$2-$4 Hold Em

The Great One · #1 04-26-2004, 05:45 PM

A friend of mine plays $2-$4 Hold Em and the rules vary from cardroom to cardroom. In one scenario there are three blinds......$2BB, $1SB, and $1 on the button. At the other cardroom there is only one $2 BB. I feel the one blind structure is definitely a more profitable situation since a good player does not have to commit his money to the pot before he knows the value of his hand. And a player can sit there and pay only $2 per trip around the table as opposed to at least $4...and maybe more if you decide to defend the SB and/or button. On the other hand the pots in the three blind structure are obviously bigger since there will be more callers. What are your opinions on this?

LetsRock · #2 04-26-2004, 06:08 PM

IMO, the amount of rake is way more important than the number of blinds.

Sure, you pay a little less/orbit if there are fewer blinds, but the costs of playing are much more highly associated with the rake amount than the blinds.

His play may need to adjust to each game (the more blind players there are, the looser the play will be), but in general, profitability has little to do with th eblind structure.

The Dude · #3 04-26-2004, 09:22 PM

I play in LA, where the blinds are the standard .5 SB/ 1 SB. Recently, I went to Vegas where there were a number of games w/ different variations. The 4-8 games had 1/2 blinds ($1-$2), and some of the 2-4 games played w/ a single $2 blind.

Personally, I don't really care as long as the game is loose. The nice thing about the 1/2 blinds is that it increases your implied odds so much that many more hands become playable (and since I play so much better post-flop than my opps at those tables, this means more $$). The single blind would have bothered me if the game was tight, but it didn't seem to matter.

I agree with Rock, the amount of the rake makes a bigger difference. I hate playing at Luxor's cardroom because their rake max is $1 higher than any other cardroom's small stakes. (The Mirage is $2/ hand cheaper, as they have no Jackpot drop. - That's about $70/hr more that stays on the table!!!!)