Poker: Opening from the Small Blind
When you play enough WSOP Qualifiers, you will start to notice some of the more seasoned players opening indiscriminately from the small blind once folded to them.
So, what’s going on? Are these players just crazy aggressive, or is there method to their apparent madness? Let’s delve a little deeper shall we?
Once you have posted your small blind, it no longer belongs to you; it is now officially the pots money. Now, imagine you are making a 3x raise each time the action folds to you in the small blind, you are not risking three big blinds, but 2.5 big blinds.
So, this means by making a 3x raise you are risking 2.5x to win 1.5x. If you divide the amount you are risking by the winning pot then we can establish that if you are raising with the insides of a balloon we need our opponent to fold 62.5% of the time in order to extract a profit.
This means we can raise/fold anything and still retain a +EV return from this position.
The only way your opponent, in the big blind, can defend against this strategy is to defend with 37.5% of his hands, and this is a very wide range indeed. Failure to do so means he is folding way too often and your strategy is un-exploitable.
One thing to remember if deploying this strategy in a LIVE event is what action to take post flop should you get called.
They will have position on you and will be like a rabid dog on a leash. They will not want to give up this pot without a fight and so it really isn’t worth the struggle. Don’t make too many continuation bets and you should do just fine.
More Poker Tips:
Three Betting from the Blinds | Three Ways to win More at Poker | Teach Yourself to Think | Basic Pot Odds | Bluffing in Poker
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