Big blind defense against a known thief
 

6-12 at Canterbury.

I have played for about 2 hours and have developed a tight image, and lucky for me the guys 2 seats to my right has picked up on this and has raised my big blind every hand for at least the past hour. Some of these raises have yielded some pretty ugly holdings at showdown.

I finally make a stand... it's folded to him on the button and he raises. The small blind folds. I look down to see Q4o and I think there's better than a 50% chance my queen high is good. I check call the flop, turn and river which comes K-T-7-5-5.

Is this okay or am I out of my mind?

Results in next post.

Jeff

Results
 

He shows 89o and my queen high is good.

He didn't try stealing my blind for the rest of my session, either.

Jeff

Re: Big blind defense against a known thief
 

I dunno, I think I would have snuck a raise in on the flop, if he three bets I call and hope for turn help. If he bets the turn and I got no help... I'm gonna jettison, if he checks I take the freebie and check/call the river. Although you may not want to take my advice as I always seem to get reamed somehow by blind stealers.

I'd actually like to hear other comments about this hand as I feel it's one of my weaker areas.

cjx

Re: Big blind defense against a known thief
 

IMO its terrible.

If you are going to defend your blind (specially with garbage) you have to splash around in the pot with a raise or re-raise somewhere. Calling down with Q high is terrible as a strategy. If there were specific things about this board that led you to this tactic then it may be OK.

The key is what you think he thinks of your post-flop play. if he sees you making probing flop raises but turn raises are with nuts then throw in a turn raise. If you believe that pre-flop reraise will be read as a very strong hand then do it there. Monitor your own image to see how he may be perceiving your bets and raises and then use the best one.

Lastly if the game is really good it may be better to save your chips for a better situation. If the game is bad (ie it often comes down to blind steals) take a break and find another game.

Re: Big blind defense against a known thief
 

I think I would have waited for something better than Q4o. Also, if you're going to play your Q4o, I think you should have reraised him pre-flop.

Edit: Also, I really, really think you need to show some aggression post-flop with that crappy hand. If you just check-call him down, you're going to lose to everything from Q5o on up. His pocket deuces become a monster if you just call him down.

SpaceAce

Re: Big blind defense against a known thief
 

hi wisc
no, not high enough.

Re: Big blind defense against a known thief
 

Hi Jeff,
This is not a good hand to take a stand with, if you're going to try to show it down. Since you expect him to be in there with basically any 2 cards, you should put the pressure on him by re-raising, and playing your hand strongly from the get-go. Or, you should mimic a trap, by calling, check-calling the flop, and then raising the turn. You won this hand, but most times, Queen high won't be good enough, and you'll just encourage him to keep firing if he wins with a really weak hand.
By the way, I would still wait for Ace or King high, or something connected or suited to try this, since I'm out of position, and I wouldn't try it at all if I thought the guy was a terrible player (because I wouldn't expect him to fold anything like a pair).

Re: Big blind defense against a known thief
 

Much better situations to involve yourself with. By you calling with garbage and then check calling the whole way you are not making a "stand" you are encouraging him to continue to do this because thats what aggressive players want you to do...Fold or when your in a hand check call and let them control the action...

Re: Big blind defense against a known thief
 

You're out of your mind.
And it's not because you won the pot (as I suspect you did, else why post?) that it changes anything.

Take care...

Re: Big blind defense against a known thief
 

I'm surprised that noone else has mentioned this, but even if this guy will literally raise any two cards here (and I assume from your post that he will), Q4o will lose a bit over 50% of the time in straight showdown simulation. In other words, this hand really stinks, particularly if you are just planning on calling the whole way. Pick a better hand and add aggression, you'll do better and also more quickly learn how to play in these marginal situations.