ITH Poker Forum

[jfletcher]

Hey guys. I'm back to resume my online poker career, mostly because I've decided that this is the year that I'm going to play the WSOP ME, so I'm going to play as much online as I can in order to a) possibly win a seat and b) improve my game.

So I wanted to throw out this general subject for discussion:

What type of hands do you play out of the blinds? It's always a tough spot for me because you know that your position postflop is going to be awful, but very often you are getting a very good price to play. Early in tourneys when you are deepstacked, or in cash games, it seems like a lot of times there will be a few limpers so calling out of the SB is like 10 to 1. Or maybe there's an early raise and a few cold callers, so calling out of the BB is 8 to 1. It seems like you ought to almost play any two with those odds, but lately I'm thinking that I still ought to be chucking a lot of these hands because of the position.

I looked it up, and the odds of flopping two pair or trips with a random unpaired hand is about 16 to 1. And even if you do, you may not win or may not get paid off. And the worst scenario is when you flop a semi-strong hand that just costs you more.

So, for you guys out there...

What type of odds do you need to play "any two" out of the blinds?
How much do you lower your starting hand standards because of the cheap price of the blinds?

I'm starting to think that maybe I ought to just say: "If I wouldn't play it UTG, then I shouldn't play it out of the blinds, even though the price is cheap."

[Scully]

One of the best lines I heard was 'you're getting a discount on something you don't want' when playing from the blinds with trash.

[ardilladeneys]

Vs. a single opener, I'll usually just play pocket pairs, broadways, and high suited connectors from the blinds. If I'm getting a crazy prize like 7 to 1 and we are fairly deep-stacked, I'll flat with almost any 2.

[Damien]

Personally, the only time I will play ATC out of the blinds is when I get a free play out of the big blind. Even against an obvious button steal I have some standards, even if it is only the top half of the deck in some cases. This actually brings up a question that I have, but I'll start another thread.