Playing poker online in the blinds is one of the most difficult things when we think about cash game situations. Playing out of position on every street (betting round) makes the game much harder and less profitable, which is why it is so important to know how to choose your cards, analyze your opponents and think calmly about how to act in each situation. When you decide to call, your range must be stronger than your opponent's opening range, and when you decide to make a 3-BET (raise his bet), it must have a stronger range than our opponent's calling range, or at least make him fold enough times to make our play profitable.
We must think about our opponent's range before anything else. It should be noted that the hands specified below may vary depending on our opponent's tendencies and style. We must adapt as best we can.
Against a tighter opponent (who plays fewer hands, and consequently stronger hands), we should make fewer flat calls (calls with hands that we would normally raise). Against an aggressive opponent, we should make more flat calls. Some typical flat call hands can also be used to apply 3-BETs, all according to the analysis of the current situation.
Flat call ranges against a steal
- 66-TT (all pairs if playing against less aggressive opponents)
- KJ, KTs, QJs, QTs, TJs (Sometimes we can add KTo, QJo, QTo and TJo)
- Act, A7s-ATs (A2s-A6s sometimes)
- T9s (78s and 89s sometimes)
Add some hands like suited aces, broadways and suited connectors when the button is a loose player.
3-BET Ranges Against a Steal
- KQ, AK, AQ, AJ (ATo and KJo sometimes)
- JJ QQ KK AA (99-TT sometimes)
Add hands like suited connectors, suited aces, suited kings, and queens against players with a high fold percentage to 3-BET.
The key to success in this type of vs steal situation is to adjust to your opponent's range, check out some tips for this below:
- Flat call less in the SB when you have an aggressive player in the BB who is very likely to squeeze (re-raise after a call). A hand like A7s is a sure-fire fold in the SB, but it would be perfectly acceptable to call with it if you were in the BB.
-The looser your opponent is trying to steal, the looser you should defend your blind. The same goes if your opponent is tight. The tighter he is, the harder it will be to defend, so defend with fewer hands.
-You should defend your blinds less against the cut-off than you would against the button, considering that the ranges of these two positions vary a lot.
-Defending less is much better than defending a lot. If you are insecure, prefer to defend the blinds less and put yourself in fewer difficult situations.
-Pocket pairs have a lot of value, so you should defend your blinds with them, unless your opponent is a good and aggressive player.
-Against players who have a high tendency to fold to 3-bets, add hands and increase your 3-betting range. Just keep in mind that players tend to call lighter against 3-bets when they are in position. So if you are going to add hands to your range, add hands like aces, kings, queens and suited jacks, which could not be played profitably if we just called preflop.
-Against raises from players in early position, be careful with hands like KQ, AQ, AJ and even JJ. These hands are not strong enough to apply 3-BETs, so it is better to opt for a flat call.
-Against raises from players in middle position, hands like KQ, AQ, and AJ can be good for flat calling or 3-betting. It all depends on our opponents' calling range. If they usually fold KJ to a 3-bet, then we simply opt to call to get more value.
Article translated and adapted from the original: Playing From The Blinds – Online Poker Blind Play
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