Posting into games

[Chief911]

I've never understood posting in the BB. I see 95% of people post in the BB. I MUCH prefer to wait until I'm one off the button and posting there. Why post a big and small when you can just post a big, and be in position? Can someone explain the logic for posting in the big? Or are 95% of people doing this incorrectly?

Nick

[Kaz The Original]

You get the button. Mmmm, button.

[esspo]

What KAZ said.

You can also break it down mathematically. Figure out your EV in the BB, SB and Button ignoring the amount you are forced to put in the pot. Whatever that amount is, if it is greater than the SB, then you should post in the BB, because you get those 3 additional hands.

[felson]

Also, I get bored waiting for the cutoff. I didn't come to the casino to watch people play cards. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

There have been previous threads on this topic, and people generally agree that the two choices are close, EV-wise. Even buying the button (where you post both blinds in the SB, then get your regular button) is fine.

EDIT: oops, buying the button only applies once you are sitting in the game and miss your big blind.

[bobbyi]

It depends how many people are in the game, of course. In a four-handed game, posting in the cutoff means you are posting UTG and then taking the BB next hand. This is clearly idiotic when you can just come in on the BB without posting UTG. However, I agree with you that in a nine- or ten-handed game, posting in the cutoff is better. So there must be some number of players between four and nine which is the line between posting being better and taking the BB being better. I don't know what that number is and I have often wondered about it.

[Chief911]

I should clarify. I play 95% of my ring games full table (9 or 10 players).

Nick

[roy_miami]

Its a better deal to post in the BB because you get 3 extra hands (1 of them being the button) for the price of half a bet. For some reason I seem to get off to a better start to the session if I wait and post after the button though.

[bobbyi]

The math is more complicated than that. Posting a bet in the BB and posting a bet the cutoff are completely different because you have much more equity in ever dollar you put in the pot when you are in late position and there are many more hands that you would be playing there anyway. So posting in the BB does not cost the same amount (in expectation) as posting in the cutoff, and thus the difference in cost between the two options is not just the cost of the SB. This is why I perfer posting after the button.

[bobbyi]

The difference in cost is more than half a bet (or really I mean it's more than the portion of that half bet that you lose in expection by posting the SB, since you do have some equity in it). You have much more equity in the bet your are forced to post in late position than you would in the bet you are forced to post as BB due to your positional advantage. This is an added cost.

[EliteNinja]

I prefer waiting til the BB gets around and watching the how the players play and trying to get some reads before I start playing. 4-tabling, I think it's important to get reads before you jump in.