Cold-calling in the SB in very SH games . . . when is it \"right\"?
 

Thinking 3-handed and 4-handed here, loose and possible aggressive game (figure attempt-to-steal-blinds here of 45%+ in this situation) in which the BB is going to see lots of flops even after you 3-bet. Though not as many as if you just called, natch.

I know that it's Wrong to just coldcall in the SB, but on loose, aggressive LAGGY tables (I'm looking at you, 20/40), especially when it's 3-handed, 4-handed, wondering whether maybe I should be doing it a lot more often. Stuff like Q8s, JTo, etc isn't premium 3-betting material, but in a very shorthanded game against loose open-raising standards it seems like throwing money away to just fold those in the SB.

Re: Cold-calling in the SB in very SH games . . . when is it \"right\"?
 

I'm one of the big believers that calling is vastly more often wrong than right, but I of course have no experience in a game like 20/40 3-handed. I notice from reading Mid-High that there is a lot more calling an open-raise first-in in the SB than I think is healthy or appropriate - but then I don't play Mid-High either.

FWIW, I can see the situation where calling in the SB can be correct with a lot of hands when button is very aggro pre- but decent post-flop and BB is super loose pre (calling lots of 3 bets) and also pretty bad postflop. BB's presence in the hand can benefit when Button recognizes that your bet into a bad calling station means a lot compared to what it might mean if BB were also good. It becomes a question of whether the potential benefit outweighs the downside of letting him into more hands (and needing to understand what the range of hands are that he would call for one bet but not two).