Before the flop the player immediately to the right of the big blind is “first to act”, we often say this player is under the gun. After the flop, the first to act player can change. Did one or the other of the blinds play, if so, they are first to act. Perhaps a late position raiser pushed the blinds out. Players can also fold after the flop or turn; so the “first to act” player can change on each round of betting.

First to act has both advantages and disadvantages. A strong “first to act” bet puts the other players on notice that you are ready to play this hand strong. A weak “first to act” check tells the other players you are weak or perhaps you are setting a trap for them to fall into. The key to first to act is not so much what you do when in that position but rather knowing before the flop that you will be first to act and you are planning one or even two betting rounds in advance on how you will use your position.

To a weak player “first to act” is a disadvantage; to a strong player “first to act” can be used in a variety of ways to win pots and steal chips.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #171

Every so often, particularly at passive tables, everyone will fold around to the small blind. This sets up a blind versus blind confrontation. The power in the blind versus blind situation changes dramatically. First, the small blind has all the power. The SB can just fold, give up half a bet and a new hand is dealt. The SB can also simply complete the bet and now the power shifts to the big blind or does it? What seems like a weak play, just calling from the SB, can be a trap and the BB might raise with a medium hand and immediately get reraised. On the other hand, many players will raise from the BB every time the SB merely completes the bet, they sense weakness and do not want to give the SB a cheap look at the flop.

There is another school of thought that says when you are in the SB, you must fold or raise; calling is not an option. We don’t like to use words like “always”, “never”, “should”, or “must”. But we will say that raising from the small blind is a strong play and puts the BB on notice that you will not lay down hands. In fact, all observant players at the table will notice how you play your blinds and will assume you are just as strong when not in the blinds. When on the spot in the blinds, be sure to send a message.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #170

You are getting short stacked in a tournament, the blinds are getting bigger and there are antes to pay every hand. You know you have to make a play soon and you can’t wait for Aces or Kings, there just isn’t enough time. What you don’t want to do is fold and have the blinds and antes keep draining your chipstack. We call that getting ‘blinded off’ or ‘anted off’.

Seldom does a player actually get blinded off but they do get so short stacked by the blinds and antes that when they do push all-in their stack is so small that it threatens no one and they will get called by a big stack with a marginal hand. So a cardinal rule of tournament play is: “Don’t get blinded off.” You need to make a stand before you have so few chips that you will automatically get called by a big stack.

There is another use of the term “blinded off”. If a player leaves the tournament or perhaps doesn’t return for a day two of a multi-day tournament, his or her stack will pay the blinds and antes as they come around and they will indeed be blinded off. A stack that is blinded off can finish in the money and is entitled to the share of the prize pool, you need not be present to cash in a tournament.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #169

What do your opponents think when you are in the blinds?

Well what do you think the blinds have, when you are in other positions?

The answer is that most players who voluntarily enter a pot think that the blinds have nothing. So when you call a raise from the blinds and then check the flop or turn; everyone thinks you are weak. So you have two strategies, you can slowplay your strong hands and let them bet into you. On the other side of the coin, you can come out betting and make them think you must have hit something with that random blind hand.

The way to set this up is to play one or two blinds weak and then you can start the weak or strong play variation. Since blinds are tricky to play, it only makes sense you use them to your advantage and change up your play.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #168

If you are in the big blind in an unraised pot, you get a free look at the flop. In the small blind you can get the free look for 1/2 a bet. So the key to blind play is the raised pot. You should have a clear idea of what hands you will and will not play in a raised pot. You should also be able to adjust those starting hands based on which players are making the raise in front of you. When Mr. SuperTIght raises that is a different scenario than when Ms. Aggressive opens the betting.

However, having a general set of guidelines is key, here is one set.

From the blinds call a raise with the following hands if the raiser raises from late position.

Small Blind (SB): AJs+, AQo+, 88+

Big Blind (BB): ATs+, AJo+, 55+

If the raiser is opening with a pre-flop raise from early or middle position, you should often play very tight because they should be playing better hands and the earlier their position the better the hand.

So tighten up your guidelines to:

Small Blind (SB): AQs+, AKo, 77+

Big Blind (BB): AQs+, AKo, 22+

Finally, remember these represent just one potential set of guidelines and must be adjusted based on your read on the raiser.

Get into the conversation and check out the Online Poker Forum posts on Defending Your Blind.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #167

“Most players are net losers from the blinds.”

If you do not immediately know why that statement is true, then take a moment.

When you are in the blinds, you place a forced bet before you see your cards. Since even aggressive players fold more than they call or raise; it makes sense that you are playing from behind when you must bet blind. Also many players defend their blinds in the mistaken attempt to save their forced bets and therefore often compound their losses.

In no-limit texas hold’em you should play very tight from the blinds. Especially if you are new to the game. Many players make the mistake of playing too loose from the blinds. The lure of the blinds is that you are often getting very good odds to play the hand. For example: You are the 50 big blind and there is a raise to 100 with two callers. All you need to do is to add another 50 to your bet into a pot of 350; seven-to-one is awfully good odds no matter what you are holding. So you play the hand and you hit part of the flop. Here comes the problem.

When you play a hand from the blinds, you are out of position after the flop and for the rest of the hand. Position is so important that it must be a consideration when you decide to play hands out of the blinds.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #166

What are the odds of winning (or losing) when the pre-flop confrontation is pair versus pair?

Well assuming both players don’t have the same pair, the bigger pair is about an 80%/20% favorite. This is an approximation, but good enough for most heads up olay. While the lower pair would appear to only have two outs, there also the possibilities of flushes to the lower pair, as well as straights. Actually the closer the pairs are (KK vs. QQ) the lower the chances for the small pair because of the loss of some straight cards. Also shared suits between the pairs clearly cost the small pair the flush outs in that suit.

The 80%/20% odds are pre-flop, should the small pair flop a set on the flop, the odds flip to 91%/9% in favor of the small pair now small set. And should the big pair flop a big set, then its 98%/2% for the big set.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #165

There are two meanings for Cold Deck. The first simply refers to a player not getting any good cards or playable hands, the player might say the ‘deck is cold’ or ‘ the deck has gone cold’. Of course, when the deck is hot, you are getting good cards.

The second meaning of Cold Deck refers to something more sinister. Cold decking is a method of cheating in poker (and, for that matter, in any card game). Basically, the name refers to switching the deck during the game and bringing in a stacked deck that favors one or more players. The term cold deck is derived from the fact that the new deck is colder (temperature-wise) than the old deck that was in play.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #164

Sometimes just called “an angle” or the act of “angle shooting” refers technically legal but unethical play. Make no mistake about it, legal or not you can be asked to leave a poker room for shooting angles and you might also be asked to step outside by an angry and usually larger player if you shoot angles.

Some examples are angle shooting are: Faking towards the pot with chips and then pulling them back; miscalling your hand to try and steal the pot by having an opponent with the winning hand fold to your miscall; putting less chips in the pot than needed to make a legal call or raise.

There are many more examples of angles at the poker table. Most often a player simply makes a mistake but be alert that you are not seated with a angle shooter. First time a mistake, second time a low life player who might well be an outright cheat. Call the floor and ask that the player be warned.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #163

Chip Dumping is another form of collusion seen in tournament play. There are several ways to dump chips to another player. The goal is for two or more players to move all of their chips to a single player so that this player with the large stack will have a better chance of wining the tournament.

Early in a tournament, colluding players will simply go all-in against each other regardless of what cards they hold, whomever wins the hand will double up. The colluding players are going to split any winnings, so who wins the hand is not an issue. Later in tournaments, members of chip dumping teams will isolate hands against each other with the small stack playing very risky hands and losing those chips to the big stack.

Some very amateurish chip dumping attempts can be easily detected at the table but teams who have worked out their moves in advance can and do dump chips in tournaments. Other players should be watchful for players who seem to play only against each other and are reluctant to show their cards on the river.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #162