Today’s Texas Holdem strategy is about defending your blinds during fixed limit holdem. A lot of poker players tend to deal with this by going to one of two extremes. Either they pull themselves into such a tight shell that they barely ever play a hand from this position, or they employ a hyper-aggressive poker strategy that has them bleeding chips whenever they are in the blinds. Living on extremes rarely makes good poker strategy. As with most things at the poker table (and in life), the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
If you have been dealt a drawing hand during a game of limit holdem, and your position at the poker table is a seat in one of the blinds, you have a couple preflop advantages from a Texas holdem strategy perspective. First of all, the decision for the big blind to get in the hand is a moot point, and the small blind has already put in half a bet. A little more money going to the center of the table when holding suited connectors, or an unsuited A-K is not that much of a reach, from a poker strategy standpoint. After seeing what everyone else at the table has done, the big blind can react. For this round the poker player in that seat has the benefits of being the player in the late position. Obviously if everyone at the poker table has only called at that point, you stay in the hand, but if there is a raise then you need to consider your next move and what poker strategy to use.
A big part of poker strategy is where a poker player is seated at the poker table. From a Texas holdem strategy standpoint, a raise from the late position can simply be a case of that player taking advantage of their position at the poker table. You have a serviceable drawing hand, and a lot of players have called the big blind. You can assume that a number of them will hang around to make it a good multi-way hand. At this point you can call the raise and take your chances in a multi-way pot atmosphere. If only a single player has called, and the late position player shows aggression, folding may be the best Texas holdem strategy. The fewer the people in the pot, the worse the math is for you to stay in with your drawing hand. If only one is hanging around (as mentioned earlier), the poker strategy should be obvious.
Finally, this is not the situation where a composed poker player will take a chance with a ragged Ace or other such hand. The bar is definitely higher for hole cards when a poker player is seated in the blinds. If you have a playable hand (from the perspective of where you are sitting), simply assess the situation, and if your drawing hand has plenty of company, it may not be the worst Texas Holdem Strategy to play your cards.
