Preflop play from the blinds. |
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Posted Sun Mar 05, 2006 1:56 pm GMT by age_of_sages
I'm wondering if my play from the blinds is less than optimal.
I used to raise alot more than I do now, now I only raise with AA, KK and QQ. The rest i limp/check for two reasons.
1. I hate playing hands that I'm unsure about out of position. If I have AK and I raise it up and then miss, it's so much easier to decide what to do if you have position.
2. The element of surprise. If I just check with these hands preflop and then hit, I often get payed off because noone would think I have such a strong hand, especially since I play so aggressively in all the other positions besides the blinds.
I know books recommend raising more from the blinds and I've tried that style and don't feel very comfortable with it. Anyone have any huge beefs with how i play here?
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Posted Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:25 pm GMT by tame_deuces
Depends on the table for my part. Playing OOP is pretty easy against some opponents and more difficult against other more tricky opponents. I actually find it harder to play OOP in FL than in NL, but this may be because of at my low stakes FL opponents are generally more skilled than NL opponents.
Posted Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:51 pm GMT by Tadzio
I raise big drawing hands for two reasons:
1) I want to build the pot and give people reason to bluff at me.
2) I want to limit the range of hands that see the flop.
If I have AK, and the flop comes K 4 7, I will feel much more confident as a raiser than if I'm facing limpers. If people are calling a raise, it isn't likely that they have 2 pair here, and any pair that they have I have beat or tie.
If I have KsQs and the flop comes Ks 6s 6c, I'll be able to play pot-odds more effectively if I raise pre-flop than if I allow limpers. If I allow limpers, a 6 is a possiblity I have to worry about. If I raise, I only have AA, KK or AK to worry about, and my outs may make it worthwhile to chase a little.
Limping with hands like this does nothing but disguise my hand... and poorly. And to be honest I'd prefer someone fold to my flop bet when I miss than call when I hit. In my experience, I'll miss more than I'll hit.... but they don't know when that happens!
Posted Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:29 pm GMT by zeroswarm
Personally i'd go back to raising more, although I too have cut back slightly on the range of hands I raise with.
I used to always raise with A Q but cause I never seem to hit with this hand I've stopped....
Posted Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:31 pm GMT by age_of_sages
I forgot to mention that I play FL almost exclusively, a raise from the blinds almost never gets limpers out of the pot.
Posted Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:53 pm GMT by Hurricane Ham
Depends on the number of players who've limped to me. If there's 5 other people in the pot, you raise, they're all calling close to 100% of the time in FL, and now you're out of position with a bloated pot, going into a flop you'll miss 2/3 of the time. If the table is weak and/or there's only two or three limpers, I'll pop it and try and take control of the hand. Continuation bet, and go from there.
It definitely leads to more marginal decisions post flop, so if you aren't comfortable with that, there's nothing horrible about limping with AJ+, KQ+, pairs up to nines or tens, but raising gives you control of the pot, and will build a decent pot when you do connect. Raising for value with such hands is definitely better than limping in most cases though.
Posted Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:07 pm GMT by xDiamond_CutteRx
If you play FL, it is IMPERATIVE that you raise for value with strong hands. If you're only raising with Aces Kings and Queens, you are not raising enough.
With six limpers in the pot (for example), you want to raise for value with a hand as weak as ATs for value. Why? Because your pot equity figures to be higher than your opponents' who all limped in. Some players won't raise because they believe things like "well if I don't hit, I just wasted an extra bet." True, in the short run. But if you don't raise in situations like that, you are sacrificing a lot of expectation. Losing one extra small bet is rarely a big mistake, but missing the chance to win six more bets in a much worse mistake when you do hit your hand--it also increases the action you will probably get if you flop the nut flush draw.
You should be raising with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK, and AQ out of the blinds almost every time if no one has raised, and probably with a lot of other hands depending on the situation (big suited cards are the most likely candidates).
Checking a lot of these big hands and then playing them well after the flop is still a profitable strategy. But it is not as profitable as a strategy that raises for value with hands worse than QQ out of the blinds when you have favorable pot equity.
But, if you NEED a lot of deception to maximize profits in your game (which usually is not the case at the low limits), then checking some big hands like AK out of the blinds is not as bad (and even at lower limits you may still want to do this occasionally just to vary your play).
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