Poker has numerous qualities that make it one of the greatest casino games of all time. In terms of the player base, over 100 million play online poker worldwide, and essentially every casino has a poker table. It also has a thriving competitive scene, with million-dollar tournaments like the World Series of Poker being broadcasted across the world. There are many reasons for this success, but perhaps the biggest one is its ruleset. The rules are elementary and straightforward for Texas Holdem, the most popular poker variant. While this makes the game easy to understand for beginners, you would be completely wrong if you thought it oversimplifies poker strategy.
Its strategy has near-limitless depth and not because of complex rules. Every game has several factors that impact your overall game plan, from your opponents’ playstyles to the community cards. The best poker players constantly adapt throughout every game they play. Given all these factors, computers have not yet found the answer to every scenario. With such a complex strategy, countless strategies are used for different scenarios. This poker guide will cover one such pre-flop strategy: Defending your blinds. It will describe what it is and how to use it effectively in your games.
What is defending your blinds?
Defending your blinds is when you call a pre-flop raise while playing as either the small or big blind. It is usually a response to an attempt to steal the blinds. A blind steal attempt is when a player raises from a late position to take down the pot without resistance. Defending your blinds stops this and prevents you from losing your forced contribution to the pot. It is also easier to call since you already have money in the pot, making it potentially better to see the flop than just fold.
What does defending your blinds accomplish?
Some may be confused as to why players defend their blinds even if they do not hold premium hands. Defending the blinds has more benefits than just keeping you in the game. Here are a few reasons you should consider doing this:
Over Defending your blinds
While defending your blinds is important to learn, you must also remember to do it in moderation. Many players call too often from the blinds, not realizing how bad the blinds are. Calling too much will leave you in many sticky situations post-flop, as the blinds act first. The last thing you want to do is get stuck playing with a mediocre hand, out of position, and in a pot to which you have committed a lot of money.
How to defend your blinds properly
Now that you understand the importance of defending your blinds and knowing when to defend them, here are a few things you must keep in mind for a successful defense:
Practicing your blind defense
We hope this article taught you how to play poker better by defending your blinds. To practice that, you should try 6-max cash games on sites like GGPoker, the world’s largest poker room. 6-max means you play from the blinds more often, and GGPoker offers a variety of stakes for everyone. Online poker is also faster-paced and lets you use poker tracking software to analyze and improve your gameplay.