Do you blind straddle, if so, why?

[canis582]

When I was playing the 2-5 game at the Bellagio, the guy on my left (a real jerk) would put 10 on the table when I was the big blind. Nobody bothered to explain to me that if I called his 10, he could raise it.
So why would you do this? I mean you get the best position preflop instead of the worst and it makes you look a little like a bad ass, but you are throwing 10 bucks away each time you get delt a bad hand.

[Sponger15SB]

Ask thatpfunk, who did it 3/4th's of my Big Blind the other night.

Maybe that is why we both finished wayyy down for the night? hmmmm

[TakeMeToTheRiver]

I am not saying it is a good move, but it often loosens up the table. I do it on occassion -- often when I am playing with a big stack and don't mind the probably increase in stakes. By doing it, it makes your hand less predictable when UTG and allows you to play some additional mind games with your opponents.

That being said, it is probably -EV... but I like it when someone else does it and I wake up with a big hand in late position.

[bobbyi]

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Nobody bothered to explain to me that if I called his 10, he could raise it.

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In a cardroom, it is assumed that people know the rules. If you had asked what the rules were regarding straddles, someone should have explained, but if you didn't, explanations of ordinary procedural stuff are not just volunteered.

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So why would you do this?

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Straddling essentially changes it from a 2/5 no limit game into a 2/5/10 no limit game (for that one hand, anyway), which is a much higher stakes game. There are two reasons someone might want to jack up the stakes of the game. One is that he feels that he is so much better than the rest of the table, that he is going to be able to win despite the disadvantage of having to post his blind, and that his win rate in actual dollars is going to be increased by making it a higher stakes game even though his win rate relative to the stakes of the game will go down due to the added disadvantage of being a blind. The second reason is that he wants to gamble. I think the second is the more likely reason you saw someone do this. I see people straddle in limit games and there, the first reason does not really exist (the stakes of the game doesn't increase in the same way that it does by increasing the blinds in NL), so there is no legitimate reason for straddling and anyone doing it is just doing it because they want to gamble.

[thatpfunk]

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Ask thatpfunk, who did it 3/4th's of my Big Blind the other night.

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Imagine a table of 8 Spongers. Yes! Nit central.

Basically to loosen up the table if its playing way to tight.