Defending your blinds..

[osmosis21]

Based on my other question you listed defending your blinds as very important since so many blind steal attempts by your opponents, so lets discuss blind defense.

Obviously the stats on the small blind should be influenced greatly by the blind structure of your limit 1/3 vs 2/3rds etc, so lets focus on the big blind.

I keep experimenting with different styles in the big blind, but Im curious as to how often you are folding your big blind as well as went to showdown and win $ at showdown numbers.....

As part of this discussion you might want to read this thread by fenris (who has put way more work in thinking about blind defense than me.)

http://www.internettexasholdem.com/phpbb2/blind-defense-exercise-vt56964.html

[TerryBorer]

Wow, that Fenris post goes into a lot of detail. I thought it was a good post but I won't talk about (unless you want a specific comment from me) or go into so much detail

First of all, blind play is dictated by your opponent. Here is the data I would look at:
1) Steal percentage (most important. Don't mess with a guy who only steals 20% of the time)
2) Continuation bet turn (we can assume he always bets the flop)
3) How often he's willing to re-bluff (e.g. if I check-raise him on the flop how often will he raise me later with nothing
4) Will he call me down with ace-high or even king high? (i.e. how showdown bound he is)
5) My table image. If I am seen as wild (usually true) I need to slow down.
6) How good the opponent is. (the more predictable the more I'll play with him)

My went to showdown % was 38 and I win $ at the showdown about half the time (I am slightly below 50% overall). I called (or reraised) about 55% of the time.

My philosophy is to make situational plays (i.e. not a cookbook) and so I can't give an exact algorithm. Gathering and using increasingly more information will lead to better decisions. The key is understanding why you are making a play and explicitly thinking about the factors.

I take any one of the following four lines (situations and logic follow):
Fold: no hand, no draw, unlikely to be best, low steal percentage, high cont bet turn, weak table image, good opponent, showdown bound opponent.
Call: low continuation bet on turn (let's me see where I am and I can steal the pot on the river sometimes), good hand vs. high continuation bet on turn (I check-raise the turn occasionally), sometimes weak draw or two "almost overcards" like 98 on Q72 board (looking to hit or steal pot on river), weak hand that could be best (e.g. ace-high or 22)
check-raise: any hand, any draw, some number of garbage hands (increases when opponent steals a lot, isn't showdown bound, won't resteal much, good table image, some back-door equity (even backdoor flushes are powerful). If you meet all those conditions I'll check-raise 100% of the time.
Cut my internet connection to go all-in High-stakes game (my big blind could be $100), decent hand that is difficult to play (e.g. A4o)

Net result: I check-raise a ton of flops and accept the high variance. I like to 3-bet preflop a lot so that messes up my ranges and percentage (making me harder to play against). If you're not as comfortable with that crazy style I'd suggest tightening up pre-flop against a steal but still check-raising a lot of the time.

-- Terry

[Dogs]

[Willem]

[TerryBorer]

Sorry, guys, cutting the internet connection was intended as a joke. I promise to never deadpan humour again.

-- Terry

[Dogs]

But your reasoning was so sound...

[taz115]

[TerryBorer]

Hey Dogs and Willem -

I just wanted to complement you both for being so polite in your replies when you thought I was serious about going all in. I'm sure I would have been flamed to death in other venues. Keep up the good work making this a supportive site!


-- Terry

[Willem]

[nsidestrate]

[Dogs]

I was reading an article today that suggested that novice players just read things and believe them without question, whereas more advanced players will read them and then think about whether they are correct and when they may apply. I think it's pretty clear which camp I'm in then...