Straddle?

I've seen this "play" mentioned several times in different posts. What is it, what are the benefits of playing it, and do most card rooms offer this play?


Thanks...

A Straddle is an UTG blind raise that is placed before the cards are dealt which preserves your right to reraise your blind raise once the action gets back around to you.


It is a stupid play.

David,


Ditto what WGB said. It's difficult enough to be a consistent winner in poker, why throw away good money before you even see your cards?


I recommend you do not straddle yourself, but if someone in your game feels the need, I would definitely encourage him/her. More money for you. Don't be afraid of someone who straddles. You just need to be more selective about the hands that you play preflop (ie tighten up some) and pound the straddler when you have the definitive advantage.


One of two things will happen eventually: 1) the straddler will run out of $ 2) the straddler will go on tilt. Both situations good for you.


Best wishes, Mike

I think the other responses are a little simplistic. Sure you don't want to throw money away on random cards, but thats what blinds are and nobody seems to complain about them. So you don't make a career out of straddling but I'm sure there are lots of situations where straddling can be profitable.


Examples:


Liven up a game and get some people gambling.


Image building.


Other players may follow your lead. (Just intuitively I would think that anytime more money goes in on random cards, the better players benefit).

What image are you trying to build? A Sucker who will raise without looking at his cards? Hardly a profitable image. Just expect more people to take potshots at you.


Players will play looser or start straddling all of a sudden because you did? I don't think so. Why would they? If they are that stupid you won't need to straddle to beat them.


The only time I can think of when straddling is only marginally stupid is if you have only 3 small bets left in front of you and no more money on you and want to try to win enough money to get back in the game.

>What image are you trying to build? A Sucker who will raise without looking at his cards? Hardly a profitable image. Just expect more people to take potshots at you.


In many games an image of someone who is gambling rather than playing to the best of their ability is profitable. In some games getting players to respect you is profitable too.


> Players will play looser or start straddling all of a sudden because you did? I don't think so. Why would they? If they are that stupid you won't need to straddle to beat them.


The other players might want to liven up the game too. Also if they think you're a sucker for straddling, they think they gain by straddling also.

KMA,


I do agree with you in the respect that straddling does create profitable opportunities in some games; however, these situations most often times do not benefit the person who straddles directly. IMO extra profit is made by people in the game who can make the necessary adjustments (ie tightening up, eliminating play of speculative hands, etc).


If you incorporate this with the fact that the straddler is putting more $$ in the pot out of position and with a random hand, odds are it should be... and it is an unprofitable play most of the time for the straddler.


There have been many posts on this forum regarding blind play and how depleting it is on your stake if played incorrectly. By straddling, now you are doubling the stake and may lose more money by being tied on to a random hand than you would if you received the same hand in one of the blinds. In other words, because you commit more money to the hand, you might have a tendency to chase with middle or bottom pair or a weak draw (ie gutshot).


In addition, what if someone raises before the action is back around to you and you have something like T3o? You've committed 2/3 of the bet already, you'll probably call another 1/3 just like it was your blind. See HPFAP - Blind play for an analogy to this. Now you catch a piece of the flop and tie yourself on in a pot that you would never have called in the first place without a straddle.


Again, I do not chastise a person who wants to straddle in my game, I actually welcome it because more often than not I will profit directly from the above mistakes. I do not personally straddle or advocate straddling for trying to "liven up" a game or building a table image where people "fear" me.


I agree with WGB that straddling will have the reverse effect and people will go after the straddler like they would an obnoxious drunk. The "unwritten rule" will surface. IMO there are more effective ways of changing the texture of the game you are playing. If all else fails, get a table change to one with suitable action for you.


What would be interesting would be to either run a simulation or keep tally of results from the straddle in a live game. I don't know if Wilson's software has an option to do this, but if it does, I would be interested and seeing how a straddle affects short and long-term win rate for an average player if a simulation can be run. If someone is brave (and/or rich) enough to tally results from 500 straddles, I would like to see those results. Maybe the government has a grant I can apply for? :)


Again, just my 2 cents worth


Best wishes, Mike

I wasn't really advocating straddling, just saying there are situations where it isn't a terrible thing to do. The first two responses made staddling out to be akin to raising with 72o. Then the original poster might read "Big Deal" or something where a world champ is straddling and assume world champ is stupid.


>I agree with WGB that straddling will have the reverse effect and people will go after the straddler like they would an obnoxious drunk.


Since this is the beginners questions forum I'm assuming that the poster will be playing in a low-limit game. The right image for this game obviously depends on the game, but for some of them, if you come across as someone who plays too well and isn't just gambling like the other players you may kill off some of your action.