Playing blind versus blind play that isn’t ideal is a prevalent flaw among beginners and experts alike. Players sometimes overlook this aspect of their game since poker blind versus blind matches appear to be uncommon. However, they are probably more common than you believe.
Here we go over 5 tips to help stack more chips when playing blind versus blind for enhancing my approach in this article. You will go through which hands to play preflop and how those preflop ranges affect postflop play. Let’s get started!
Five Tips to Stack More Chips When Playing Blind versus Blind
If you are playing larger stakes live games for example 5 dollars or more in the games with a low rake, you should avoid chopping and instead prepare for a broad range battle. Here are 5 tips to help stack more chips when playing blind versus blind.
1. Play Variety of Hands Before the Flip
This is a straightforward tip to stack more chips when playing blind versus blind that just needs the memorization of two ranges:
Your big blind against small blind defense range, as well as your small blind opening range.
The latter range is further divided into two sub-ranges: hands that should be called and hands that should be 3-bet.
Let’s start with a look at how a tiny blind opening range looks. Here’s a hand matrix that shows which hands are best for opening in this position.:
Red = Always raise. Pink = Raise or fold. Blue = Fold.
That’s a significant number of hands, 47.51 % to be exact. Only one opponent remains, and he or she can choose between any two cards. Furthermore, most recreational players would over-fold their big blind vs a small blind open, thus taking advantage of this by opening a high number of hands is critical.
Determining which hands to defend in the large blind vs a small blind open, as well as how to defend them, is a more difficult task that is still discussed today.
You should be defending the majority of hands if your opponent opens a broad range like the one above.
In fact, against weak opponents, there’s a case to be made for defending 100 percent of hands.
A reasonable benchmark is defending roughly 70% of hands against a 3BB open. For comparison, below is the suggested open range for huge poker blind versus small blind.
Red = 3-bet. Orange = 3-bet or call. Green = call. Blue = fold.
The player in the large blind can defend thus wide for three reasons:
- The small blind would be able to open a variety of hands.
- You have already put a hefty blind into the pot, so the odds are in your favor.
- Because you will be in position postflop, the majority of your equity will be realized.
2. Defend Loosely Postflop
Postflop ranges are substantially broader than typical while stacking more chips when playing blind versus blind. This is due to the fact that preflop ranges are substantially larger, resulting in fewer over pairs and pairs with excellent kickers on the flop. This has a few ramifications after the flop.
Firstly, you should guard against c-bets considerably more broadly. This can include lesser created hands such bottom pairs and ace-highs, as well as hands that can improve on later streets.
Secondly, you should call down the majority of the time when you flip the top pair. When flipped in an early position, the top pair is a powerful hand, and it’s considerably better when flopped blind versus blind.
3. Medium to strong hands to Protect Weaker Ranges
When you are out of position and checking, you will need some good hands to keep your checking range safe. If not, an aggressive opponent may readily abuse you by bluffing against your unprotected range.
Stop and ponder every time you check the flop with a hand that can only call one or two streets: “What hands would I call down with here?”
Checking the following items to defend your range is a good idea to helping stack more chips when playing blind versus blind:
- Think K3s on K-8-7 for top pairings with low kickers. Because these hands will struggle to gain several streets of value by betting, it’s typically a good idea to include them in your checking range.
- QQ on K-8-7 is a good example of strong pocket pairings immediately behind the top pair. In the same way that weak top pairs struggle to extract numerous levels of value by betting, these hands will struggle to do so.
- Top set, similar to KK on K-8-7. The upper set of hands is blocked by them.
4. Use a Small C-bet Size if Possible
You may utilize a tiny C-bet amount, roughly 33 percent of the pot, as your default bet size while stack more chips when playing blind versus blind. This accomplishes two goals:
- With their mediocre hands, it puts the large blind in a difficult situation.
- It enables you to wager on a combined range.
Because the equities of the small blind’s and large blind’s hands run closer on the flip, optimum betting ranges tend to merge. Betting ranges on the river, on the other hand, should be polarized.
This is especially useful against casual players, who are typically unaware of how much broader your range is and hence overfold on the flop. Using a tiny size takes advantage of this by forcing them to fold hands with a reasonable amount of equity for a modest stake.
5. It is Perfect to Simplify Plan
Using a pure game theory optimum (GTO) technique and stack more chips when playing blind versus blinr to maximize EV requirements and keeping track are extremely challenging. Another option is to use a simpler baseline method, which involves surrendering some EV but also lowering the risk of making expensive mistakes.
On some flops those that are either highly favorable or very detrimental for your range–one such simplified is either C-betting 100% of the period or checking 100% of the time. Your luck is on slot gacor.
