Blind vs Blind Strategy

One of the first theoretical strategic poker concepts a new player will learn is blind stealing. Typically, this will occur when you are in late position, in full ring or 6-max online tables, and you have tight players in the blinds. Even if you have a mediocre hand, it would be profitable to raise in an attempt to steal the blinds, because in all likelihood, the players in the blinds will not play back at you and will just fold. Raising more hands in late position is not the only form of blind stealing though, especially if you prefer to play 6-max, which is a more aggressive game.

In 6-max online games the situation of blind vs blind stealing situations will come up again and again, for the simple reason that in 6-max games it only requires 4 players to fold for the action to get around to the blinds. When the action gets to you in the SB, if the player in the BB is a tight and straight forward player who you know is not capable of being aggressive without a hand, well then you should be relentlessly raising the big blind a lot because they will just not play back.

Even if you have a rubbish hand it would be profitable to raise because in all likelihood they will fold. It would be a mistake to just call in the small blind when playing against the small blind, because you will be playing out of position for the rest of the hand, as you know, playing out of position is a huge disadvantage.

If you have an aggressive player in the big blind, well then you should forget blind stealing in the small blind in blind vs blind situations. In these situations, you should treat your hand as if you were playing in early position, and only raise the small blind with strong hands that will play well post flop out of position.

Similarly, if you are in the big blind and the small blind is constantly raising your big blind, a good way to defend against this, is to 3bet them sometimes even as a bluff. This will let them know you are prepared to play back at them and they will be less likely to steal the blinds without a good hand.

Another thing to think about in blind vs blind situations is that you are playing heads up, so keep this in mind when planning your hand. Some players will allow their ego to get in the way and will defend their big blind. If you have a decent hand like top pair with a good kicker, this is a huge hand in a heads up situation, so if you are faced with aggression and you know the player is capable of being aggressive and making moves, which is likely when they can’t surrender their blinds without a fight, then go with your hand and out them to the test.

Although this blind vs blind strategy is a profitable way to play in the blinds when it gets folded around to you, whenever you are in the small blind always remember you are out of position, and generally speaking this is not the position where you make the majority of money at the table, even for winning players, because you are giving up a huge advantage.

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