Raising In The Blind Positions.

 

It really annoys me when players raise regularly when they are in the small blind or big blind position, in Texas Hold'EM cash games, with fixed limits. I have been very precise about the type of game that I am referring to, because the same rules do not apply to tournaments, or cash games in pot-limit or no-limit.

 

When raising in the small blind or big blind positions in a limit cash game proves to be a very bad move, and should only be attempted when there are few players playing for the pot. The following article will lead you through the reasoning process behind this advice.

 

If you raise when you are in a blind position then you give your opponent an added reason to hunt you down. I will concede that if you have a king-king in hand in the big blind position and 4 players follow. If you do not raise, there will be 5 bets in the pot and your opponents will have odds of 6:1. If one of your opponents has a hand such as Ace-9 and the flop draws a Jack-10-5, your opponent then plays odds of 7:1. As such, there is no valid reason for them to call your opening bet at the flop.

 

If you raised in the preceding example, it is not very probable that your opponent will fold his cards when faced with an additional bet. Result: your raise would have only had an insignificant impact, of making the pot go from 5 to 10 bets. And when you open at the flop, your opponent, who holds the Ace-9 combination, will have odds of 11:1 and will thus have good reason to call you. Curiously, when raising pre-flop, you have made the round appear more attractive, and instead of you chasing away opponents, you draw them deeper into the game.

 

PSYCHOLOGY ASPECT:

The second major problem with raising in the blind positions is a psychological one. The majority of players who are happy to call the big blind do so in order to see the flop at the cheapest possible rate.

 

They will often be relieved when the big blind decides not to auto-raise. And this is why; when raising in the small or big blind position, you ruin the chances these players have to see the flop at a reasonable price. Result: some of your opponents will become vindictive and will try to ruin your game on any which flop. Do you really want to encourage 4-5 players to call to the end of the round when you have a Queen-Queen, King-King, or even an Ace-Ace?

 

If you do not raise, your opponents will be more inclined to respect your opening at the flop. If you have queen-Queen and the flop is Jack-8-7, you will be opening one of the first speak positions in a pot that has not been raised. This could appear to be dangerous to many of your opponents.  Some of them will pass at the turn or the river. But if you raise the blinds before the flop, they will show you less respect and will try to chase you out of the round.

 

Additionally, there are the figures. If you start with Queen-Queen and your opponent has Ace-9, King-10, 6-6 and Jack-9, you have a 35% chance of winning the pot if the flop is Jack-7-8. If you pus with an Ace-9 and 6-6 goes to the flop, the probability passes to 51%. By raising before the flop, you can push your opponents into calling simply because they will be thinking that you are in semi-bluff before the flop.

 

POSITION PROBLEMS:     

The third reason, for which you should avoid raising in the blind positions before the flop, is also the most obvious: you are in a bad position for the rest of the round. Because of this, players will hesitate between making indecisive raises, and trying to get a free round.

 

Consider the following: you have King-King and you raise while in the big blind position. The flop is Ace of clubs, 7 of clubs and 10 of diamonds. You open and an opponent calls. The question is does he have an Ace or a colour draw? You have no way of knowing! This then makes it very difficult for you to open at the turn, in view of the fact that you are first to speak. If the turn does not reveal anything useful, you will probably check. If your opponent has the colour draw or the medium pair, you will be offering him a free card. Plus: you will give him the opportunity to semi-bluff you (i.e. bluff you with an out). And if he is in semi-bluff at the turn, it is probable that he will continue to bluff and try to buy the pot. In which situation would you be in if you need to follow the bids at the turn and at the river if you have King-King with an Ace on the board?

 

In the preceding situation, I would not raise whilst in either of the blind positions. If the flop arrives, I open. If an opponent calls, I then check the turn. If I play the round in this manner, my opponent will generally be thinking that I have an Ace with a small kicker. He will also think that I will call the turn and the river if he opens, therefore, this reduces the probability that he is bluffing his opening at the turn. This will cost me two small bets (one before the flop and one at the flop) in order to know if my hand has a reasonable chance of winning. If you raise while in the blind position before the flop, you engage two small bets plus another at the flop, in other words, three bets in total...without having gained any viable information about the cards that your opponent has in hand.

 

YOU INADVERTANTLY REVEAL YOUR HAND WHEN...

In the light of these elements, I think that raising in the position of small or big blind before the flop will reveal a lot about your hand to your opponents. Result: you give valuable information about your hand to the other players around the table and, in addition to this, you are condemned to speak first for the rest of the round. Two major inconveniences.

 

So, when should you raise when you are in one of the blind positions? My advice is that, in order to raise sensibly when in a blind position, you need to ensure you only have one or two opponents at the max. If you are head to head before the flop, raising in the position of big blind and regardless of the type of large hand you hold, including Ace-Jack assorted and Ace-Queen unsuited. But once there are three opponents implicated in the round, I prefer to check or call, and then open at the flop. Another case where you can raise when in the small blind or big blind position is when two players have called and the button has raised. In this situation, I can re-raise in order to remove at least two opponents from the round. If they both follow the re-raise before the flop, then check: if they open, you can raise them, which will definitely unsettle them. If the button raises, then re-raise him once again.

 

If there are more than two callers between you and the button, then chose to call before the flop, rather than raise, and then check the flop in order that you can make a better raise if somebody opens. This is an effective means of getting rid of some of your opponents.

 

CAMOUFLAGE:

One of the huge advantages with calling when you are in one of the blind positions is that you can disguise a monster hand when you have one. None of the players will know what cards you have. They will generally believe that you have a poor hand...so let them think it. I remember a very large pot that I won when I had an Ace-Ace in hand. Five opponents called before the flop, and I did not raise. I was lucky enough to find the following cards at the flop; Ace-2-9. I opened and two players called. The turn dealt a 2. I opened again and an opponent raised, then I raised, then he raised, then I raised and he called. When he called my open at the river he asked me; "What do you have with your two?" "Two Aces!" and I answered him at the showdown. He was stupefied that I did not raise before the flop. This is why, when he got three-of-a-kind with 2's, he could not conceive of the possibility that I had the full set of Aces! If I had raised before the flop, and if I had raised at the turn, he would probably think that I had already had a full and would have folded instead of throwing money at me, as he did.

ODDS ADVANTAGES:

The fact that you do not raise before the flop when you have a monster hand and that you are in one of the blind positions brings two odds advantages together. Firstly, your opponents will notice that you do not always raise before the flop when you have a big game in hand. Therefore, your game is less predictable to them, thus you are more dangerous for them. This means that they will give you a free turn more easily. Imagine the advantages that this represents when you enter into a round with a potentially great hand, such as two consecutive unsuited cards.

 

The second odds advantage is that you can push the best hand into folding. For example, if I am in the big blind position before the flop with a 10-9 in a middle bid position, and that the flop deals a Jack-10-6, I can raise any type of opening at the flop. Certain players can still think that you have entered into the round with a large hand and fold with an Ace-10, for example. But, be careful; this advantage only holds if the opponent is a proficient poker player, if he knows how to observe well how the table is playing. A novice will not see the danger, and therefore will not analyse the round in this manner, and this will make them more of a threat to you.