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4. Button vs. Blinds

4.1 Open raise on the button

As the button is usually the best position, you should only rarely open fold. As a raise size we suggest 2 ½ BB in most cases, as a possible all-in re-raise from the blinds negates the position. Furthermore, the blinds play OOP post-flop and as such fold equity is given irrespectively, which makes a bigger raise unnecessary.

With an all-in raise from the blinds the calling range only changes minimally, as tight opponents usually don't overplay their defense actions. If for example you raise first on the button with A9o to 2 ½ BB and a tight player in the blinds goes all-in, you should also fold with pot odds of 2:1 as you are probably dominated.

As mentioned earlier, this raise is most effective when the stacks are bigger than 20 BB, as the opponent can't defend profitably now by going all-in.

If the pre-flop raise is called, you should conti-bet ½ pot size on Ace high boards, rag boards and paired boards in case the opponent checks. On dangerous boards, delayed continuation bets can be made by first checking the flop as well and betting on the turn after the opponent's check, to avoid traps. This might induce the feeling that you yourself are slowplaying and you will receive even more information about your opponent's hand.

If the opponent donks the flop, you should, as long as you didn't hit anything, fold in most cases, or against very aggressive opponents bluff call the correct boards; so call on the flop to then bet a minimal amount after the opponent's check on the turn. Often a bet of about 1/3^rd of the pot is already enough as you can assume that the opponent doesn't have a very good hand.

It is different if he fires a second barrel on the turn, after which you have to fold without a good hand of course.

Blinds 100/200 (5 players)

Stacks
Hero ($4000)
BB ($3500)

Preflop: Hero is BU with J , 8
2 folds, Hero raises to $500, 1 fold, BB calls $300.

Flop: ($1100) A K 7 (2 players)
BB bets $500, Hero calls $500

Turn: ($2100) T (2 players)
BB checks, Hero?

On the turn the opponent ponders and checks. If he had a reasonable hand on the flop, it would have made little sense to immediately donk and not let you conti-bet. On the other hand it also makes little sense to check the turn if he has e.g. A9 and played the hand straightforward, since the board has become very draw heavy. Everything seems to indicate that he does not want to go to the showdown after all. He could have a middle pocket pair, a king, a flush draw, a good ace, or he could have bluffed as well.

Buying the pot seems to be a real bargain now. The opponent only has 2,000 chips, so 900-1,200 should be enough to pick up the pot in a profitable way. If we bet 1,000, we paid 1,500 since the flop to steal a pot of 1,600. If we had raised on the flop, we would also have raised to about 1,500, without having the further informations on the turn though.

To decide if a bluff call is profitable, you should keep these values in mind:

• Flop Aggression: Against an opponent with a low value (<1), a call is usually uncalled-for.
• Went to Showdown: With a high value (>50) you should also consider if a call makes sense.
• Turn Aggression: A very low value (<1) could indicate that the opponent often switches to check/call here, which in turn makes the reasonableness of a bluff call highly doubtful.