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Introduction to Blind Vs. Blind Play in Tournament Poker

Blind versus blind play is incredibly important in tournament poker. In many instances, it will determine who is going to be a profitable poker player and who will be a break-even or losing player. The problem when you are dealing with blind versus blind play is that often you are going to be dealing with marginal holdings.

The first thing you have to do is understand your position. If you are in the small blind you are going to be out of position for the entire hand. Likewise, if you are in the big blind you will have the advantage of position. Position is essential in No Limit Hold’Em and especially when the pot is heads-up.

Small Blind Play

If you are in the small blind you have three options. We can examine each and see what are the reasons for going with one over another.

Fold. You can always fold. The reason to fold might be you have a terrible hand and the big blind is an aggressive player, and you will be forced to fold to a raise. Perhaps the big blind is a calling station and the hand will get to showdown and you have garbage. Simply folding is fine.

I find A-Q in the small blind against the button and I'm prepared to play a big pot until the big blind gets involved. Would you make the call in this spot? #Poker #Strategy #Preflop https://t.co/ovseSQXfVs pic.twitter.com/P2QByzRdU7

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) April 25, 2020

Raise. You can raise if the player is passive. If you have a strong hand and are re-raised then you can both flat, and play with position, or you can 4-bet. If your hand is junk you can raise fold.

Call. Limping is a bad idea in general, however, there are some times it works. If you have a strong to mediocre hand that you want to see a flop with, and the big blind is an aggressive player who will 3-bet a high percentage then you can limp/call. You should never limp fold. You might want to be deceptive and limp raise with Aces, Kings, etc… against an aggressive person.

Big Blind Play

When you are in the Big Blind you have position. This is important and should be exploited. Below are the options you have and the benefits/reasons for choosing one over another.

Fold. If you have a garbage hand and the small blind is the type to not raise often or to not fold to 3-bets, then it is perfectly fine to fold. If you 3-bet and are called you will have to either raise the small blinds donk bet on the flop or c-bet it yourself. This is investing a lot of chips.

Raise. If you have a strong hand raise. If the player is a weak passive player raise as well. You will likely be able to get them to fold all of their marginal holdings. Many players will limp call and check fold, so if they do call you will have to c-bet.

Call. If you call you should be doing it either to trap or to see a flop with speculative hands. Hands such as JsTs and other suited Broadway are good to call with.

Be aware of stack size.

Before you make any decision, you need to consider stack size. If your opponent is sitting on a super short stack, they are likely to come over the top of any raise with a shove.

I dislike awkward situations, whether they be social or at the poker table. To avoid the former, I don't go to cocktail parties. To avoid the latter, I fold the small blind a lot. https://t.co/U5SvZXC60m pic.twitter.com/fqlbNQJ2Kf

— Lee Jones (@leehjones) February 20, 2020

In the past, this would apply to what we call super short stacks of 10 big blinds or less. However, nowadays many players will shove a stack of 20 bbs or less. As such, you need to be a bit more selective when raising a short stack.

When you’re against a short stack, you need to decide if you are willing to commit the number of chips in their hand. If you are, then go for the raise. If not, then consider sitting this hand out.

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