Part: Part Eleven - Short Tables

Defend the blind wider

Pre-flop
4-handed • Blinds 400 / 800Pot 2,000 (2.5 BB)BBQ♠8♦● 20,000 (25 BB)YOUto actBTN● 20,000 (25 BB)Buttonraises 1,600 (2 BB)SBfoldsD

Four-handed. The button min-raises to 1,600 and you're in the big blind with Q♠8♦, getting a great price to call.

Four-handed, button min-raises; you hold Q♠8♦ in the BB. Best?

WhyYou close the action getting better than 3-to-1 against a button raising a huge slice of hands four-handed. Q-8o flops a pair or a live draw often enough to realize that price, so calling is right - mucking this cheap lets the button print blinds unchallenged.
What happensYou call and take a flop. This defend isn't about this one board - it's about denying the button an automatic profit every time he raises your blind.
Fold too often in the big blind and a wide-raising button steals for free. Good prices plus wide ranges make marginal-looking hands like Q-8o correct calls - defense is a tax on the stealer.

The wider the raiser's range and the better your price, the more hands become profitable big-blind defends.