One of the most challenging areas to play for maximum profit
in Texas holdem is the blinds.
Even when you get to see the flop for free in an unraised
pot, it’s easy to lose money because you’re in the worst
position at the table.
The size of the bets are determined by the limits of the game that you’re playing and the small blind is nearly always half of the big blind. So a $2/$4 Limit Hold’em game has a small blind of $1 and a big blind of $2. Blinds are forced bets. The players in these positions must make these bets or they aren’t dealt cards in the hand. The Small Blind is half of the Bid Blind, which means that the player at the Big Blind position has to bet equal to the minimum bet. In Texas Holdem poker the play proceeds in a clockwise order, which means that every player at the table will play from the Small Blind and Big Blind positions. The player to the left of the Big Blind is first to act and he has three options — to call, raise or fold.
Where do you draw the line in the small blind? Should you
call a half bet with a small pair or a small suited connector?
How good does your hand need to be to call a bet and a half but
not raise?
Can you fold 90% of the blinds and still turn a long term
profit? The answer may surprise you.
Once you have a good strategy for blind play worked out, if
you switch between limit and no limit Texas holdem you’ll need
to be able to adjust your play. While many hands play the same
between the two variations, many don’t.
The Positional Disadvantage
Even though position has already been mentioned, it forms the
basis of everything else on the page so it needs mentioned
again.
Everything you do while playing Texas holdem needs to be done
while considering your position. Position directly affects your
starting hand choices because some hands can only be played form
certain positions profitably.
Example
Medium suited connectors, like the eight and nine of
diamonds, can only be played from late position in most games
for a profit. In a few games the best players can play them from
middle position, but even the best players don’t waste their
money on them from middle position.
The mistake players make is thinking about the money they’ve
already put in the pot as theirs. It stops being your money the
second you push it forward for the blinds.
The only thing you need to consider is how the strength of
your starting hand works with your position in relation to the
button. If you can play a hand from the worst positions at the
table for a profit you should play, but if not you should fold.
Even if you see the flop for free you should fold most hands
after checking.
Limit Play
Limit Texas holdem and no limit holdem are both played almost
100% the same, but the way you have to play each of them to
maximize your profitability isn’t the same.
The biggest difference in how you have to think about limit
and no limit play is that limit is a more straightforward
mathematical game. In no limit you can make up for a
questionable starting hand by winning a huge pot when you hit
your hand, but in limit play the maximum amount you can win with
each hand is limited.
Example
In no limit Texas holdem you can often call a raise with a
middle pair, like sevens or eights, because when you hit a set
you can win more than eight times your initial call when you
hit. You hit a set roughly one out of every eight times so you
need to be able to win more than eight times your call in order
to show a long term profit. No limit play makes this possible.
The same situation is rarely profitable in limit play. While
it’s easy to assume you can win eight times your call, the truth
is that many times you won’t.
It’s easy to say that limit Texas holdem is more mathematical
than no limit, but how do you learn from and take advantage of
this information?
The first thing you must do is learn that starting hand
selection is the number one thing you need to master in order to
be a long term winner while playing limit holdem. The player who
enters the pot with the best starting hand tends to win more
often than the player with a worse hand. This makes a great deal
of sense, but the best players combine strong starting hands
with smart play.
Once you learn the range of starting hands you can play from
each position you need to focus on learning as much as possible
about your opponents. When you’re playing from the blinds you
have to find every advantage you can.
When you see the flop in limit Texas holdem the rest of the
hand should play out based on odds and pot odds. You’ve seen
five out of the seven total cards you’ll use to make up your
hand, know the amount in the pot, and should have somewhat of an
idea of where you stand in the hand.
- If you check and face a bet are you receiving the
correct pot odds to call? - If the flop is checked around should you fire a bet on
the turn to try to take down the pot? - Should you call a single bet on the river with a third
or fourth best possible hand?
These questions all have answers based on your chances to win
the hand with your current holdings. And because limit play has
a capped betting limit on each round you have a specific number
of bets and / or pot amount to use to determine the best course
of action.
No Limit Play
You have slightly more options for starting hand play in no
limit Texas holdem from the blinds, but only if you’re able to
play well after the flop.
Some no limit holdem players are able to play trap hands
profitably from the blinds, but you really have to be able to
play well out of position to play this type of game well.
Trap hands include medium pairs and suited connectors.
The medium pairs can win big pots when you hit a set and the
suited connectors can win pots with flushes, but their largest
value is in well-disguised straights. Notice that small pocket
pairs aren’t included on the list.
While small pocket pairs can also hit a set and win a big pot
the problem is when a higher pocket pair hits their set. This
won’t happen often but you’re almost guaranteed to get stacked
when this happens. This makes a large dent into your possible
profits from hitting a set. The value of playing for a set is
stacking your opponents, not losing your entire stack.
The lower the pocket pair you play the higher the chance of
another player having a higher set when you hit. Specific advice
for which pocket pairs to play and which ones to fold vary, but
in general avoid anything lower than pocket fives. Some consider
anything lower than pocket sevens questionable.
If you’ve got a good enough read on your opponent and / or
the ability to lay down a set of threes or fours when you’re
beat you may be able to play them profitably. But very few
players are this good.
In limit play when you see the flop with a poor hand from the
blinds or call a bet to see the turn you stand to lose a bet or
two. But when you see a flop with a poor hand in no limit you
stand the chance to get stuck in a hand with higher
consequences.
Imagine the following scenario.
You’re in the small blind with the eight of clubs and the
jack of diamonds and you see the flop for a half bet. The flop
comes down jack high with three different suits. This gives you
top pair with a terrible kicker.
How are you going to play on the flop? Are you going to check
or bet? What happens if you bet and get raised? What if you
check and an opponent makes a big bet? While it’s the best hand
occasionally, the odds of jacks with an eight kicker being good
in a big pot are almost nonexistent. This is the classic case of
either winning a small pot or losing a big one. You need to be
on the other end of this equation, not on this side.
This illustrates both the problem of playing out of position
and the problem of entering a no limit pot with a poor hand.
When you have to make decisions that can involve your entire
stack each decision becomes magnified.
Raising From the Blinds
The only time you should raise from the blinds is when you’d
normally raise from the under the gun position. Sevens card game.
Large pocket pairs and aces with a high kicker, preferably
suited, are your best bets.
The advice listed elsewhere on this page about never calling
from the blinds is still relevant. If you decide to play a hand
and can’t check to see the flop you should raise. If you don’t
feel comfortable raising you should strongly consider folding.
Once you become a strong player showing long term profit
you’ll find certain hands in certain games can be played
profitably by calling a bet in the blinds, but it’s a large leak
in many player’s games so don’t do it until you’re a good
player.
Of course you can occasionally raise with a different hand if
the level of competition is good enough to pay attention. At the
lower levels you should play straight forward poker, but as your
competition gets better you have to take precautions to not be
predictable.
Texas Holdem Blinds Chart
When you decide you need to change up your play a little it’s
important not to go overboard. Raise with a different hand than
normal once or twice per playing session.
Top Tip
The best hands to take a shot with are suited
connectors. Usually if you hit the flop after making a raise
with one of these hands you have a well-disguised hand.
You can also consider making a raise with a medium pair and
hope for a set, but if you play this way you have to be willing
to fire a continuation bet on the flop most of the time even if
you miss your set. This isn’t a profitable long term play most
of the time, so you need to resist the urge to play these weaker
hands for a raise too often.
Defending Your Blinds
Have you ever heard players talking about how they have to
defend their blinds? Or have you ever felt a late position
player was raising too much trying to steal your blinds? If so,
what did you do?
Most players are convinced their opponents in late position
are always trying to steal their blinds. And some players do
raise too often in an attempt to steal blinds.
The reaction from most players is to start firing a raise
back at the late position aggressor. While this is a possible
way to challenge someone stealing your blinds, what do you do if
they re-raise?
It can be irritating to have a player constantly raise when
you’re in the blinds, but you need to forget about the concept
of protecting your blinds. You need to wait for a good hand and
raise with it and fold all of your poor and medium strength
hands to a raise.
What many players forget is that sometimes the late position
aggressor has a real hand and she gets to play the hand with
position against you.
Don’t forget that the blinds aren’t yours once you put them
in the pot.
The Ultimate Strategy
At the end of the day most Texas holdem players participate
in too many pots from the blinds.
They think that since it’s only half a bet from the small
blind or a single extra bet in a raised pot from the big blind
that the odds would surely say they need to call with almost any
hand. Sure wins betting. After all, any hand can win, right?
While it’s certainly true that any hand can win, the real
question that needs to be considered is if a call is more
profitable in the long run than any other option.
Everyone that’s been playing Texas holdem for long has
probably seen the worst starting hand, an unsuited seven and
two, win a pot. But the only time it’s even close to correct to
see the flop with this hand is from the big blind when the pot
hasn’t been raised. Even in this situation, the only time you
should do anything other than check and fold to a bet is when
the flop improves your hand in a big way.
In most no limit games you need to improve to better than two
pair to continue with the hand. This means if you don’t have
three of a kind or better you should be looking for a way to get
out of the pot.
Until you reach the level where you’ve mastered enough of the
other parts of Texas holdem to be a consistent winning player
you should fold everything in the blinds that you wouldn’t play
from early position.
If you see a flop for free simply check and fold to any bet
unless your hand improves a great deal or you have a strong read
on your opponent.
The hands most winning players are willing to play rom early
position are limited to the top starting hands. Here’s a list of
possible starting hands.
- Pair of aces
- Pair of kings
- Pair of queens
- Pair of jacks
- Pair of tens
- Ace king suited
- Ace king off-suit
- Ace queen suited
- Ace queen off-suit
- Ace jack suited
Even hands as strong as JJ and 10 10 have to be played mostly
for set value in most games. In many no limit holdem games you
can play medium pocket pairs from the blinds for set value as
well, but you have to be good enough to make them pay off at a
high enough rate when you hit your set.
This is harder to do when you’re out of position and when the
pre flop action doesn’t have an aggressor.
If you have any hesitation about what to do with a hand in
the blinds you should fold.
Don’t overanalyze the situation or start loosening your
starting hand standards just because you’re in the blinds.
Going hand in hand with your tight starting hand requirements
from the blinds, don’t call any bets from the blinds. Check,
raise, or fold whenever you’re in the blinds. If you never call
you force yourself to only play your best hands and play them
aggressively.
Summary
During your next few Texas holdem poker sessions fold every
blind that you can’t make a raise with. This has an immediate
impact on most Texas holdem players by improving their game and
overall profitability.
Even if you end up folding a few hands that could be
borderline profitable in the long run, you’ll make up for it by
eliminating many hands that lose money. Never forget the reason
for playing Texas holdem is to win as much money as possible,
not defend your blinds or get into pots with poor hands out of
position.
You read a question in the opening about being able to fold
90% of your hands in the blinds and still being able to turn a
profit. It was somewhat of a trick question. It’s hard to turn a
profit by playing more than 10% of your hands from the blind, so
yes you can be profitable folding 90% of your blind hands.
Once heads up is achieved in a home game or pub poker tournament, the most common questions that I hear is, “who goes first?” “who gets dealt the first card?” or “who has the button?” In fact, the most common time that gameplay rule violations occur at the poker table is when I am down to heads up. This is because the rules for heads to head or one on one play in Texas Hold’em can be a bit confusing.
According to heads up poker rules, the dealer posts the small blind and the other player posts the big blind. The first card is dealt to the player in the Big Blind. The dealer acts first pre-flop and the big blind acts first on the flop, turn, and river. The dealer always goes last on the flop, turn, and river.
Why Does the Dealer Post the Small Blind?
If the blinds were reversed and the player on the button posted the big blind, the rules for order of play would be violated. In Texas Hold’em, the Big Blind is required to act last before the flop. Therefore, by default, the player on the button must post the Small Blind in heads-up play.
Additionally, if the dealer was the big blind and decided to fold, he would be folding his big blind to the small blind; another violation of the basic rules. Some might also argue that this “discounted” price of folding is part of the basic advantage of the button.
However, this is just an incidental advantage obtained just by following the rules correctly and was not designed to give preference to one player or the other. To put it another way, the rules came first, before the optimal strategy to play within the bounds of those rules was formulated.
Why Does the Dealer Go First Before the Flop?
The player on the button acts first for the same reason he posts the small blind, to maintain the correct order of play. Some might argue that acting last before the flop offers a type of position advantage and that the button should have that edge in heads-up. However, the button does not have that type of favor when there are 3 or more players at the table, so why should the rules alter when it’s down to heads up? The button never acts last pre-flop, no matter how many players are at the table.
Texas Holdem Small Blind Big Blind Poker
Why Does the Big Blind Go First After the Flop?
The rules of poker state that the button must always act last after the flop. While this might seem like a departure from the rules, since the small blind does act first after the flop in non-heads-up play, it really isn’t. Indeed, it doesn’t matter what position a player sits in, if the button is involved in the hand, they are required to go first.
What If the Button Open Folds Before the Flop?
When the button folds, he relinquishes the small blind to the player in the big blind, the button moves, and the next hand begins. If the button just calls, the player in the big blind has the option to check back or raise. You may have heard the dealer say “option” to the big blind before.
Are Poker Odds Different in Heads-Up?
No. The math of poker remains exactly the same, no matter how many players are involved in the game. The cool thing is that calculating the odds is simplified since there are never any multi-way pots when you are playing one on one.
Are the Heads up Rules the Same for Cash Games and Tournaments?
Yes, the order of play and the rules for posting blinds remains exactly the same, no matter the format. The only real difference you will see, when watching cash versus tournaments, is that the latter often has antes paid in on top of the blinds.
Are These Rules the Same for Pot Limit Omaha?
Yes, the rules of heads-up play remain the same for all flop-style games that have a button and two blinds, including limit hold’em, no-limit hold’em, and Omaha.
Strategic Adjustments For Heads-Up Play
Once you have the rules of how one on one gameplay works, you can focus all of your attention on winning. The key to crushing the competition is in making targeted adjustments based on your opponent’s style of play.
The biggest adjustment that should be made when playing heads up revolves around how often you raise and call and how assertive you should be when it comes to fighting for pots. As a rule, as tables become more short-handed, your overall level of aggression should increase. When play is down to just you and one other people your level of aggressiveness should range anywhere from combative to downright maniacal. What controls your frequencies in this regard is the nature of your opponent.
In order to thrive in and succeed one-on-one, you have to drastically loosen your requirements for getting involved and continuing into later streets. As the old saying goes, it’s very hard to make a pair. Often, high card will be the best hand on the flop in a heads-up battle. Therefore, you definitely do not want to play fit or fold when there is only one other opponent.
Feel Out Your Opponent Early
Texas Holdem Blind Clock
The early stages of a heads-up match are very similar to boxing. Unless you are really familiar with how your opponent plays, you will need to feel him or her out in the first few hands. For the most part, my general strategy is to raise any two hands from the button but defend a bit on the tight side in the big blind. By using this method, here are a few things you are looking to find out along with the adjustments that you can make as a result:
Pre-Flop Heads-Up Adjustments
- Your Opponent Is Folding to Steals Often
Count your blessings if this is the case. Playing against a fit or fold opponent when down to two players is the best case scenario. Keep stealing any two cards until he or she adjusts. You may find that you have the majority of the chips before this happens! - Your Opponent Seems to Be Defending Every Time
If you open your first 5 hands and get called or raised 5 times, it may be time to re-evaluate your strategy. Even so, I would almost never reduce my opening frequency down below 50% in a heads up match. - Your Opponent Is Stealing Often
So your opponent has open-raised the first 8 hands or so in the match. It is time to start playing back at him and the best way to do this is to flat call all of your high card hands, even Q2o, and anything that is suited or has any flopability (is that a word)? For example, something like 74o is an easy flat against someone who opens practically any two cards. - Your Opponent Is Folding the Button Often
If your opponent is open-folding the button more than half the time, it is safe to tighten up your flatting and 3-betting range substantially. The free money you are getting from your opponent’s folds means that you are practically free rolling the big blind. How cool is that? Ramp up the aggression on the button and the match will be over soon (usually in your favor).
Big Blind And Small Blind Texas Holdem
Post-Flop Heads-Up Strategy
Your opponent’s pre-flop tendencies will tend to bleed over into their post-flop play. Therefore, if a person is stealing wide pre-flop expect them to bluff a lot and take very weak ranges to later streets.
If a person is folding a lot pre-flop and/or stealing narrowly, you would be well-served to give their bets and raises a lot more respect after the flop. Otherwise, my advice is to play a very stabby small ball style and try to keep most pots small while you feel our your opponent. Building a really aggressive image will pay dividends should you actually pick up a strong hand.
Summary
In live games where the players do the dealing, heads up play is the most common part of a tournament that the gameplay rules of poker are violated. More frequently than you might think, either the incorrect person gets dealt to first or the order of play is reversed.
It makes sense that sometimes people forget the heads-up rules since it can be rather rare to make it to heads-up in a tournament. It’s easy to see how the rules can be forgotten when a player might only achieve heads up once every few months. Even so, once the reasons behind why the dealing and playing order are understood, it all makes perfect sense.
Once you have the rules down, I suggest that you spend a few hours practicing at home with a family member. That way the heads up rules will be followed to the tee next time you find yourself as one of the last two players in your next local event. Besides, you should be focusing on adjusting your strategy and beating your opponent, not on who goes first or whatever. Good luck, now go win that thing!
