This is a work-in-progress.... Just to show where I am at so far with this blind play and also maybe you guys can point out any mistakes I am making so far etc....
Playing From The Blinds
Here I am going to attempt to talk about late position battles. The assumption (for this part) is that we are in SB or BB facing a steal attempt from the CO or BTN.
Firstly here are some defence ranges which I have found from a trusted coach. (I was told a while ago to play it safe from the blinds and fold a lot - I do not think this is the correct way to improve as a player, I want to get into tough situations, post hands and discuss how to move forward....)
Ranges To Play Versus Different Attempt To Steal (ATS) Stats.
ATS = <20% - Defend 77+, AJ+, KQ
ATS = 20-24% - Defend 77+, ATs+, AJo+, KJs+, KQo
ATS = 25-29% - Defend 77+, A8s+, ATo+, QJs+, KJs, KJo+
ATS = 30-34% - Defend 77+, A8s+, ATo+, KTs+, QTs+, KJo+, QJo+
ATS = 35-39% - Defend 77+, A8s+, ATo+, KTo+, KTs+, QTs+, QTo+, JTs
ATS = >40% - Defend 77+, A8s+, A9o+, KTs+, KTo+, QTs+, QTo+, JTs, JTo
These ranges are suggested to use against a competent player. Versus less competent players we can open our ranges. I am not sure in what way just at this moment...
The ranges do not take into account the other blind. So for example, if we are SB and BB is habitual squeezer we should be more inclined to 3bet rather than call. If BB is a fish that calls a lot then we can widen our range. Also if we are in the BB and SB is a fish who has called we can widen our range and play more pots with position on the fish.
Three Betting From The Blinds
We can three bet from the blinds if we have a strong value hand and we hope/expect to get called. A good default for this is TT+, AQ+, KQs. If the villain is looser then we can widen our value range.
We can three bet bluff light if our villain folds to 3bets too much (65% = any two cards
) and also if our villain calls preflop but we have a good postflop read on him such as he plays fit or fold on the flop.
Calling From The Blinds
We can call small/medium pocket pairs if we think the pot is going to be multi-way. So in the SB if BB is always calling or in the BB if there are already two players or more in the pot.
We can call some good high broadway hands if we are targeting a weaker player. Example given was we have AJo in SB and BTN reg has isolated a fish. If we 3 bet here we might push the weak player out of the hand and isolate ourselves versus the reg. So we call as we do not want the fish to fold.
We can call a strong hand if villain folds to 3bets way too much (over 80% over big sample). This will not happen too often but we can call AA, KK, AK etc here.
We can call in the BB if villain is stealing and has a wide range and is opening for 3x or less AND he does not fold much to 3 bets. Look at ranges above for this.
So What Is Our Plan When We Have Called In The Blinds...?
Check-call
We check-call when our hand is likely to be the best hand on the flop but we do not want to get stacks in (or fold) to a 3 bet. So say we called 99 preflop and the flop is K72r, we know the villain cbets this flop always then we call to maximise versus his bluffs. Think about villains range and how we fare against it.
A question that arises from this is what do we do if villain is barrelling us off our hand too often. For example on the 99 hand if villain bets the turn we can end up check-calling flop and check-folding the turn too often. In this case we can strengthen our check-calling range to include sets and TPTK type hands and make money from him in this way.
Basically we can keep check-calling as long as we think villain can be bluffing and/or we think we still have the best hand.
On the turn we must think things like "Does this villain bluff often?", "Does this villain bluff THIS turn card often (think scare card or cards that bring draws)?", "Might I still have the best hand?".
Second pair type hands are often only good to check call for one street depending on villain but with top pair we can often check-call twice and make a decision on the river - all villain dependant of course!!
When we get to the river if villain bets again we have a very tough decision. Have we seen villain tripple barrel before? Has villain got any weaker hands in his value range? At the micro's the general rule is that villains' tripple barrel ranges are usually nutted. And if we do think villain is barrelling us off the best hand then, as above, we strengthen our check-calling range and make our value this way.
Check-raise
We check-raise when we flop a draw with no showdown value. So say we flatted JsQs preflop and flop comes Ks7h2s. We cannot check call with only Queen high (even if it goes XX, XX we may not win) so we should check-raise here (of course remember that we assume villain is wide from his LP steal attempt and his high cbet likelyhood on this flop, therefore we get lots of folds). Even if he does not fold here we do now have the inititative and 9 outs to a very strong hand. If we get 3 bet here we have to fold, we cannot call it off - we are behind all of his made hands and he might have a better flush draw. The times that we flop a draw with showdown value we should check call. So we flat QhJh and flop is AhJc2h then we should check call. Also we should check call with the nut flush draw, we might have the best hand and we also keep in his weaker flush draws giving us the chance to win a very big pot if we both hit the flush (however, if we have reason to believe villain will get it in with weaker flush draws on the flop we can check-raise to get it in as we dominate all of his draws and we usually flip versus his made hands).We can put draws like two overs and backdoor flush draw in to our check-raise range too if villain is wide and will fold enough.
We check-raise flopped sets that we want to get all in with. On wet boards we do it to get value from draws and worse made hands. On dry boards we might do it if villain thinks we do not rep anything etc. Remember though if we have a villain who barrels us too much we can get our value by putting sets into our check-call range (see above).
We can also check-raise with very good top pairs that we flatted preflop for deception. So if we flatted AK preflop because he folds to cbet too much we can now XR on K85 and he might go into bluff catcher mode (nobody folds top pair right
). We can still check call with those hands though if he is the aggressive type that barrels too much.