One of the interesting facts about tournament poker is that people are very passive in blind vs blind duels. While the player on the big blind is always wary of a suspicious raise from the button, he is much more likely to respect a raise from the small blind.
When you are in the small blind, take the initiative. If you know that the BB plays very conservatively in blind vs blind situations, raise the stakes. Your cards are not important in this case. Always raise an amount that would force your opponent to fold their cards. And if you do get re-raised, just return your cards to the deck.
Example:
You have 7♠-2♥ in the small blind. It's the middle stage of the tournament. You recently moved to this table and don't know how the BB plays. You have 6000, blinds are 200-400. Everyone folds to you. BB has 8000. What should you do?
Test your opponent. Forget about your cards. Raise the stakes to 1400. The Big Blind won't like your raise, he might even suspect that you are trying to bluff him. But if he doesn't have a strong starting hand, he will fold. After all, he doesn't know how you play.
- Stealing from the big blind.
Sometimes when you are in the Big Blind, everyone folds to the SB, who just calls. Such a play screams of a weak opponent's hand. At best, his hand is just mediocre and he wants to see the flop cheaply.
You need to make a big raise. Don't check in such situations. When the SB shows weakness, take advantage of it. Even if the SB calls your raise, you will still have a positional advantage, but then play very cautiously.
- Re-raising an overly aggressive button stealer.
You are in the BB. Everyone folds to the button. He raises the stakes. You have a bad hand so you fold. The next orbit you are in the same situation. The button raises again, you look at your hand, find j♥-4♠ and fold.
After another orbit, the same situation for the third time, the button raises the stakes again. What should you do?
In this case, your cards are no longer important. Re-raise your opponent strongly and force him to fold his hand. You cannot allow any player to push you around like that. And you cannot show other players that you can be easily exploited. If they see this, you're done for.
Even choosing such an aggressive line just once will catch the attention of the player on the button.
- Go all-in when you have 10 times more chips than your opponent.
When you have a huge chip advantage over your opponent, specifically 10 times (or even more) more chips than your opponent, stop just calling. Just push all-in. This way you will put enormous pressure on your opponent with very little risk to you.
Example:
You have 7♥-2♠ and are in the BB position. It's the late stage of the tournament. You have 220,000. Blinds are 4000-8000. Everyone folds to the SB. The SB has 20,000 and calls the bet. What should you do?
Why does the SB just call? He has already invested 4000 in the hand and has only 16,000 left.
You have the worst hand in poker, but in this case, it doesn't matter at all. You have more than 10 times more chips than your opponent, push all-in.
Example:
You have 10♥-2♠. It's the middle stage of the tournament. Blinds are 400-800. You have 31,000 and are in the SB. Everyone folds to you. The BB has 2500. What should you do?
Just go all-in. Force your opponent to risk everything or fold.
Tip: What are pot odds? Why are they important?
a) Pot odds are the ratio of the size of the bet to the current size of the pot. For example, if there are 800 chips in the pot and your opponent makes a 400 bet, the pot is 1200. To call, you need to put in 400. Therefore, the ratio of the pot, which is 1200, to the bet, which is 400, is calculated. 1200 to 400 simplified is 3-1.
b) Pot odds are important because you want to make bets where the relative size of the bet is smaller than your probability of making the desired hand.
In the example given earlier, if you have an open-ended straight draw on the flop, your probability of making the straight by the river is about 2.2 to 1. Therefore, expecting to see the river, you get good pot odds and should call the bet.
c) Implied odds are based on your estimate of the total size of the pot at the end of the hand. They are often calculated when you plan to fold on the next street if you don't hit your desired hand but continue the hand if you do.
Implied odds are important because sometimes you don't get the necessary pot odds to call now, but implied odds, or in other words, the probability of winning a certain amount, change a fold into a call.
Using the example above, if your opponent had bet 1000 into an 800 chip pot, your ratio would have been 1.8 to 1. This is not a good enough ratio to try to catch a straight. However, if both you and your opponent are deep-stacked and your straight draw is not entirely obvious if you hit it, you might get good enough implied odds to justify the call.
That is, if you hit your draw on the turn, you can expect to win a pot worth 5000 or more. This would mean that your implied odds were 5 to 1.
