Help me with blinds

mantra21 · #1 07-07-2005, 01:13 AM

Please help me minimize my losses from the blinds. I am fairly new to poker and am still a slight losing player. I play 2/4 on the Party network. I've read the more prominent low stakes books (SSH 3-4 times and Lee Jones book.) With all the bonuses I have managed to turn a large profit but I DO NOT want to rely on bonuses. I want to win at poker playing poker. Looking at my Position stats tab in PT I can see that all of my losses are from the blinds. This is probably normal but I think there must be some ways of plugging the leak. Any advice is appreciated. Let me know if you need more info.

I have nothing to compare these numbers to. Is this normal loss or can I improve my game from the blinds?

mantra21 · #2 07-07-2005, 01:58 AM

What was I thinking...these stats may help.

Thank you for any input you may have.

Nick C · #3 07-07-2005, 02:07 AM

It's possible you're defending your BB to a steal more than you should. (You do it more than I do, in any event.)

Possibly this will help:

Small Stakes stats post

Nick C · #4 07-07-2005, 02:25 AM

I'm not really very good at analyzing stats, but I should mention that one thing that stands out to me when I look at your numbers (and I'm speaking generally and not just about your play from the blinds here) is that your PFR% is kind of low.

Probably you're not pushing as many preflop edges as you should be.

mantra21 · #5 07-07-2005, 01:52 PM

Thank you for your reply. Do you think I should be raising more hands like KJs and QJs? Those are the hands I freeze up on preflop.

Anyone else have advice on regarding my play from the blinds?

BWebb · #6 07-07-2005, 02:07 PM

Not great at stats analysis, but a couple things. You will always lose money in the blinds. How much is good, I don't know but your stats don't look that bad. Second, you are not raising preflop enough. One thing I notice is that your preflop raise % in early position is almost the same as it is in late position. This should not be. You should be raising more hands with position.

Nick C · #7 07-07-2005, 03:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Do you think I should be raising more hands like KJs and QJs? Those are the hands I freeze up on preflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't always raise these hands, but I often do.

First in from MP1 on they're pretty much an automatic raise for me, and I usually raise them in LP, with or without limpers.

If, on the other hand, someone raises in front of me, the hands become a muck for me (unless what I'm facing is an open-raise from a LAG, who is the only one to have entered the pot so far, in which case I might 3-bet the KJs).

Anyway, I don't know what hands you're raising and what hands you aren't, and the decisions are sometimes situational. Your PFR% just seems a little low to me, basically.

I wouldn't immediately try to get it all the way up to 10 percent or anything, but I do think you should start doing a little more preflop raising.

Posting hands here is a good thing to do, also. It's easier to respond to a hand post than it is to respond to a stats post, and you'll probably learn more from the responses to hand posts, too. Responding to others' posts and then comparing what you say to other advice that is given is also a good learning tool.

SmileyEH · #8 07-07-2005, 03:31 PM

I'd be more worried about your play in other positions. You should be raising pf about twice as often, and stealing about 3 times as often.

-SmileyEH

SeaEagle · #9 07-07-2005, 03:31 PM

Your money won by position is just fine, given your small sample size. Just taking a quick look at your stats, I would guess you have much bigger leaks than your blind play.

I would suggest starting with your preflop play. Several of your stats make it appear that you're not very 'position aware'.

Gert505 · #10 07-07-2005, 03:33 PM

I want to start off by saying I am nowhere close to being a pro at poker. But I do pay attention to my stats very closely. Unfortunately I don't have my stats on this computer (at work) to compare, but from what I can see, your loss in the blinds aren't that bad. I believe that everyone looses money in the blinds over time. It seems that you just want to become a winning poker player and the only thing that sticks out to you is that you are loosing a lot of money in the blinds. One of the things that you can do is defend your small blind a bit more. Not sure on this, but you might want to defend the BB less. There is a great article in the the SS Digest (July 2)post on defending blinds. It helped me a ton.

I also noticed that you are very tight. Try limping in with more medium hands in the later positions to see more flops. Go over the charts in the SSH book. Also, you can increase your BB/100 by raising preflop more of the hands that you are currently playing. It will help build your pots that you are taking down. Don't worry about people folding to your raise.

May I ask why you went from 1/2 to 2/4 when you weren't able to make money at 1/2? You seemed to be winning at the lower stakes. I would suggest moving back down and tweaking your game. Try adjusting 1 or 2 parts at a time so you can see if they are working or not. And then move on from there. After a few thousand more hands, review your stats again. Good luck.