Attacking the blinds in No Limit poker games
Attacking the blinds is an easy way to say “putting in a late position preflop raise with the hopes of winning the blinds without a confrontation.” In no limit the blinds are so small in comparison to the starting stack sizes that I can imagine you wondering if it’s really worth trying to steal them. The answer is yes for several reasons:
- You can win the blinds without a fight
- You get to play a hand from in position
- Your opponents often play poorly from out of position
- It irritates your opponents and improves your table image
You can win the blinds without a fight
Out of the four reasons above, this one is probably the least important. Yes it’s nice to win one and a half big blinds without any trouble but it’s not that much money in the grand scheme of things. But, if you can successfully steal the blinds twice an hour, you can improve your winrate by 3 big blinds per hour which is actually pretty decent money. Any no limit strategy that can improve your winrate is worth mentioning.
You get to play a hand from in position
This is the best reason to attack the blinds. The power of position is immense in no limit hold ‘em. When your opponents try to defend their blinds, it bloats the pot and gives you the advantage of acting last every single betting round.
When you play hands from late position you can put pressure on your opponents by betting and raising when they look weak or taking free cards when you have draws. In addition, you will win pots more often when in late position and those pots are usually larger.
Your opponents often play poorly from out of position
Your average no limit opponent is aware of the fact that your late position raises aren’t always made with the strongest of hands. What they don’t know is that it’s usually more expensive to defend their blinds than it is to let you take them for free. Your opponents will often try to defend their blinds with weak hands and the end result is that they find themselves stuck out of position in big pots with weak hands.
Think about how bad that sounds: (1) out of position (2) big pot (3) weak hand. The great thing about that terrible situation is that you’re the one who wins! Your opponents will often become passive calling stations in that situation so you get to control how the hand goes down. People who are usually decent poker players can turn into some real fish when trying to defend their blinds. You like playing against fish. Therefore you should attack the blinds.
It irritates your opponents and improves your table image
If you’ve ever had sat next to someone who constantly attacks your blinds, you know how irritating it can get. Instead of getting to see free flops with your blinds, you’ve got that jerk on your right raising every other hand! Well, in poker, if something your opponents do to you irritates you; it’s probably a good thing for you to do to your opponents.
If you can get your opponents to play emotionally rather than logically, you stand to win a lot of money. Their bet sizes become bigger and they start making bad plays like trying to pull off huge bluffs on the river. If you’re lucky, you can get someone to tilt and throw a money party for the table.
Even if you can’t get to your opponents like that, you can affect their perception of you. If they see you in there betting and raising all the time, it’s going to make them more likely to pay off your big hands. Even if they know you only play loose in late position, they can’t help but see you as kind of loose the rest of the time also. It’s just the way the human brain works.
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· Written by admin · Filed Under Level 2 - Intermediate
Tagged: Intermediate Strategy, Poker Strategy
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Nice post