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Ace Speaks - Playing the blinds part IV:
A few examples
by Rolf Slotboom

In parts I, II and III of this series on blinds defense I discussed some very marginal hands that, when played under the right circumstances, can actually add to your hourly rate. Today, I will give a few more big blind hands. I will discuss the type of thinking the big blind should be doing when facing a raise, and how he should translate these thoughts into making the right play.

Example hand No. 1: A9o

When holding a hand like this, it is important to see who is the raiser, and the position the raiser is in. In a full ring game, an early-position raise by a serious player almost always means a good hand, most likely a big pair or two very high cards. Either way, you are in bad shape, with a hand that is likely to be dominated. What's more, if you call the raise and then hit part of the flop, it will be very hard to get away from your hand, and if the raiser takes his hand to the river with you, you are likely to lose quite a few bets. For instance, if an ace flops and you get action, you have no kicker, and if you flop a nine for top pair / top kicker you must be a hell of a player to lay it down at any stage- even though, if your opponent goes to the river as well, your hand is probably no good.

So, in the situation described, with a serious player raising in early position and all others folding, you should simply give it up before the flop, rather than call and hope to get lucky. But even with one or two additional callers, I think you should still fold, because you are still likely to be dominated, and because an ace-nine offsuit simply does not perform well in a four-way pot, out of position. Treat the ace-nine offsuit as I have always done: usually fold, unless you have a very good reason not to. Note that many players would do exactly the opposite: they will usually call, unless it is pretty obvious this would not be wise- for instance, when they face not just one, but two raises.

Example hand No. 2: 75o

Quite a few people in my regular game can be considered fairly decent players. They tend to play tight / aggressive, know Sklansky's hand rankings by heart, and know pretty well how to play from the flop onward. But they don't know how to play the blinds. Time and time again, I have seen fairly good players call raises from serious players with hands like king-ten offsuit. At the same time, I have seen them fold hands like small connectors in a three- or four-way pot when it is pretty obvious all others in the hand are playing paint cards. This lack of understanding how to adjust to changing circumstances when you have to call "only" one more bet, is one of the major leaks in the game of lots of otherwise good players.

As readers of this column know, I will occasionally defend with this type of holding (small connectors, preferably -but not necessarily- suited), but I will do this only if the situation is right. This means I will only do this if:

• The raiser is a predictable player, over whom I have good control
• He is more likely to be raising with high cards only, rather than with a big pair
• The callers in the middle are not particularly aggressive and / or tricky
• They probably hold big or semi-big cards as well, rather than a slow-played high pair or some small or middle suited connectors
• My call closes the betting, i.e., I cannot face a re-raise from someone who is still to act.

Only if all of these factors apply to a certain degree, a call is in order, and only if you know how to play this type of holding when getting some help from the board (rather than no help or a lot of help). I have won quite a few big pots with hands like 75o, because my opponents have a hard time figuring me for this type of holding in a raised pot -me being such a tight player-, and because they see me folding my big blind against a raise at least six or seven times out of ten. They cannot understand that I am occasionally willing to defend with these small, connected cards -that they would never play-, while I will easily throw away hands they would not dream of folding (like semi-big offsuited cards).

Some final words

It is important not to carry these types of thoughts too far when playing small connectors, and start using my remarks as an excuse to play more hands. For instance, if you are faced with a raise, even when it's coming from a light raiser in late position, but there are no other players in besides you and him, then you should usually still fold. Why? Well, I would say because you have nothing. Even though your opponent doesn't need to have a premium hand either, you hold a seven-high only, out of position, not knowing what you're up against, and not knowing if hitting a seven or five will be enough for you to win the pot. Also, because he knows that you know he doesn't need to have anything in this spot, he might not give you credit for a good hand when you start playing back at him. He might easily call or even raise your bets while holding very light values himself- so, all in all, this would not be a good time to mess with this type of hand. But in this same situation (a late-position raiser who is known to raise on light values), your A9 may have become playable; in fact, I even think a three-bet should be considered. Even though in general an ace-nine is very marginal, in this case it is likely to be the best hand by far. Therefore, taking away the initiative from your opponent might be your best option- also to send him the message that your blind is not always up for grabs. Every once in a while, I make a play like this (three-bet with a far from premium holding facing a late-position light raiser), but only if:

• The hand I hold is clearly playable in this situation, and folding would therefore be wrong
• It seems the raiser doesn't need to have a premium hand, either
• By representing more strength than I actually have, I will be able to take the initiative away from my opponent, so that I might be able to pick up some pots when we both flop nothing.

I will continue these thoughts in the next issue, in the fifth and last part of this series on blinds defense. In the meantime, I hope you will catch lots of aces- and win with them.