Calling from the blinds
 

Hi all,

A situation which comes up fairly frequently is when someone open raises in middle-late position, gets 1 or more cold callers and I'm in the big blind with a marginal hand, but getting great pot odds. Likewise when there are a few limpers and I'm in the small blind. I'm trying to figure out when I should be throwing these away and when I should call. Is there an easy way to figure out (or rules of thumb) about what hands would show a profit in this situation? Here are some examples:

1.) I'm BB, MP1 raises, MP2 calls, Button calls, SB calls (so I'm getting 9:1).

I have:
a.) J5s
b.) 98o
c.) 72s
d.) 54o

2.) I'm BB, MP2 raises, SB calls (so I'm getting 5:1).

a.) 98o
b.) 54o
c.) 34s
d.) K7o

3.) I'm SB, MP2 limps, CO limps, Button limps (so I'm getting 9:1).

a.) 98o
b.) 34s
c.) K7o
d.) 72s

Thanks for your help!
D5

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

1) I would call with J5s/98o most of the time, 72s some of the time. I have a real hatred for hands like 82s, 72s though [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img].

2) I would probably fold everything except 34s in this situation.

3) If I'm pretty sure I'm seeing a flop here (i.e. the BB doesn't raise much), I'll complete with all except K7o.

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

1)Complete all
2)I'm completing all but K7o
3)Same as #2

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

(1) I call with everything but 54o and sometimes not 72s

(2) Fold 'em all. Even if it's a steal, I don't want to play against the thief AND the SB.

(3) Call with everything but K7o

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

1) I think I would call with all of these. The 2 suited hands are easy calls, I think, as I will hit 2 pair, trips, a flush or a flush draw 15% of the time, or roughly 5.5:1 against. So 9:1 is plenty. The unsuited connectors, I the odds that I will flop a straight draw, straight, 2pair, or trips are 7.8:1 against, so it's still a pretty easy call.

2) I think I would fold all of these, though I would ponder over 34s a bit.

3) I would complete with all of them except K7o.

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm in the big blind with a marginal hand

[/ QUOTE ]

To start I really do not consider any of these marginal hands.

With that being said I however can for the most part agree with with Ortho:


[ QUOTE ]
1) I think I would call with all of these. The 2 suited hands are easy calls, I think, as I will hit 2 pair, trips, a flush or a flush draw 15% of the time, or roughly 5.5:1 against. So 9:1 is plenty. The unsuited connectors, I the odds that I will flop a straight draw, straight, 2pair, or trips are 7.8:1 against, so it's still a pretty easy call.

2) I think I would fold all of these, though I would ponder over 34s a bit.

3) I would complete with all of them except K7o.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

[ QUOTE ]
To start I really do not consider any of these marginal hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

Granted I used the term somewhat loosely. Most marginal hands I would complete here without a second thought. I meant marginal in this situation. They are generally poor hands.

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

I fold everything in every situation except 54s. J5s and 98o are borderline.

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

well, I normally apply my starting hand requirements to whoever raises as well... for example, if UTG raises, there is a good chance he's holding 2 strong over cards or even a high PP,... as a result I tend not to call marginal hands, based on reads and what position the raise came from, because chances are if you head you may end up stuck in a situation that you dont wanna be in... esp if you hit top pair, or something like that. when you are going for low suited connectors .. .what are you trying to hit? a straight? or a flush? well, the odds of that happening are like 123 - 1 (read that in john vorhaus) which means that you wont be flopping any of those often.. I guess I would see what hand I would be trying to make, calculate the relevant pot odds and whatever else you need, and act accordingly. I tend to play really really tight blinds, because of the horrible position I am in post flop.

Re: Calling from the blinds
 

The unsuited connectors, I the odds that I will flop a straight draw, straight, 2pair, or trips are 7.8:1 against, so it's still a pretty easy call.

It is 6.2:1 against for offsuit connectors if you remove all monotone flops.