Re: Blind play
If there is not a steal I play hands I would normally play on the button from the SB, or slightly tighter. From the BB against a raise it depends how many players are in and who raised, but chances are I call more than most players. With even two other players you can start calling suited junk (though I avoid the worst ones like 72s etc), and with a third player you can play almost any two suited hoping for two pair, trips, or a flush draw. Unsuited cards from the BB usually have to be connected and unlikely to suffer from domination. Any pair is also playable unless it's headsup against an EP raiser.
Against a steal it depends on the thief, and whether the raise is coming from the button, CO, or Hijack. I'm pretty tight from the SB, and if there's a late position raise and no callers I never call. I only play hands I can 3-bet, because playing headsup with the BB's chip in the pot is much better than playing 3 ways. Against a typical steal from a player with ATSB of 30% I'd be 3-betting 66+, A8s+, ATo+, KJs+, KQo+.
In the BB I have a pretty unorthodox strategy. In headsup play any pair usually has showdown value. So does ace high, and sometimes even king high. You are getting about 3:1 on your call and you are 2:1 to make a pair. Sometimes villain has a pocket pair higher than one or both of your cards, and sometimes villain makes a higher pair. You also have to play out of position, but on the flop nearly every villain autobets if checked to. Because of this I call about the top 50% of hands against a average stealer, tightening up significantly for tighter stealers and loosening slowly against looser thieves. I then check/raise most flops where I have a pair or a decent draw. I think this is a solid strategy, particularly against players who are not strong postflop. Over 16k hands of 3/6 I was losing less than the BB, but I'm sure this statistic doesn't converge that quickly. Having read Jason Pohl's shorthanded articles I think it's sound though.
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08-23-2005, 03:16 PM
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