I'd add AXs in late position with no raise and lots of limpers. Only continue with the hand if you flop a flush draw or two pair or better, drop it if you only hit the ace.

I can go along with that:)

Great Posting:

Just two questions:
1)How would you follow Up I an II for BB and SB?
2) How do you define Early and Late on different handed Tables (for instance 10-, 8- and 5-Handed tables)

Thanks

I would raise or reraise in the blinds with AA, KK and depending on the situation (ie. how many people were in the pot) perhaps QQ, the others I would just check or call.

I would define EP in a 10-9 handed game respectively as the first 3/2 position to the left of the BB, MP the next three/3 and LP the cutoff and button. I guess that moving one position or the other for MP and LP could be taken.

I don't think that novice players should start out playing short handed tables because they are a different monster all together. The guide lines that I put up are for 9 ot 10 handed tables.

How to play from the blinds is a difficult thing to tackle but a very important one. Look under my article leading into a raiser for some insight into this. I show a profit when calling raises heads up with 109 down to 23 but a loss when calling hands J2 to A9 disregarding JJ, QQ, KK. Although the data set that I took this information was not that large I think it does show a trend toward calling raises with higher cards that may very well be counterfeited to your detriment by the raiser. Again I would look at some articles by Rolf Slotboom on blind play that can be found on Pokerpages.com. His philosophy is much the same as mine on blind play but it is nicely prepackaged for you in his articles. For a novice player it is going to be a tough thing to get a feel for how best to play a hand from the blind so I am loath to go into further detail and say you should do this or that because the truth of the matter is the number of different factors that you face from these positions determine how you can best play a hand and these are very hard to quantify and only with experience are you going to learn what your best play is for a given situation.

I've read the Articles of Rolf Slotboom. Thanks for the pointer!

I found it very interesting to read but this kind of Play seems to fancy for me at my current skill level.

I have the feeling that I'm to loose in the Blinds:

I have a VP$IP of 15.15 % in the Non_blind Positions (lower if I only look at the more recent sessions) I have lost there (24.62) but most of it in the beginning in stupid hands when I look at the more recent sessions im slightly positive here.

When in the BB i have a VP$IP of 17.91 % but have the biggest Leak here (49,12) during 85 Hands in this Position -> (42,50) Blinds included -> so (6.62) when I substract all Blinds (not exact because also the blinds of the winning Hands included)

The Highest VP$IP I have when playing from SB Position with 29.23 %. It is interesting to see that I have here the Best Result of +12.63 (including Blinds) if i substract the loss of the 65 Blinds (unexact like above) I get a result of +28.88.
This numbers may be unexact since it only made of 65 Hands and I had some real lucky wins from the Small Blind.

When I now calculate the actual results of (36.49) against the (58,75) I would have lost if I just folded on every Blind the results doesn't looks so bad but I have still the feeling that I play the Blinds Position to loose and beside some really nice and big wins I made from here that lead to this "positive" results IMHO i think I putnon-blind money to often in hands that are not worth it.

So my Question is now:
1) What are your stats from the Blinds?
2) If we follow this "Easy rules to follow" character of this thread we know until now:
- Raise with AA KK and maybe QQ
- Check when you can to get the Flop (or even more) for the cost of your Blind -> for free (my assumption)
But with with hands you should call in
a) a raised hand from the BB (1 Small Bet) or the SB ( 1,5 Small Bets))
b) a unraised hand from the SB (0,5 Small Bets)?

Simon

Here are some of my stats from the last 3 months for the blinds. I tend to be very tight about entering pots from the SB particularly when it is only one third of the bring in as in 36 limit. I would also be interested in seeing stats from others in this area. As you would expect I am losing from both the BB and SB in total as will anyone with sufficient hands played.

36, 1694 BB hands, -0.24 BB/hand
36, 1680 SB hands, VIP 11.7%, -0.08 BB/hand
24, 450 BB hands, -0.08 BB/hand
24, 455 SB hands, VIP 14.3%, -0.08 BB/hand
12, 3439 BB hands, -0.22 BB/hand
12, 3343 SB hands, VIP 15.5%, -0.14 BB/hand

I am pretty liberal calling raises heads up from the BB because I am getting 3.33 to 3.5:1 on my call and you don't have to hit too often to make this correct and if you play well after the flop you can even make up more ground. Although my results from 12 limit leave something to be desired thus far I am showing a profit in the minimal number of hands from 24 limit and a very small loss in the 36 games.

Called a raise or reraised heads up from BB
36, 60 hands, -4.50, -0.01 BB/hand
24, 11 hands, +74.50, 1.69 BB/hand
12, 62 hands, -125.38, -1.01 BB/hand

When I come in against a raise from the SB you can be assured that I have an above average hand and these results although a small number bare out that fact.

Called a raise or reraised heads up from SB
36, 11 hands, +123.50, 1.87 BB/hand
24, 6 hands, +68.50, 2.85 BB/hand
12, 20 hands, +20.75, 0.52 BB/hand

I guess what I am saying is that I am pretty loose against one player but tighten up significantly when 2 or more players have entered the pot. It is alot easier to outplay one person than multiple. Hope that helps some.

Sorry I'm late, boys, but I've been foolishly trying to win at NL. I'm no better than a fish at that, right now, so I'm going to focus my efforts and energies on getting back the money I've lost by playing where I win much more than I lose. Limit is my bread and butter. I'm good at it.

Great post, Piers, and glad it's a sticky. Maybe between all of us, we can boil this down to its simplist elements and put it up front for those who come after us to learn faster than we have. You've given a great start at keeping it simple.

I am, however, sorry you guys got off-track with talking about the blinds. You're ruining the simplicity.

My addition to this topic--How to Win at Limit Hold 'Em (online or live)--when playing from the blinds.

Don't lose money. Unless you have a hand which would play from EP as suggested by Piers, fold. Check an unraised pot, or call with a big hand. Do NOT put any more money in unless you're absolutely sure you've got the nuts. Don't raise the pot. It's rarely profitable for an inexperienced player. Don't call a raise, unless you have a big hand. Don't bet out after the flop, unless you absolutely hit a monster, then don't think about fancy plays like check/raising. Bet or check/fold. Don't chase until you can calculate pot odds vs. drawing odds in your sleep.

You're forced to bet a hand you haven't seen. Your goal is to not LOSE any more money than that first forced bet. This should be the new player creed for quite a long period of time. Playing from the blinds is just too complicated. Too many "what if's" and "it depends." It is one of the last things you'll become good at.

The goal of any new player should not be to win the most money. That's for suckers. That's for idiots who play any hand, chase every straight and flush, play every weak Ace. The goal for a new player is to LOSE THE LEAST MONEY. You do that by doing one pretty easy thing--win the biggest pots, not the most pots. If you find a way to understand that one small principle, you'll be a winner forever. Everything you learn will be after that as a starting point. Everything follows.

That's my suggestion for an addition to the Basic Way.

CJ

helps a ton I usualy play a bit higher limit games and I play them pretty tight and throw in a strange hand every once in a while and I win for the most part. Maybe its the strange random hand that keeps me go'n