Calling Requirements in Small Blinds

[silverfist]

I've been getting stupid loose in the small blind lately, and I think it's a huge leak. However, the pot odds often look irresistable (96o - of course!). What should I be limiting myself to here?

I was thinking of going with any ace, pair, connector 54+ (suited or not), suited one-gapper 53+, or two cards 9+. How does this sound?

[gabe]

depends how confident you are postflop and how big the blinds are relative to your stack

[aislephive]

Yeah I've decided to only limp from the SB if there are several limpers to me as long as my hand has some potential. I won't play J2 no matter what "odds" I'm getting, because that hand isn't worth it. If the blinds are getting high and it's folded to you in the SB I'd typically raise here no matter what I have.

[Scuba Chuck]

I've been getting stupid loose in the small blind lately, and I think it's a huge leak. However, the pot odds often look irresistable (96o - of course!). What should I be limiting myself to here?

I was thinking of going with any ace, pair, connector 54+ (suited or not), suited one-gapper 53+, or two cards 9+. How does this sound?

I get the sense you like to play a lot of pots. Do you understand the term Tight aggressive?

In fact, you might want to read the book, Psychology of Poker. This book changed the way I played more than any other book. And all it did, was tell me that my style of play was a long run losing style of play. I don't know if you'll get the same thing out of that book, but it was a real eye opener for me.

[silverfist]

Thank you for the advice, everyone.

Right now my "Vol Put T$ in Pot" number is under 20% for the first 3 levels. It creeps higher as the table becomes more shorthanded. This includes my small blind leak. That's still pretty tight, I think.

Harrington suggests limping in with small suited connectors with a few limpers in the small blind (Vol 2, p. 77), and even limps in with 92s to mix up play (Vol 1, p. 168). He's a pretty tight player. I'm just looking for general guidelines so that I don't overdo this.

[Scuba Chuck]

Thank you for the advice, everyone.

Right now my "Vol Put T$ in Pot" number is under 20% for the first 3 levels. It creeps higher as the table becomes more shorthanded. This includes my small blind leak. That's still pretty tight, I think.

Harrington suggests limping in with small suited connectors with a few limpers in the small blind (Vol 2, p. 77), and even limps in with 92s to mix up play (Vol 1, p. 168). He's a pretty tight player. I'm just looking for general guidelines so that I don't overdo this.

NO, 1 in 5 (or 6) hands is not tight in the early levels. Furthermore, HOH1 or 2 is not a good guideline for SNGs. It's a good read, but there are many flaws (discussed on 2+2 to be exact - search under Adanther when HOH2 was released).

Furthermore, there is absolutely no reason to make any advertising plays. Limping with 92s is purely a leak. We can discuss this further if you want. But recognize he makes a lot of suggestions for advertising purposes, which have no relevance in your games.

I notice that you play on stars. Your opponents may be making a lot of mistakes that you are able to capitalize on with hands like 78s, but as you move up in limits, you will not see as many opportunities like this. Furthermore, what's really unique about sngs, is that playing drawing hands are almost certainly a leak. As I said, it's possible on the lower levels you're able to capitalize on these (or you're on a good run). Anyhow, in the first 3 levels, I would think a VPIP of around 10% is more the norm. Some games will be higher, and some will be lower. I am pulling this 10% number out of the air, as I have never measured (but I can keep track now that I have all this software for limit poker).

[mcatdog]

Here's adanthar's review of HOH2:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...fpart=all&vc=1

[konahead]

On Party, 1st round with blinds 10/15 - if 4 or 5 people limp I'll complete the 5 required sb chips with anything. It's crazy not to even though you'll be throwing it away after the flop most of the time...

But if you're not getting better than 10-1 odds and blinds are not small, it's not worth it to play with junk. Especially if bb is loose aggresive (cuz you don't really know what your pot odds are since you don't act last...)

[Scuba Chuck]

Silverfist, I've been looking to pick an online bone with you, but you never bite. You have all the arguments, and desire to learn how to play the controlled maniac role. There is absolutely a place for learning how to play the maniac role (particularly in the higher buyins). But I can't tell you how important it is to learn how to play the TAG role first.

[TLR]

For me personally if the pot is multiway (4+ people) and the blinds are low, and the BB is not a maniac I would complete but I would fold unless I hit the flop hard

[Scuba Chuck]

For me personally if the pot is multiway (4+ people) and the blinds are low, and the BB is not a maniac I would complete but I would fold unless I hit the flop hard

FWIW, I think it's difficult to make a statement like this without more considerations. Like, how much to complete, what is our stack, etc.

For example, if you have t650 (on PP), and you're in the SB with 45s, and there's been 3 limpers on on L3, and it's 25 to you to complete, I think this is a great example of a good preflop fold.

[TLR]

I agree there are situations that should be handled differently, I tried to outline the common behaviour I am following. Ofcourse it has to be adjusted to stack size, table aggresion etc.. etc..