Playing the Blinds: 6-5 Suited - Part III

In the first two parts of this series, I told you that in the big blind, I often fold hands with which other people would defend, and call with hands other people would fold. A hand type with which I occasionally defend my blind is the small suited connector. Contrary to what some writers might tell you, I will sometimes do this even in a heads-up situation, especially if the preflop raiser is more likely to be holding two high cards than any other holding. When you are in this type of situation – playing cards that are the opposite of your opponent's – you know when he is likely to have received help from the board, you know when you can therefore put pressure on him, you know how you can maximize your winnings when you do catch a good flop, and you will know if there's an opportunity to make your opponent lay down the best hand by representing a hand that he cannot hold. Because of the combination of all of these factors, defending your blind with this type of hand might well be worth it. But don't forget the impact of the house cut here. You should be less inclined to defend your blinds in raked games than in time games, especially if it's just you and one other opponent. The rake that's being taken out of a heads-up pot will almost always turn your slightly positive expectation into a negative one – and possibly even for both of you. (This would be the case when playing low- and middle-limit poker in some of the casinos in Europe that have a very high rake.)

OK, you're in the big blind in a $20-$40 hold'em game with a time collection, and you're holding the 6 5. A middle-position player has raised, everybody has folded, and it's up to you. Now, you know this player usually raises when the first one in with any playable hand; he just doesn't like flat-calling if no one has voluntarily entered the pot yet. Playable hands for him in this type of situation would include any hand containing two facecards, and pairs sevens and higher – but with aces or kings, he will often just call to induce more calls from the players behind him who are yet to act. Because you are up against a player who is a lot more likely to be holding high cards only, rather than a big pair, and because this person tends to play his hand in a rather predictable manner, there's nothing wrong with calling his raise to see the flop. If there are cards in the flop that the raiser figures to like – for instance, when the flop comes with two facecards – you're out of there, even if you flop a 6 or 5 yourself. It is simply too likely that the raiser holds a better hand than yours, and there's not enough money in the pot to chase. But now, let's say we change the flop.

If your opponent holds a higher pair than the cards that are on the board, he will be very pleased to see this flop, and will certainly bet or raise, being in a heads-up situation against the big blind. However, from a mathematical point of view, he is a lot less likely to be holding a high pair than two big or semibig cards. What's more, even if he does have a high pair, your double belly buster straight draw will get there almost one time in three (31.5 percent of the time, to be precise). This means you can put a lot of pressure on your opponent to make him lay down the current best hand, because even if you are wrong and he does hold the hand he's representing, you still have a pretty good chance of beating him. This means you should probably become aggressive from the flop onward, and let the subsequent actions of your opponent dictate your best strategy from there on.

Let's say you bet on the flop, he raises, you reraise, and he reraises again. Well, you can be fairly sure he's got more than A-K. This means that from that point on, you will play your hand in a passive manner, unless you make your straight or catch a scare card (from his perspective) like a 6 or 5. (In this case, you might go for the check-raise on the turn, to once again try to make him lay down the best hand, while still having lots of outs if called.) But if you come out betting on the flop and your opponent just calls, with what seems like overcards only … well, then it seems only logical to fire another barrel to semibluff him off his hand. Remember, if he holds a hand like K-Q, it will be very hard for him to call you on every street with only king high. What's more, with two cards to come, you actually have a pretty good hand when you are up against overcards only: Not only will a 7 or a 3 give you a straight, catching a 5 or 6 also may be good enough to win the pot.

With this type of flop, the best play is a bit less straightforward. Against people who respect your play, it might be best to simply come out betting. With this type of rainbow board, your bet represents a queen. Now, if your opponent holds a hand like A-10, A-J, K-J, and maybe even A-K, or pairs sixes through jacks, and he knows you don't mess around too often in situations like this, it might be possible for you to win the pot uncontested. And if he does raise you, he is quite likely to be holding exactly the type of hand he's representing (A-Q, K-Q), so it should be fairly easy for you to make the right play from here.

If your opponent doesn't respect you, however, his response to your bet is a lot less reliable (he might have that same A-10 and raise you), so betting out would not be wise. Your options are then limited to check-fold, check-call, or check-raise, based upon what you think he is likely to hold. If you check, I think it is best to let your gut instincts dictate your actions from there. Because I often "feel" if someone is making a play at me, I might use this information to check-call the flop and then check-raise the turn with just the pair of fives. Or, I might call the flop and then bet out on the turn, or even check-call on all streets with just one pair to give my opponent the chance to bluff off his money. Having said all this, if you don't have this feel or if you are someone who likes to convince yourself that your opponent is always bluffing, playing the types of hands discussed here will actually cost you money, rather than add to your hourly rate. If you fit this description, it might be best to do what most writers would recommend in these types of situations: fold before the flop and take your loss, rather than try to battle things out in a situation that requires a lot of judgment.

In this three-part series, I have discussed a few marginal hands that might actually be profitable if you play them well, and under the right circumstances. If you have problems analyzing these circumstantial factors or don't know how to adjust your decisions to your opponent's actions, it will be best to simply avoid these types of situations – which means you should not be getting involved in the first place.