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August 16, 2005
In parts I, II and III of this series on blinds defense I discussed some very marginal pokerparty 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.
Having said all this, if you don't have this feel or if you are someone who likes to convince himself your pokerparty opponent is always bluffing, then playing the types of hands discussed here will actually cost your money, rather than add to your hourly rate. If you fit this description, it might be best to do what most writers would recommend in these types of situations: fold before the flop and take your loss, rather than try to battle things out in a situation that requires a lot of judgment.
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 pokerparty hand by far. Therefore, taking away the initiative from your pokerparty 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:
If the raiser doesn't respect you, however, his response to your bet is a lot less reliable (he might have that same AT and raise you now), so in that case betting out would not be wise. Your options are then limited to check-fold, check-call or check-raise, based upon what you think the raiser is likely to hold.
With this type of flop, the best play is a bit less straightforward. Against pokerparty people who respect your play, it might be best to simply come out betting. With this type of rainbow board a bet by you represents a queen.
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 pokerparty players in besides you and him, then you should usually still fold. Why? Well, I would say because you have nothing.
Pokerparty is Here to Stay!
- 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).
- 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:
- Quite a few people in my regular pokerparty 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 pokerparty players call raises from serious players with hands like king-ten offsuit.
So, in the pokerparty 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.
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 pokerparty cards. Either way, you are in bad shape, with a hand that is likely to be dominated.
