Getting Creative in the Blinds

PezRez on 10 May 2010

When you play a hand from one of the blinds against the other, you need to realise that if your opponent is aggressive, he will often try to move you off your hand. Consequently you may have to get creative with some hands, both to take advantage of the fact your opponents hands will be weaker than average and also defensively, to stop him making plays at you.

PokerStars Game $35+$3 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50)
Seat 1: Player 1 (855 in chips)
Seat 2: Player 2 (1800 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero(1480 in chips)
Seat 4: Villain(2580 in chips)
Seat 5: Player 5 (2285 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind 25
Villain: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero[4s 9s]
Player 5: folds
Player 1: folds
Player 2: folds
Hero: calls 25
Villain: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ks Jc 2s]
Hero: bets 50
Villain: raises 75 to 125
Hero: calls 75
*** TURN *** [Ks Jc 2s] [Ac]
Hero: checks
Villain: bets 200
Hero: raises 1105 to 1305 and is all-in
Villain: folds
Uncalled bet (1105) returned to Hero
Herocollected 750 from pot

With a flush draw, I minbet to try and take the pot now if my opponent has nothing. However, he makes a small raise. This opponent knows I would often bet without much of a hand on this flop, so I know his raise may not represent much strength. Having said that, I’m getting odds to call, so although my opponent may have little, I don’t like a reraise here too much; it’s still early on the hand, so I call and look to keep an open mind about how to play it.

The Ace is an interesting card. My opponent, if he raised with a pair on this flop, shouldn’t like this card - it’s an overcard to his pair, and although he shouldn’t think an Ace in my hand is likely, he will probably check behind to control the pot and avoid a check-raise bluff. This card might make him the nuts if has QT, but if unlikely to make him two pair as he would have raised preflop with either AK or AJ, and probably just smooth-called the flop with A2. If he has been bluffing, he will probably see it as an opportunity to put pressure on the King or Jack he thinks I might be holding. So I check this flop, expecting if he has a real hand that he will check behind most of the time, while he will bet most of his air.

He bets 200, a strong bet, which doesn’t ring true with my analysis. If he had bet small and given me odds, I might just call with my flush draw, but this big bet looks suspicious. So… I drop the hammer and move all-in. He might have QT, he might have two-pair, but in a blind-on-blind pot, he probably doesn’t. And hey, I’ve got outs, right? He folds and I collect a few chips.

PezRez