Need help with blinds

[StraitRazor]

Hello 2+2ers...

I've been leaking tonnes of chips whenever I'm in the blinds. Last night was a tough night for it and I'm sure I think I know what the flaw was with my strategy in the blinds, but I'd really like it if you guys could share some observations and proper mentality with me when it comes to defending your forced bet.

I basically found myself defending my BB for one more bet whenever I was suited, connected 78 or better, or playing 2 big cards. I was also defending my SB with hands like AJ, T9, 65s.

From my perspective, it would have hurt me less to miss my blinds and post last night.

Cheers.

[cpk]

1. Rarely if ever "defend" an SB against a raise. You can complete with lots of hands in an unraised pot, though. If raised, play only those hands you would cold call with on the button. Realize how rare that is, and therefore you should be thinking "reraise or fold."

2. You can be more liberal in the BB, especially if the SB overdefends. You have position on one player, allowing you to raise defensively or to gain information. However, unsuited hands like 87 are very overrated from this position.

3. Against legitimate raises in the BB, you're looking for hands with high implied odds. Even against two other players, you're being laid 5:1 or 5.5:1. Look for hands that benefit from this--mostly, suited Aces and Kings, suited connectors (even as low as 65s), and small pairs. Dump hands likely to be dominated--even AJo should go in the muck against raises you think are legit (it's OK against loose raisers but not if people cold-call). Weak suited aces are OK, because the value they get from flush potential cancels out domination.

4. Against probable steals in the BB, you're looking for an A or a K with a mediocre or better kicker for its high-card value. In this case, you should be pumping or dumping. You can also play any of the above hands by completing.

5. For 1/2 a bet in the SB, you can play any suited cards, any Broadway combination, any small pair, and even some smaller unsuited connectors like 87 because of the high implied odds and lower likelihood of domination. For 1/3 a bet, you can play practically anything except utter crap like 93o. For 2/3 a bet, you must pretend you are on the button.

[Kaz The Original]

Just view the blind as money lost and move on. Why put money into the pot when you are not a favourite?

[Nightwish]

It sounds like you already know what your problem is. Blind play gets a little tricky, especially if the raise comes from LP. However, there are a few general principles. First, defending with offsuit connectors like T9, 98, JT, etc. is usually a bad idea. You don't want to have those whether the raise came from EP or LP. The only possible exceptions are (1) when the raise came from EP and practically everyone called, and (2) when you have KQ or better. Second, if the raise came from EP and lots of people called, hands like T9s, JTs, etc. certainly become playable in the BB, but not necessarily in the SB. Third, if the raise came from LP, the hands you'd much rather have are big cards. In that situation, you're frequently looking to 3-bet with your AQo and AJs, though this action is certainly player specific.

Anyway, the above guidelines are very general. If in doubt at all, fold preflop. Yeah, your play may not be optimal, but it sure beats calling and then chasing.

Oh, and if you're still in doubt, post some specific hands.

[ReMMy]

Defending your blinds is a game in and of itself. A general rule that I give people who are simply trying to define which hands to call a raise with is this:

If you normally wouldn't consider playing the hand from LP for 1 bet where you are in the best position, then don't invest 1 bet from the worst position.

The fact that your cards are suited or connected really doesn't mean that much when you are heads up out of position. Try just sticking to the big cards until you get more comfortable reading opponents.