Part: Part Five - Betting Before the Flop
Defending the big blind
Pre-flop
A button player opens small, to 400 (a min-raise). You're in the big blind with Q♦9♦ and only need to call 200 more into a 600 pot.
Button min-raises to 400 (2 BB); you hold Q♦9♦ in the BB, getting a great price. Best?
WhyYou're closing the action getting better than 3-to-1 against a button that raises a very wide range - Q-9 suited flops top pairs, straights, and flushes and is far too playable to muck at that price. Fold hands like this to a min-raise and you teach the button he can raise every hand unpunished.
What happensYou call and see a heads-up flop. Pot: 900 (4.5 BB). A cheap defensive call like this is how you stop a wide stealer from running the table over.
Flop
Flop Q♠ 6♣ 2♥ - you flop top pair. You check, and the button checks back.
You flop top pair and he checks back the flop. On the turn, best line?
WhyWhen the button checks back a Q-6-2 flop he's telling you he has little - his made hands bet there. That caps his range, and your top pair is now ahead, so lead the turn for value from worse queens and draws instead of letting the hand check down.
What happensYou bet the turn, he calls with a worse queen, the river bricks, and you hold. Reading his check-back as weakness turned top pair into an extra bet - value you'd have missed by checking again.
You defended a suited, connected hand against a small button raise, flopped top pair, and led the turn once his check-back gave the hand away. Beating aggressive stealers is half stealing, half defending your blind profitably.
A cheap late-position raise and your last-to-act position let you defend the big blind wide - the price you're getting, not raw card strength, is what justifies calling many playable hands.