Playing from the Blinds

[HEK]

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How about calling with suited connectors from the blinds?

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I do but feel like I shouldn't. I used to love sc's then proceeded to hate them since I never seemed to make hands with them. Lately I've been playing them oop and utg more. I think I should stop even though this forum tends to have a love affair with them (as well as reraising out of the blinds, something I think should be done selectively).

[VanVeen]

Against bad players. Against good players they'll notice as soon as your reraising range becomes exploitable and randomize flop raises with air (you won't flop hands that can call often enough to make a total bluff raise unprofitable). It's very high variance for both players, but reraising 'too frequently' (say, 14%+ of your hands out of blinds) with a 100bb stack, especially out of position, is undoubtedly -EV long-term if your opponents adjust even close to correctly, i.e. start folding the weaker hands in their preflop range 75% of the time and bluff raising 15% of the time they flop <some hand strength or board texture criteria) those times they call. ALWAYS reraising with Ax type hands is making yourself exploitable. Your opponents need to be making several significant errors for it to be 'correct'. I don't think many of the regs at 5/10nl will make them long-term.

Reraising JJ and QQ w/the OP's image is def the right play out of the blinds facing a CO or button open. Facing an UTG or UTG+1 open from a decent player, and assuming no calls from the CO or button, a call is better and it isn't very close. Most players even at 5/10nl only open about 5-8% of their hands from UTG and UTG+1, which is a very tight and strong hand range. Your equity edge preflop vs. their implied odds post flop isn't such that the reraise makes sense. CO and button openers are raising all sorts of trash they'll either fold preflop or will call with and proceed to put more money in post flop when they don't have the equity for it. If you randomize reraises out of the blinds w/hands like ATo and 64s (reraising them 10% and 5%), you can either exploit them by getting them to start folding more when you have six high or by getting them to make an overadjustment and start calling thin or bluff-raising you when you're holding the goods too often for it to be profitable. Not sure what to tell you other than that it's a delicate balance. Systematizing it might be useful if you're prone to tilt.

When someone is opening loose from the CO or button just call with a broader range (but still tighter than their opening range) and start bluff leading and bluff check-raising flops. If you don't do it too frequently they won't start bluff-calling and you can give up after firing one barrel. Start doing it a low % of the time and increase it as you gain more information about their play. If they start calling too frequently (more often than they're likely to have flopped a hand that can call another barrel) start firing twice more or punish them by check-raising the turn more frequently.

Exploiting bad players who only call reraises with AA-22 and AK (but open lots of other hands) or players who never fire twice when they whiff on the flop is too easy to really warrant discussion.

[BobboFitos]

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Against good players they'll notice as soon as your reraising range becomes exploitable and randomize flop raises with air (you won't flop hands that can call often enough to make a total bluff raise unprofitable).

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Well, you can counterbalance this with then moving all in with air as they cant call with air. Initiator rules!

Seriously though, I think your concerns about good players capitalizing off this is a little much.

I punish the 15% PFR / high attempt to steal types; it's hard to change the fact most of the time they're facing an overraise w/o "implied odds" against a hand that maynot even be breakable (ie, I'll bet but fold ATo to an all in on busted flop, but call with say JJ)

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It's very high variance for both players, but reraising 'too frequently' (say, 14%+ of your hands out of blinds) with a 100bb stack, especially out of position, is undoubtedly -EV long-term if your opponents adjust even close to correctly, i.e. start folding the weaker hands in their preflop range 75% of the time and bluff raising 15% of the time they flop <some hand strength or board texture criteria) those times they call. ALWAYS reraising with Ax type hands is making yourself exploitable. Your opponents need to be making several significant errors for it to be 'correct'. I don't think many of the regs at 5/10nl will make them long-term.

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Hopefully I didn't give off the impression I do reraise 14%+ of my hands from the blinds, (as it's not true) and no, I dont reraise any AXo, even though I have the suspicion (esp. given how long it takes for opponents, even observant ones, to adapt) that it would be correct vs the habitual stealers.
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When someone is opening loose from the CO or button just call with a broader range (but still tighter than their opening range) and start bluff leading and bluff check-raising flops. If you don't do it too frequently they won't start bluff-calling and you can give up after firing one barrel. Start doing it a low % of the time and increase it as you gain more information about their play. If they start calling too frequently (more often than they're likely to have flopped a hand that can call another barrel) start firing twice more or punish them by check-raising the turn more frequently.

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I think (the above) is more stylistic and by no means more or less optimal. I believe (strongly) that the place to set the tone vs a stealer is preflop, (ie, I fold alot and I reraise; I'd rather NOT cold call) reason being is vs a somewhat good to very good player who is able to apply pressure w/ position, your bluff bets on the flop will be counterbalanced. (Far more quickly then a preflop big reraise where you can neutralize position much more effectively)

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Exploiting bad players who only call reraises with AA-22 and AK (but open lots of other hands) or players who never fire twice when they whiff on the flop is too easy to really warrant discussion.

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Yah, I agree with that