When do I make a stand?

I have to say this is a rockin hand post--good elements! I think because I'm caffeinated though. If this guy has been doing this a lot, this is probably not the best hand with which to take a stand. A flop raise might be worth a free river card. I would rather just call to the river and showdown, but my preference is to wait for a better hand. Another (better?) option with this hand is to 3-bet pre-flop and then bet the flop. There you will have some good fold equity post-flop. To continue my rambling, it's probably best to show this guy a good hand, and then you will be able to stand up to him in the future better.

[TomBrooks]

[ QUOTE ]
This guy raises me EVERY time it gets folded around to him and bets the flop and turn every time also. What am I to do?
Preflop: Hero is BB with 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">4 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">SB raises</font>, Hero calls.

[/ QUOTE ]

Call him down with your good hands and see what he has.

And fold this hand preflop or at least on the turn.

[oxymoron]

If I know he is stealing with junk than I don't mind the call up until the turn. This is where it's getting expensive and you still have Q high with a gutshot.

Can't remember which book it was (Harrington? or possibly Skalansky) but he talks about how a blind steal only needs to work 50% of the time preflop or on the flop to be profitable and the only defensive is to call the stealer (or leave the table). If you wait only for good hands you are losing money.

If he does this to you literally every time from the SB, you should consider 3-betting PF. Your queen may have high card showdown value. I don't mind calling with this sort of hand as long as you've played enough hands with villain to know he doesn't simply do this with the top 20 % of his hands.

On the flop, your high card may be good and you have a gutshot. This clearly calls for a raise. If you can't raise the flop, you need to fold. If he 3-bets you then it's probably time to fold if he bets out again on the turn. As played, you need to check behind on the river once your 4s hit. You now beat his high card hands but lose to just about everything else; there's no value here and you're never folding out anything you beat.

[Kumubou]

Find a hand with showdown value and get it there. Q-high isn't exactly it, and once he calls the turn, you're boned.

The fun thing about blind battles is that it can get maddingly frustrating, especially if you keep missing flops and/or he keeps outflopping you. Not good times.

The blind defense I do not mind -- you are about 50-50 against a random hand, and you are in position (which is very significant). In this spot I would defend with pretty much anything, especially if I think the SB is raising with anything.

-K