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Every so often, everyone at the table folds around to me in the small blind. Now it's just me and the BB, mano y mano.Now there are obviously 4 main ways to handle this situation: call, raise, fold, or shove all-in!Folding
and shoving are too absolute to lead to anything else. Calling or
raising can lead to other decisions. Sometimes you simply complete the
blind with intent to call a raise or a shove should it come. Other
times you intend to fold if the BB raises. The same decisions apply if
the Big Blind were to re-raise your raise.Everyone's got a
different view on playing Blind vs. Blind. Some players never fold
their small blind unless facing a raise. Others never complete it
without a great hand, while still others will fold often but also call
often with a wide variety of hands. And of course there are always
those who will battle to the death in any Blind vs. Blind battle.Here's how I handle SB vs BB preflop battle in various circumstances:In the RingFor
the most part, I will usually fold any hand that I wouldn't play from
the button. I play excruciatingly patient in the ring. Giving up a half
a blind with a rag hand is no big deal to me. I will usually complete
with any Ace, and a few other select hands. What I try to keep in mind
from the SB is that I am out of position. I don't want to play out of
position at any time unless my hand basically forces me to.I
will make some exceptions in the ring. Occasionally, I'll raise in that
situation if I know the BB is a super tight and straightforward player.In Tournament PlayHere's
where SB vs. BB play gets a lot more complicated. At certain stages of
any tournament, blind stealing is an absolutely vital part of
tournament survival and winning strategy. On the flip side, I've got to
be cautious because players are more likely to defend their blind to
the death in tournament play than they are in the ring. The
most important part of playing the Small Blind against the Big Blind
for me is testing the waters. When the table walks it to me in the SB,
I will complete with any 2 cards while the blinds are cheap or while my
stack is deep in comparison to the blinds. This way I am able to get a
read on whether my opponent is likely to raise me, or to let me see a
cheap flop. This information is priceless when it comes to a point in
the tournament when blinds get as valuable as diamonds.Once the
blinds and antes are well worth fighting for, I will typically complete
most of my small blinds against a player who is not likely to raise me.
I do not need to do a lot of raising, because I am very confident in my
post-flop play. I pull off some pretty tricky s*** once the cards hit
the board, and manage to pick up some great reads a large portion of
the time.Against a player who is likely to raise me if I
complete, I've got to play a totally different game when the blinds get
steep. I'll throw away alot more hands against this player. If I do
decide to come in against him or her, I'll do it for a raise 80%-85% of
the time. About 10% of the time that I come in, I'll just complete with
a mediocre or drawing hand. And about 5%-10% of the time, I'll just
complete with a monster hand and hope, hope, hope I get raised so we
can go to war.Now I know that this is pretty general. Poker is
a game of endless circumstances that all involve different strategies
and the ability to adjust on the fly. But there's how I do it in a few
of the most common situations.How do you play your Small Blind against the Big Blind??
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