Defending your Blinds

[BKAZ]

[Molina]

[Mad Genius]

[BKAZ]

Molina,

I am playing Limit. My BR can handle (per the 300 BB rule) the 5/10 table but I am playing the 1/2 tables at party until I feel comfortable.

Being Limit I think some of the re raise type plays against the aggressor are less effective because they are only risking 1 small bet as opposed to NL where you can fire back with a 4X sized bet.

Thoughts?

[rdale]

If they have to face a three bet and a lead on the flop on a pretty regular basis and you think they are raising pretty much any two, it should slow them down at least a little bit. You should probably consider three betting any pair, overs and suited aces if you feel that an overly aggressive player is taking advantage of your blinds. The majority of my short handed limit play is tournament style, but I assume to some degree that it is similiar in cash games.

[cholo loco]

in sh limit play you should defend your blinds ferociously. while you will be posting more blinds you have much more equity on each hand you play from the blinds. ed miller wrote an excellent article if you search the 2+2 magazine archives.
while 300 bb should be fine for 1-2 as you move up towards 10-20 and above you will need a much larger br proportionally.
matty

[MecosKing]

I agree with rdale, depending on the circumstances of course. If the button or SB is tight and doesnt go after blinds all that often, you should not defend with ragged cards, because its just not worth losing a decent sized pot when you couldve just surrendered your blind.

However, if the raiser is loose and comes after the blinds often, there are two ways to defend.

You can three bet and lead the flop no matter what cards come, or you can call, and check raise the flop and lead the turn. In my opinion, you should mix it up, but CALL more often than you RAISE.

I prefer doing the check raising thing over the three betting thing most of the time and heres why. if, as rdale says, you three bet and lead at the raiser often, then its not going to take that long for him to figure out whats going on, and if your in there 3betting with something like J10o (which is a hand you should obviously defend with from the blind) and you miss, if the raiser thinks that you are firing with any two, he is more likely to sheriff you down to the river with a tiny pair or even an ace high. Trust me, theres nothing more embarassing than losing to an ace high when you three bet preflop and start firing back at the raiser. I guess what i mean is too much preflop aggression too often from the blinds will make the raiser think your on a resteal, and make him tend to call you with worse hands, which is just what you dont want, because more often than not your going to miss anyway. Youd much rather have the raiser fold

Calling preflop and check raising the flop is good because your not showing enough aggression preflop for the raiser to think your on a resteal, so he cant call you with crap like an ace high, etc. Also, if the board is just ridiculously bad for your hand (say your defending with 68s and the board comes something like KQT) you can just let it go, without losing the extra bet. On the other hand, if you flop ANYTHING, even as little as a gutshot draw, you put in the checkraise. Or, if the board just comes without an ace and with low or middle cards that dont really hit you, you can put in the check raise no matter what you hold, because its a good BLUFFING board. For example, a board with an 894 is a good board to try and pickup the pot against a raiser on, because he probably doesnt have any of it, and its dangerous enough that hell beleive you COULD have some of it. Boards like J85, 1096, 785, etc, are good because the raiser probly has none of it, but might beleive you defended your blidns with something there.

So, i tend to check raise the flop rather than three bet and lead, because 3 betting and leading too often looks suspicious (i mean, how many legitimate three betting hands can you GET against my steal raises, the raiser will ask himself). However, the check raise will just make him think DAMMIT, he hit a peice of that flop, lucky asshole-- and tend to fold more often.

Also, the boards you dont want to see are really ragged paired boards like 224 and 338 [no one beleives you ahve any of that and ace high will call you]] and boards where there are all overcards to you and no draws at all. Save yourself some money on flops like those against the raiser- its okay to let him steal one sometimes., if you play it the way i said to (check raising on any draw or any pair, as well as on a board that is good to bluff at), along with the occasional three bet preflop, you will endup ahead of the game in SH blind defense.