BLIND PLAY - ADVICE

[seven2unsuited]

Hi Guys 

Recently I have been consistenltly either bubbling on the money or on final table, mostly on lower stake MTT's $10-$50.

I have been playing well for most part, then more often than not I get knocked out when i am in the blinds.

The reason for the post is that does anyone have some sound advice so I can stop spunking chips away in the blinds. or any good posts to read on blind play

[BigTomatoes]

 if anyone raises on the button or cutoff , and u have an above average hand , and enough chips to make them fold, reraise all in , ie , someone is raising every button hand , and u fold a few times , then they do it again and you have a hand like  , or    , or even    , reraise all in , then you are putting the pressure back on your opponent and even if they have a good hand and they call , you have a chance of doubling up ( if they dont have a monster they have to think twice , and if they do have a monster you might get lucky )

 stealing and defending blinds is a big part of the game.

[fergus8]

Hi Guys 

Recently I have been consistenltly either bubbling on the money or on final table, mostly on lower stake MTT's $10-$50.

I have been playing well for most part, then more often than not I get knocked out when i am in the blinds.

The reason for the post is that does anyone have some sound advice so I can stop spunking chips away in the blinds. or any good posts to read on blind play

great post, i think it is as important as anything into tournys

 stealing and defending blinds is a big part of the game.

i agree with the stealing part, though i think defence of blinds is well over rated, as the original poster has found out. stealing your usually in position on flop and momentum in the hand, whilst in defending your always out of position.

one tip for defence though is, if the button raises, sb folds and your on bb, instead of rr allin, call the bet then bet out on flop, its called stop and go, basic move but effective

[ifm]

My advice is basic.
Learn to let go of your blinds!
I often click fold to any bet as soon as the cards are dealt in the blinds because it just isn't worth defending, much better to raise than call blah blah blah.
As the blinds get higher making up from the small blind with limpers can be expensive, an easy waste of chips.
If you have a serial raiser on your blind then just let them have it for a while, they will quickly believe you are weak and you can catch them with a strong hand or reraise them with a weak hand.
I did this yesterday, had a serial thief on my blind, i waited and waited then after the 4th time i reraised allin with 53 off!!
He called with AK and i hit my 3 LOL!
You should be looking more to stealing from late position and target medium stacks.
The reraise is an excellent tool and it is one you must learn and understand to be successful IMO, i'll have a look for articles on the reraise and post a link.

EDIT:-

This is a good basic guide:

http://www.poker1.com/absolutenm/templates/mculib_lectures.aspx?articleid=45&zoneid=4

[Jamier-Host]

i agree with the stealing part, though i think defence of blinds is well over rated, as the original poster has found out. stealing your usually in position on flop and momentum in the hand, whilst in defending your always out of position.

Not if you just slam it all in preflop   

[GlasgowBandit]

Recently I have found I have had more success by passing marginal hands in SB and only checking BB unless I have a monster. 
Discussed it recently with another player who was saying that your always Out of Position unless you go down the route of pushing pre flop.
Stealing from later position is definately the best way to keep ahead of the game when the blinds are picking up.

You know most of this anyway mate and thats why you are getting to FT's your problem seems to be you hate giving the blind away.  Treat it like an ante.  You don't go chasing every ante you put in a pot when it gets to that stage of tourneys.

[Tragic]

Follow up question, in cash my standard raise is 3x BB, normally doin so because I tend to raise in position (i.e. from late) and want to play a flop vs people defending their blinds. When i'm folded to in the SB however, im not sure if I prefer 3x or 4x. 4x creates a bigger pot OOP against the BB, but heightens the chance of u taking the blind. 3x makes it more likely you will have to play a flop OOP, but keeps the pot smaller. What do you guys do?

[seven2unsuited]

good points guys

read a few posts on 2+2 which were useful, i think if i took IFM's advise i know i would be making much more final tables and getting deeper when in the money,  one thing i have noticed is that i can let my blinds go alot easier when playing live.

[ifm]

Follow up question, in cash my standard raise is 3x BB, normally doin so because I tend to raise in position (i.e. from late) and want to play a flop vs people defending their blinds. When i'm folded to in the SB however, im not sure if I prefer 3x or 4x. 4x creates a bigger pot OOP against the BB, but heightens the chance of u taking the blind. 3x makes it more likely you will have to play a flop OOP, but keeps the pot smaller. What do you guys do?

When i play cash i'm not interested in stealing blinds so the question is moot for me i'm afraid.

[Tragic]

Of course but if it's folded to you in SB surely you are wanting to play QT KQ etc. ?