Playing in a Big Blind position during a cash game is the least profitable position in the long run. Even if you are the last to call pre-flop, you still have to post your big blind and are out of position for all other pre-flop betting rounds. As everyone knows, your position is one of the most important factors in poker. Without understanding the importance of position and how to use it to your advantage, you are not a complete player.
There’s only one time you’re in position when you’re in BB, and that’s when everyone has folded and you’re facing the small blind. It is a situation that very few players know how to exploit, it pushes me to devote an article to it.
Of course, these kinds of situations don’t always happen, but this article will help you negotiate this kind of moment in the best possible way.
When you play against SB, we can differentiate two distinct situations. The first situation is to play against a player who limps in SB, and then we will study how to play against a player who raises his SB.
Limping into the pot is always a sign of weakness unless you have a good player read. So unless you see your opponent limping with a big hand, we will assume that they have a weak hand. Therefore, we will say that our opponent has a marginal hand such as {k-Diamonds} {7-Diamonds} or {8-Clubs} {9-Hearts}. In this kind of situation, it is not important to know what type of hand he has since we rely primarily on the weakness of his hand. So, it is not important to have a certain range of hands since we will be raising with all hands.
Usually a 5BB raise is the best option here, with a big stack go 6-8BB. There are different reasons why we do this. Since we are putting our opponent on a fairly weak hand, we want to put pressure on him. If he folds pre-flop that’s fine, however we’re still going to create a big pot because of our raise. This reduces any possibility of bluffing or playing a draw.
After the flop, the strategy is quite simple. If he checks the flop, we’ll attack the shot with a continuation bet. If he decides to attack first, then we’ll take a look at our hand and the texture of the flop. But we’ll look at this case later.
So we will raise after the flop on any flop. If after that, your opponent has not folded, we will have to take other parameters into account.
A raise of the players in SB
Whether he calls or raises, there are a few things to consider.
If you know that the SB player very rarely raises before the flop and is a tight player, there is very little point in trying to win anything from him. The only thing you can do is find out if your hand is worth playing. However, if you know that the player has raised a lot pre-flop, we can tell ourselves that he is doing this with marginal hands that will fail their flop most of the time. That’s why you shouldn’t be afraid to call his raise but we need to be sure to call with a hand with potential. Putting our opponent on a certain type of hand is quite difficult, but {9-Hearts} {10-Spades} or {q-Clubs} {7-Clubs} are payable hands.
Flop texture
One thing is for sure, we have to attack the blow on any type of flop. The best flop texture you can hit and to hit a dry flop with very few draws, like: {k-Clubs} {7-Spades} {2-Hearts}. The main reason for doing this is that we want to fold our opponent. If we are in a situation where we have a hand like {7-Clubs} {8-Spades} and our opponent flops {a-Spades} {k-Spades} {j-Hearts}, there is no no harm in throwing out his hand. Look at the board and think about the consequences that a move can have in this kind of case. If you want to bluff on a board that has a lot of draw possibilities, you will have to bluff the turn and the river.
Variance
When you find yourself in a blind battle, you will have a lot of variance, not only in these kinds of situations, but in your game in general. We must keep in mind the effects that this kind of “move” can have on your image. We will talk about the image a little later. From time to time, you will find yourself in a situation where your opponent will have set a trap for you by owning the nuts. These kinds of hands will seriously affect your image at the table, so your opponents will respect you a little less and call your raises a lot more times.
Ability to read your opponent
One of the minor factors that we must mention is your ability to read your opponent. Opponents often follow a certain course of action and especially those who play low limit. Betting up to the pot can give you an indication of the strength of your opponent’s hand. A pot-level check / raise can be both a sign of strength and a sign of weakness.
So if you can read your opponent and know what their bet size means, these kinds of blind battles will be much easier for you to play.
Always be aware of the image you give to the table. If you got caught a full bluff, the other players at the table will register this information and call you a lot more, so minimize your bluffs until you have a better picture. On the other hand, having a tight player image will allow you to steal a few shots.
In conclusion, we can say that all of these situations are often ignored by players while it is a good way to earn some chips. As in all cases, practice is the only way to improve your game. Since many players try to avoid this kind of confrontation, you will be even more respected at the table if you practice this kind of game.
Good luck at the tables!
