simply folding would give you. Note that if you play as tight as I suggest, people will not expect you to be defending with the types of hands mentioned above, especially because they would never defend with them, and you might therefore get a lot of action if you happen to catch a perfect flop. (Lots of players would defend with hands like K-J offsuit, even – and especially – in heads-up situations, but they wouldn't even dream of defending with 8-6 in a three-way pot. Because they play like this, they don't expect a tight player like you, who is known to fold against a raise so often, to be playing crummy cards like these on occasion.)

In this five-part series, I will discuss a few blind-defense situations, and the recommended plays before and after the flop. Quite a few of these plays may be somewhat unconventional, and some of the strategies I will discuss have never been put to print before, to my knowledge. Having said all this, it is important not to use this series as an excuse to play lots of extra hands from the blinds. If you play as I suggest, you will still be folding your big blind to a raise about six or seven times out of 10. If you fold less often than that, you are simply giving too much action with bad hands or in unprofitable situations – and probably both.

A somewhat predictable player raises from early position and gets called by two rather weak players who call raises with all hands they were intending to play anyway. You are in the big blind with the K 2, and decide to defend. The flop comes K-10-7 rainbow, no hearts. What should you do?

Note that the raiser and the callers all might very well have received help from the board (with two flop cards being in the "playing zone," as Bob Ciaffone and Jim Brier call it in their Middle Limit Holdem Poker). In fact, one of the most likely hands for an early-position raiser to hold is A-K, and then you would be drawing dead to your kicker. A case can be made for betting into the raiser (to see where you stand, and to put extra pressure on him), but I would simply check, to see how things develop. If there's a lot of action, like a bet and a raise, simply fold, knowing you're beat. But if the preflop raiser bets (which is to be expected, as preflop raisers will often bet whether or not they have received help from the board), and one or two players call, but you somehow sense that no one has a king … well, then it's OK to continue in the hand by taking off a card and making your move if a safe card comes on the turn. Or, if no one bets on the flop and it gets checked around on the turn, you know with absolute certainty that you have the best hand. Unless the raiser is slow-playing a monster (which is not just unlikely, but also very unwise, taking into account the coordinated nature of the board), he almost certainly cannot beat your hand. And after the definite sign of weakness from the preflop raiser checking, the two players behind him still couldn't bet – meaning they are unlikely to have a king, 10, or even a 7. Now, this seems like an ideal situation to go for the check-raise on the turn if a blank comes. Any preflop raiser will try to pick up the pot here, after all the weakness his opponents – including you – have shown. You can expect him to bet in this situation almost 100 percent of the time – and even if he doesn't bet, one of the callers may decide to stick it in after all the checking that's been going on. Now, in the most likely scenario (the preflop raiser bets the turn and gets one call behind him from a hand like J-8 or Q-9, only to see you check-raise from the blind), you will have created quite a big pot with your rather marginal top pair/no kicker – which is a solid favorite to win.

When in the blinds, it is important to realize that your opponents will almost always assume you hold nothing. So, when you call a raise before the flop and then check on the flop and turn, there will always be someone trying to pick up the pot there, because you have not shown any strength yet. (This is especially true at the middle and higher limits). Now, if you can recognize this type of behavior, or simply "feel" someone is betting without proper values, it is possible to win a rather big pot by becoming aggressive on the flop or turn with a relatively weak holding yourself. Remember, defending with marginal holdings is profitable only if:

• you know how to maximize your hand when it is the best (as described above).

• you read your opponents well enough that you don't have a problem folding a reasonable hand even against only moderate action (for instance, with your K-2, you simply "know" by the way the betting goes that your opponent holds a better hand than you, and you are able to fold your top pair against one flat bet).

If you are unable to lay down top pair on the flop when it's clear you're beat, or if you're simply too scared to check twice and go for the check-raise on the turn when that is undoubtedly the proper play, you should stick to a tighter blind strategy than I recommend here. If your post-flop play is not good enough, or if your reads are often way off, playing marginal hands from the blind in the way I describe will actually cost you money.

In the second part of this series, I will discuss another top pair/weak kicker, this time in a heads-up situation against a possible steal raiser. In the meantime, I hope you catch lots of aces – and win with them.