[Gonso]

5th,

One of the most obvious mistakes newer NLHE players make is overplaying hands from the blinds. The "oh, it's just a little more to call" typically doesn't overcome the disadvantages of playing in horrible, horrible position. It's not the cost of seeing the flop itself that's the problem, it's the kind of trouble some of those hands get you in when you flop something.

If the flop comes A94 in a three-way pot and you have AT, being first to act makes an already marginal situation more difficult.

Calling raises with marginal hands from the SB isn't really advised unless you feel comfortable postflop. Playing OOP with KJ is tricky business, for example. Pairs are a little different because it's easy to toss 44 on a AJ5 flop.

As far as completing the SB when no one has raised - my first reaction is to see if raising is a good option. If you have AJo and are after two limpers, don't call, raise it. If it's a passive game and you have a good multiway hand vs lots of limpers, then calling is a better idea (like if you have 98s or A5s or something like that).

But, in normal games, try to stay out of spots where you're first to act with vulnerable hands. One way to avoid that is to play marginal preflop hands more decisively: raise them or just fold them, don't call so much. Raising costs a little more, but you'll take the pot a lot of the time, and other times you can get some info on your opponent's strength.

Two people limp to you and you have KQo on the SB? Easy raise. A lot of the time you'll be 3-betting this hand if someone raises before you - esp if it looks like a position raise.

But when I'm OOP, I want the hand to end as soon as possible even if it's a decent hand.