Hi

If your opponent (a good player) raises from the SB 70% of the time I think you some how have to defend you BB.

I (55 BBs) got dealt 33, opponent (35 BB) raises to 3*BB and I re raised to 10*BB, he called.

Flop came KT4, I bet 14BB he went all in, I folded.

What do you think about defending your BB in general in HU and what do you think about this particularly move?

Thanks

About your specific scenario, if he is raising 70% from SB then you likely ran into one time where he had a hand either before the flop or hit the flop. Most of the time, he folds to your flop cbet.

In general, I will defend my BB HU at a rate that is comparable to his pf raise frequency and 70% is pretty friggin high.

You're not playing poker to avoid losing big blinds, you're playing to win the other guy's stack.

With 33, you don't care about the details of his hand. Either he has a higher pair, in which case you're a bit under 20% to win, or he has two cards higher than three, in which case you're a slight favorite. Forget about him having a 2.

You have to either fold or shove preflop. You're not likely to learn anything from the flop, there are only two cards that help you. He either has you beat already, in which case it doesn't matter, or he has six cards to help him. So he's going to learn more than you. More important, he could have hit almost any flop, so you have little choice but to fold to a big bet. There's no sense putting money in the pot now if you plan to fold later.

The argument for shoving is he probably folds. With a 70% range and you holding a pair, there's an 8% chance he has a higher pair, maybe 20% chance he has two cards high enough to call an all-in bet and a 72% chance of folding. So an 8% chance of getting 20% equity, a 20% chance of getting 50% equity and a 72% chance of getting the pot right now (your numbers may vary, depending on your knowledge of the other player). Do the math and fold or push.

Once he calls your 10 BB raise, you probably should check/fold after the flop. The alternative is to go all-in. The 14BB bet is wasted money.

Thanks for your answers.

@AaronBrown
>You have to either fold or shove preflop.
He bets 3BB and you want to reraise to 55BB?
I doubt that this is necessary considering that I folded to all his previous 7BB Steal attemps. So my reraise should represent a pretty good hand.

To me an all in often means that the BB is just tired of getting pushed around. I would agree on shoving pre flop if my stack would be less than 17BBs.

>You're not likely to learn anything from the flop, there are only two cards that help you.
Sure but he misses the flop 2/3 times. Further he is maybe willing to even fold the bottom or medium pair (JT, QT, A4) considering the strength I showed pre flop.


Don't get me wrong I don't want to insist on my move, I just want to tell you my thoughts.

But anyway: How do you react to BB steals?
Raising often from the SB just because of the positional advantage is a generally known move. So in my oppinion as the BB you once in a while have to make a stand. And I don't know if it's necessary to move all in, especially with that many BB left.

Yes, I do want to raise 3 BB to 55 BB (really 35 BB). If I knew when he missed the flop, my answer would be different. But whatever I want to bet on this hand, I want to get it in as early as possible. I don't think he folds any pair. But that's just how I play, there's no law that says you have to do the same.

If SB is raising a lot, I'm going start going all-in on pairs, even 3's, and calling as long as both cards are 8 or higher or I have an Ace; then going all-in if I hit the flop (even bottom pair) or sense weakness. That means calling or raising 38% of the time. If that doesn't cure him, the contest will be over quickly, one way or the other. If that does cure him, I've got a big edge.

Of course, all this is subject to the player. It assumes he makes one-size raise and I can't read him. If he has calibrated raises, I'm obviously more careful when he makes the larger ones. If he plays odd hands, like low suited connectors, that changes my strategy. And if I can read him, I use that information in my decision, and I'm more inclined to call and figure I can outplay him later in the hand.

It isn't really as much of an overshove as you think. Your never going to fold after putting 10BB in (getting almost 2:1 with anything good enough to 3b preflop versus a non super tight 4b shove range) so really any reraise effectively 'risks' 33BB. And with 33 there is no reason to give him the option to call - we just get into these bad spots like what happened when you should probably c/f.

And shoving is mathematically better than folding given any reasonable calling range and a 70% open range (which incidentally isn't that high, and you should be opening at least that wide).

If you are only 35BB deep effective stacks then shoving 33 is best preflop because you have some fold equity and you're flipping against overcards that might call like AK-AT KQ. Most times you'll win without a showdown though. 70% preflop raise from sb is about standard for a good HU player though. If it was 100BB deep the standard 3 bet might be ok or if your hand was really big like AA-QQ but with a low pair you want maximium fold equity because with 33 unless you hit set there arent going to be many flops you'll like.

If the SB is opening on 70% of the time for 3xBB to go, it's
too high theoretically (i.e, he is simply trying to exploit the
BB). Consider the "toy game" where the SB opens for 3xBB
and that's it! The BB must defend with a frequency of
1.5/4 = 3/8 and since the SB will be "bluffing" with about
two bluffs for every four legitimate hands, the opening
frequency should be about (3/8)(3/2) = 9/16 or about
56.25% of the time at most if the SB is out of position.
[ In practice, the BB should defend more often than 3/8 of
his hands. ] If this is HU with the SB on the button, then
70% makes much more sense and even if it is on the high
side theoretically, this should work out in practice against
some players.

Shoving with 33 isn't too bad since you'll have some equity
even if you get called. Suppose the SB calls your all-in with
44+, AT-AK, KQ and KJ(suited) or 150 combinations of all
the possible 1225 combinations (and say he would open with
about 70% of these). With the help of PokerStove, if my
calculations are correct, shoving will on average (with a
rake of 1xBB when both are all-in) gain about 0.846 x BB
given the stacks are effectively 35 x BB before placing the
blinds.

If his calling is a bit "tighter", say it's 33+, AQ+, AJs, KQs,
you'll do better: now the gain is about +0.959 x BB. At the
other extreme, if he's a lot "looser", say it's 33+, AT-AK, A9s,
A8s, KT-KQ, K9s, QT-QJ, Q9s, JT, J9s, T9s, it's a lot worse:
+0.0885 x BB, but still positive! Thus, a big factor is how
often the opponent will call with some of the suited hands
above.

If you don't shove, calling could be better depending on
the opponent's postdraw tendencies; however, since he is
attempting to exploit preflop, he'll likely do so postflop as
well. Then, much of your equity will be when you flop a set;
then, estimating your average gain in that situation will be
important and it may turn out that if the opponent is savvy
enough to give up versus resistance, calling is likely to be
worse than going all-in, especially if out of position.

''But anyway: How do you react to BB steals?
Raising often from the SB just because of the positional advantage is a generally known move. So in my oppinion as the BB you once in a while have to make a stand. And I don't know if it's necessary to move all in, especially with that many BB left.''

Positional advantage in the small blind?

In the HU