Playing the blinds for fun or in a real money room as well. What do you prefer?
For those online poker players, who get their training playing free online poker, the importance of losing out on the blinds is not really obvious. Since the money that's on the line in these games is not real, players couldn't care less about losing some small change, like the blinds. Most of the rivers are usually seen by many more players than they would be, provided it was a real money game.
In a real game, however, the stakes are a lot more serious, even if it's just a few bucks we're talking about, and people go to lot greater lengths to protect their investments.
Under these circumstances, the blinds become in important matter over which players do battle every hand.
The importance of saving the blinds, and acting to protect them, takes on a whole different meaning. By default, players who post blinds in a hand are in early position. This makes the task of defending their investment a lot tougher, and a lot more interesting in the same time.
So what exactly can one do to try to protect his/her blind?
For starters, acting tight all the time will more than certainly attract other players to try to steal your blind. Donot act tight, do not get read,. This is a general rule of poker and is just as valid for the game in general as it is for the blinds.
The truth is, that when you're read, having your blinds stolen, is the least that can and will happen to you. The most frustrating thing when you play tight and are read, happens when you get something you can actually act on. If you notice then, that suddenly nobody feels like filling up the pot for you, even if you play slow, you can be sure you've been read and it's time for you to move on to another table.
This won't happen when the perfect hand situation occurs, even if you'read, but that's a different article.
Let's consider that you play well, a fine mix of tight and aggresive and you have everybody at the table puzzled, so nobody will set an eye on your blind just for the heck of it.
What situation do you actually stand a chance to defend your blind then?
When the player you're heads up against is someone who likes stealing pots, and is a good player on top of that I'd say your chances to do anything to stop him are slim. They're actually so slim they aren't worth to bother yourself with.
In other cases, when the big blind is worth sticking it out for, you'll still have to be aware that you won't be able to defend it most of the time. You'll only manage to secure it about 4 percent of the time if you're lucky.
Getting into trouble for the small blind is a different matter.
There are a couple of factors that take all value out of defending it. First of all, the position the small blind places the player in is an absolutely awkward one. It is the earliest possible position. On top of theat the amount of money that's on the line is half the big blind. There's less to defend from a more difficult position. I think it's safe to say one should find no shame in folding on the small blind.
As the above example shows, whether you play at an online casino or online poker room, always remember that free poker games are a lot different from real money ones.
You should never feel you're a real and a good poker player unless you've accumulated some experience in a real money room as well.
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