Raising From the Blinds

  In the long sad history of bad ideas, raising from the blinds does not really qualify as one of the worst things you can do. It is a better idea than putting your hand in the garbage disposal to see how fast it spins, or dating one of your more attractive cousins, but as a whole it is still not a very good idea.  Let me be more specific. In the ordered world of Limit Holdem, raising from the blinds is not the smartest move in the world. When you enter the wild, wild west that is No Limit Holdem or tournament play, than that statement does not really apply. For the purpose of this article I am just concerned with the dangers of raising from the blinds in a game of Limit Holdem.  Many people will raise from the blinds under the theory that raising the financial stakes will scare people out of the pot. The reason this is not really effective in Limit Holdem is that the limit itself doesn't make the raise as crippling as it could be. If you have a pair of Aces in No Limit Holdem before the flop, you can go all-in and dare the people around you to challenge your bet. In the limit game, your raise (which can only be as big as the table limit) may actually encourage other players to chase you. Not only is the bet not debilitating enough to scare anyone who has an encouraging drawing hand off the pot, but you have actually changed the pot odds to the point where you have created a situation where calling your raise is the right move to make.  A more obvious tactical problem is that calling from the blind is a dead giveaway as to the strength of your hand. By raising from that position at the table, you have told everyone around you that you have some rather good cards, and aren't afraid to back them up with your stack of chips. Theoretically this can be a good thing, but the whole idea comes crashing down if the flop is a bunch of undercards. Suddenly it is anybody's hand and the balance of power has shifted to somebody who may have been sitting there with a pair of 3s, or another player with a low drawing hand.  An added tactical predicament that is inherent to raising from the blinds concerns your position at the table. Not only have you hinted to the rest of the table that you have some strong cards, but in every betting round but the first, you're betting from the early position. Your opponents think they know what you have, and now you are among the first players to act when it comes to betting. Not an enviable place to be.  There are other, less tangible reasons why not to raise from the blinds if you are involved in the pot with a lot of players in it. Most of the people who have just limped in by calling the blinds were hoping they would see the flop without having to spend any real money. Seeing as nobody has raised, these folks would be fairly certain that everyone was on the same page. Now that the bet has gotten back to the blinds, and you have raised, you have probably ticked off a number of folks. Unless the limit is fairly high, and the raise hurts them, they may hang around just to take you down. You may be holding a powerful pair, but anything can happen on the flop. A bad flop can neuter a pair of Aces, and do you really want some drawing hands hanging around until the river when they may hit their flush or straight?  The much safer play when it comes to playing from the blinds is to simply call. This adds an air of mystery to your hand. If you're holding a pair of Aces or Kings, and somebody in the late position decides they want to be the first to raise, simply call their raise. There is a pretty good chance they were bluffing and trying to steal the pot. Your call either tells them that you know what they were trying to do, or it says, "I have good cards and I'm not afraid to use them." Your opponents may form theories about what you are hiding behind your hand, but you have given them nothing concrete to work with.  Like any other aspect of life, all rules in poker have exceptions, and there are times when raising out of the blinds is the appropriate thing to do. If you are facing a situation where everyone but one player has folded before the flop, and the rest of the hand will be played one-on-one, if you are holding a hand that has any sort of power, raise from your blind position. There are only two of you, all positional advantages and disadvantages are pretty much moot. So go for it.  Also, if a pair of players have simply called the bet, while somebody in the late position has raised, this is a situation that you would want to re-raise (provided you have the cards to back it up). The pair who called would probably fold, leaving you one on one with the guy who raised. If the person raised was bluffing, then they will probably fold as well, and this will allow you to steal the pot.