Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

When I first started playing Poker, they told me: "Position is important!" and I tried to act on this advice, not because I fully understood the concept, but because they were telling me so.

After a few weeks playing (and reading) it "clicked" for the first time and I was like: "Position IS important!"

Another few weeks later it "clicked" again and I was like: "Man, position IS REALLY important.

This happened even once or twice more, I keep understanding the concept of position (and poker concepts in general) more and more.

Unfortunately this leads to me being afraid to play ANY hand but monsters from OOP, hence after almost 12K hands on my limit ($25NL) my "Folded SB/BB To Steal" is 92.86 and 84.31 respectively.

Now first of all, am I right assuming that these values are way too high, and if yes, could some of you guys try and explain to me the concept of Blind Defence and how it's done? So maybe I can act on it without fully understanding it until it "clicks" again and I'm like: "Man, Blind Defence IS important!"

Thanks in advance,

Sugar Nut

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

I don't think there are too many people rampantly stealing blinds at 25NL, so playing tight is just fine. In general, what kinds of hands are you playing from the blinds when someone raises preflop? Depending on stack sizes, I'll call with some prospective hands (PPs/scs) and reraise with mid-high pairs, AQ+, and on rare occasion, bupkes. lol

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

Work in some 3betting against over aggro players who are abusing their position.

When I tightened up in the blinds, I saw an increase in my profits.

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

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hence after almost 12K hands on my limit ($25NL) my "Folded SB/BB To Steal" is 92.86 and 84.31 respectively.

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Which is fine, i think.

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Now first of all, am I right assuming that these values are way too high, and if yes, could some of you guys try and explain to me the concept of Blind Defence and how it's done?

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Defending your position is way more important than defending your blinds. If the player to your right steals a lot, you should be 3-betting him with position more often than without. Hence, don't defend the small blind against a button raiser often, but do defend the button against a cutoff raiser frequently (assuming he has a high steal percentage, of course).

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

If CO or BTN has an attempt to steal blinds percentage that is significantly higher than his PFR%, then you know that he is stealing with weaker than normal holdings. Vs that guy, you can occasionally fight back from the BB when it's heads up by either reraising and cb'ing with good but not-great hands, or you might just use a stop & go by calling with any 2 playable cards and firing a pot-sized bet at any flop. You only have to play back occasionally to get him to raise your blind a little more cautiously in a FR game. In general, however, you are right to not worry too much about defending your blinds at FR.

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

Get your HUD up, ID the looser tagfish (13/8+, fold to flop bet over 60%), and start coldcalling out of the blinds and donking out 3/4 PSB on almost any flop. Turbofolds. Boatloads of fun once you realize who these guys are.

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

Dan Bright had a reall good post on blind defense once... I cannot find it

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

I don't think those numbers are bad. Mine are 90 and 76, over 102K at $100NL and I'm not too worried.

As already mentioned, speculative hands are OK to play from the blinds but, imo, only if you've got at least 2 or 3 others in the hand for some value. 78s and 33 are not good hands to play against one player who is probably stealing but can win you plenty of cash in aggressive, multi-way pots. They're also easy to play - either you hit your hand on the flop or you don't. Of course, you're playing rather than defending your blind with those hands.

Don't be afraid to really stick it to someone who you is likely to be stealing when you really do have a hand. Use PT and PAHUD or GT+ to check out somebody's stealing stats when you're deciding whether to play back at them or not. Somebody who's doing it >30% definitely deserves to get 3-betted hard when you've got AK-AQs and pairs all the way down to, say, 99.

Also, on the other side of this coin, check out this nice little Poo-Bah by MyTurn2Raise:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...p;vc=1&nt=3

I'm sure there's far more money to be made from this play, than trying to defend your blinds too much as a matter of principle!

gl

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

Re: Poker Theory: Position and Blind Defence
 

man don't play just reraise