If a player wants to be successful in multi-table tournaments in Texas Hold’em, a number of factors came have to come together. First of all, you have to stick with the right strategy. Secondly, you need to get lucky. Of course, this component doesn’t allow you to improve your odds (aside from wearing a lucky charm or two), but the game of strategy and tactics is entirely up to you. The optimal strategy consists of dozens or even hundreds of small things. Protecting the blinds has a special value.
Get ready for war!
If you decide to defend the blinds in Texas Hold’em, then you have to be ready for combat. Basically, it’s a necessary business – but it’s dangerous nonetheless. You can be sure that almost every opponent will try to snatch a piece of your stack. Virtually any multi-table tournament will make you witness how the player who is in the big blind made the call and subsequently found himself between the rock and hard place. Many poker players do not want to give up their blinds, so they are ready to take unnecessary risks in order not to lose them. During such times, they completely forget about following the strategy and simply battle for blinds. It turns out that most of the poker players are ready to risk losing the war to win a battle, which is fundamentally wrong. The excessive defense of the blinds is a mistake.
Passive blind protection method
The main problem and the danger of blind defense is that the player continues the take action out of position. It’s like the importance of playing in the position no longer standing applied. Being in such an unenviable spot, the big blind must act aggressively. Mike Caro said, a well-known poker author once said: “Money is moving in a circle at the poker table. But it is very hard for me to win when I’m in the big blind. This is a very bad place to be at the poker table. ”
In such a situation, do not rush when it comes to making important decisions.It is better to play passively (check-call) from the big blind. Let the opponents control the hand and simply follow the situation. Depending on the actions of your opponents, you might be able to understand their intentions, so try to read them. It is not necessary to force things and make it your hand, as you could be walking straight into the jaws of a tiger. When playing a passive game, you may just as well protect their blinds. With the help of this trick you control the size of the pot and you don’t have to inflate it. The best situation would be a small pot and small bets coming from your opponent.
Consider the following example. You are in the big blind with QT suited. The player on the button bet, the small blind takes off, and you call. There’s a Q on the flop. What do you do in such a situation? Certainly, many will say that you must immediately attack. Well, that’s logical, but on the other hand in such a scenario you will be in a disadvantageous situation throughout all the streets. But if you check-call, you will be able to keep the size of the pot within reasonable limits – and that’s without spending a lot of chips too. It is impossible to predict with what exactly is your opponent using to attack the blinds. It is likely that he has AQ or QK. That is why in such a hand, when you are playing out of position, it is better to maximize the number of streets you see without spending a lot of money. This approach allows you to collect the necessary information about the possible hand of your opponent and prepare for the showdown. At the same time, this approach has yet another advantage. It is much better to win a small pot and defend the big blind than to lose a big pot trying to protect the blind.
Aggressive blind protection methods
Restealing is quite an effective, but risky way of protecting the blinds. Basically, a player playing from the blinds raises to steal the pot from the initial thief. If successful, the initial aggressor who tried to steal the blinds mucks. Being forced to resort to re-stealing is rare, especially since you should know when to gold. For example, a good player will be periodically re-steal for three rounds of tournament, which allows him to compensate for the losses caused by losing the blinds in the previous quarters.
In order to re-steal:
– Read the opponent. Based on the observations at the table, you can be confident that the attacker is trying to steal the blinds, but do not attack with a pocket monster.
– Attack with a good stack. Resteal will be effective against players with average stacks. The fact is that players with big stacks will be able to answer your aggression. They will realize that their standings are not in danger. For them, the loss of one pot will not be a disaster. To you, unfortunately, the failure in the hand in question may be your final mistake in the tournament. Furthermore, do not try to re-steal against players with a short stack, as investing a third of a half of his stack obliges the short to follow through. Therefore, he will respond to your re-steal attempt.
– Have an appropriate stack. Ideally, you should have a very large stack, which will put pressure on your opponents. In such a case, few people would dare to steal your blinds – and if a brave man appears, make it costly for him. Average stack also favors re-steal. If you are left with a short stack (up to 10 BB), any re-steal attempt is unlikely to work, as you will be faced with two options: shove or fold.
– Have a tight image at the table. Experienced poker players usually watch the opponents, sitting at the table with them. Consequently, the tight image should help you to re-steal. If the opponents will see that tend to play only strong hands, they are unlikely to want to fight for re-steal. However, poker tables are always full of unskilled players who do not attach any importance to the style of play of opponents.
Basically, restealing can not only save your blinds, but also significantly increase your stack. Nevertheless, we must remember that the aggressive defense of blinds can cost you dearly. Therefore, it is better to find the perfect balance between passive and aggressive methods of protecting your blinds. With time and experience you are sure to learn how to repel the attacks of opponents. Good luck at the tables!