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Protecting your blinds – The key to winning poker?

January 20, 2010

Protecting your blinds – The key to winning poker? There are many players who lay down their hands to blind stealers or on the other hand don’t steal enough blinds to be competitive. There are a few strategies to employ when making a bid to be more competitive at the the poker table.

  1. Identify the Blind Stealers – These players are generally players that steal blinds to boost their chip stack. The tend to pick on one or two weak players in order to get away with stealing their blinds. Blind stealers  act when they have the positional advantage and when there aren’t too many players contesting the hand.
  2. Play Position with the Reverse Bluff- Remember position when attempting to steal your blinds. If you have a decent hand and there is a late raiser, try to counter with a c-bet tactic. The” reverse bluff” is a vital part in protecting blinds. Use this with great caution and pick your spots very carefully!
  3. Don’t fall in Love with you Blinds – As much as you want to protect your blinds, dont go over the top and loose more than just your blinds. If the action is too hot for the hand you are holding then pull out early.
  4. Raise when in the Small and Big Blind- Don’t allow limper’s to be part of your your hand. So ask the table a question and see who is serious about there hand by putting a small raise.
  5. Represent the Bad Flop- If the flop spills over a number of low and random cards with straight , set or full house draws then represent with a marginal bet. This is vital as most players have come into the pot with strongish hands like AK, Q 10 etc. ie. Flop is 3h3d6c, bet into this hand and lead from the start- 9/10 you will win the hand without hitting a single card.

* use these tips at your own discretion, taking into account the tables players, betting history and so forth

Written by admin · Filed Under Poker School 

Comments

2 Responses to “Protecting your blinds – The key to winning poker?”

  1. Fun play online on January 21st, 2010 5:53 pm

    Thanks a lot, that is good advice indeed. I’ve always found blinds a bit hard to deal with I’ll try your tips from now on.

  2. admin on January 21st, 2010 11:19 pm

    Cool, let me know how it works for you.

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Simple starting hands for Texas Hold'em poker. The key is to commit to a pot with a healthy starting hand. It does all depend on the actions of players before you and history of players betting actions. This is a general guide to use when you are just starting out but want to be a winning player at the lower limits(5c/10c to 50c/$1). **The following guidelines are only for fixed-limit Hold'em Hands to Raise with: These hands are what you want to use to take control of the pot with of pre-flop action: AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, TT Hands to call with: Do not call three bets with these hands, call only one or two. AJ, KQ, QJ, JT, T9 (only if of same suit), 99, 88, 77, Ax (same suit)