Do you know one of the reasons why poker is so action packed? It’s because of the blinds. Blinds are forced bets everyone at the table has to make sitting in a SB and BB position. This article won’t be about posting blinds. There is nothing to say about that. It will tell us about defending blinds.

Blind defence is one of the hardest things in poker. As you play the whole hand out of position. While no one will ever have got a positive win-rate from the blinds, you can limit the losses from these two positions. Just playing optimally. This article will serve you as a basic blinds guide. It will give you a general idea on things to watch out while playing with blinds.

Original Raiser

This is one of the most important aspects when defending. Whether you are at a full-ring or a short-handed table, raisers position rule applies. Remember the system of opening ranges in our pre-flop strategy guide? The principle is the same when you defend your blinds. If players open-raise with a stronger range from earlier positions, you have to defend with a smaller amount of hands. Vice versa, if the raiser is on one of the stealing positions, you’ll defend lighter. For example, you are on a big blind and UTG raises.

Everyone folds and the action is on to you as the raiser is in UTG position. Moreover, he has a very tight range. So your defending range should also be very, very tight. On the other hand, if you are on a big blind and BTN raises, you can defend your blind with a way lighter (weaker) range. As the original raise will also have got a wider range than UTG.

Player’s Hands

If the player who raises is a fish (weak player), you are entitled to defend your blinds with a weaker range. Why? Just because you’ll have an edge post-flop. The same applies to the situation if another player raises and a weak player calls. However, don’t play really weak, garbage hands. Remember! You will be out of position the whole hand. Furthermore, you’ll have a disadvantage versus anyone at the table.

Blind 3betting

Be cautious to 3bet from the blinds and do it with your strongest hands. However, there are a few exceptions to this. If you use a HUD, you’ll likely have a stat of F23BET. It shows the amount of times a certain player folds to a 3bet. If this stat is high, you can start 3betting these players with lots of speculative hands.