Are you trying to tighten up your poker game? If you want to win the most money and beat out other players from pots, you’re going to have to up your game dramatically. The internet has been the great equalizer for poker. Just as there are plenty of people playing poker now, you have to still make sure that you’re not going overboard in terms of just going along with the rest of the table. Playing poker form the gut isn’t a wise move. There are sharks everywhere, and they love taking your chips. They love throwing you off your game. That helps them. If you’re playing for just fun and games, that’s one thing. But when you add real money to the mix…poker suddenly gets pretty real. It’s going to be up to you to make sure that you’re thinking about your own interests when it comes to poker. To do anything else is just this side of madness.
So what about the small blind, anyway? If you’re following your poker positions, you’d realize that the small blind is actually one of the forced betting positions. You will be forced to act quickly, studying the table.
A big mistake is to play a lot of hands from the small blind. This isn’t a good idea, for one simple reason: you can get stuck, in a pot. Being pot committed isn’t the best place to be. Playing hands before the flop (raise, re-raise, call) isn’t smart when others are going aggressive. Limping has its own share of challenges. Sure, you can get lucky but eventually a player will realize how loose you are and start getting you to fire chips at a pot that you’re never going to win.
Remember that it’s okay to fold hands. You don’t have to play every single hand of poker like it’s the number one hand to be played. In other words, ease up a little. A trademark of inexperienced poker players everywhere is that they think they have to play every single hand. You should be folding more, not less. This is even more the case if you’re going to play from the small blind. It’s okay — there are just some hands that are best left alone. Even if you get KQ, you are better off saving your chips for a better position.
What do you say, poker fans? Do you play from the small blind? Is it profitable for you? We’d love to hear some hard numbers from those that are doing well playing from the small blind. Otherwise, we think that our general strategy is for the best. Sound off in the comments!