In this particular hand then the stakes are irrelevant and once again it is the concept that is important. In this No Limit Texas Hold’em poker hand I held the 8c-7d and after only being in the game for about five minutes in this six max game, it was folded around to the button who open raised to $30 and the small blind folded and so did I.

So what is the big deal about that you may ask? Well, based around this one hand is something very important that I think that many low stakes and even medium stakes players for that matter need to take on board.

This is that playing too many hands from the blinds in no limit hold’em simply will not be profitable. I don’t know if it is because of the influx of players from limit hold’em games or what but one of the biggest leaks in many players games is calling too often from the big blind and then releasing their hand on the flop when they miss.

This flaw is even worse as you start to move up through the limits simply because your blinds will be attacked more and in many games, players in position will be raising with almost anything at times. If you feel that you are being pushed around then a good defence is to re-raise pre-flop.

But one of the things that you definitely do not want to be doing is to be weakly calling raises from either blind in the hope of hitting something in holdem. With the hand that I folded for instance, I could have easily ended up with a piece of that flop by flopping middle pair for example. I could have still been behind on the flop and also, a hand as weak as that cannot take any heat post flop if your opponent raises you.

All hands in no limit poker (even aces) play better and earn more money when they have position on their side and this is a pivotal part of online poker strategy. I would much rather have a hand like 8s-6c and be the opening raiser in position than be in the big blind and be facing a raise with a hand like Ac-9h. This is especially the case with the bigger limits but it still applies to the smaller limits too.

If more players simply played their position instead of their cards in no limit hold’em then more players would be winning players. The words of the great Doyle Brunson should be ringing in everyone’s ears when he remarked in Supersystem how he could beat any no limit game in the world if he could guarantee having position all night long.

If this statement does not underline the sheer importance of position in no limit hold’em then I don’t know what does. This is why when you finally decide to play back at the bully from the big blind then it is better to re-raise. A re-raise allows you to take the pot immediately and thus eliminate any positional inferiority that you would incur post flop when your opponent folds their hand.

A re-raise gives you fold equity and a re-raise and only a re-raise allows you to win the pot immediately. If you cannot stomach a re-raise then for heaven’s sake fold the hand. Do not get caught in the middle by calling. Of course it needs to be pointed out here that I am not advocating that you should never call a raise from the big blind because there are instances when it is correct to do so.

Like when you have someone who minimum raises for instance and there are several callers in between you and the minimum raiser. You will be getting excellent pot odds and implied odds in which to participate with a much wider range of hands here and this will allow you to call a raise in this situation.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson
Author – “Winning Cash Game Poker”

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