A new strategy

There is something I have been doing a bit lately just to see how it works. It is kind of the inverse of a blind check.

I love to blind check when I am first to act. Like, if I am out of position and weakly call with something like J/10 or something where I am trying to sneak into a cheap flop or if I raise with something like Big Slick or Fishhooks or something and someone calls or even re-raises, if I stay then I want to see what they are thinking so I will blind check. This essentially turns me into the button, though it does not give me the option to steal-raise. If they check, depending on the person, I usually have a pretty good idea of whether they improved and whether they will call or not if I raise subsequently. Some people slow-play so often that I do not get that information...then again, I am a smart enough player that I don't blind check with them, either. At least, not that they know about. I might have a plan for the hand that includes checking regardless of what card comes.

I actually like this plan against habitual slow players. If they are never going to raise their good hands, I am not going to do their raising for them. If they want to check down their set, let's check it down and I will play a small pot with them. Only if I have a pretty sure-fire win will I bet against the constant slow-players. This, by the way, is yet one more reason to mix up my game. Otherwise, if I am always (and only) betting good hands, people will fold and never pay me off. Conversely, if I am always (and only) slow-playing, they will check down every hand and I will not make enough chips on my good hands to pay the blinds and make up for hands I get involved in where I lose.

Be that as it may, my new plan is great fun. I usually, though not always, do it with a high pair. I have also done it with Big Slick, a medium pair, and once on medium suited connectors.

If I am first to act and raised pre-flop then everything is in place. After the last call, just before the flop, I blind raise, anywhere from 3 times the blinds on up to a pot-sized bet.

This blind raise proves quite intimidating. People instantly have to put me on Kings or Aces whether I have them or not. Thus, unless they can beat at the least a pair of Aces they cannot...or, rather, should not...call. I have a great chance to take down the pot right there. If not, then it puts tremendous pressure on them.

Take a hand from the other night. It was about the 5th hand of the night. I was in the big blind and picked up the Cowboys. 4 or 5 people had limped in so I jacked it up a bit more than usual, 300, which was 6 times the blinds. There was already about 3-400 in the pot, so they still might be priced in. Only Gary C. called and he was on the button. Before he could deal the flop, I said, "Raise" and tossed out 600. He was so shocked he almost folded right there. Then the flop came...rag, King, Ace.

I was thinking this flop was perfect for me. I know his game so well that I knew if he had Kings or Aces he would have raised, and with a range of pocket 8s or better or something like A/rag suited or better or even with 2 paint cards he would call me. So there was a real good chance he hit his Ace or King and would pay me off. I actually put him on the Ace and hoped he would re-raise me because after I hit the Alabama Knight Riders I would go all-in in a heart-beat. I did not believe he had a set of Aces and anything else I was destroying.

He hemmed and hawed and hesitated and considered and paused...and finally called. The turn was a blank, no straight or flush draws. I considered checking, but then decided to continue putting on the pressure and raised another 600. He asked what I had, paused, thought, almost folded, almost raised...now I was sure he had something like A/good kicker, but not A/K because he would have re-raised me with top two pair. In other words, I believed he had a good hand but he was beat, and beat badly.

The river was a blank. As usual, I raised and he thought, pondered, sighed, and finally folded face-up...Jacks. He had the Fishhooks. He called my pre-flop raise, a move I don't mind there. He should have raised them, it would have completely changed the hand. Since he didn't, he allowed the blind raise. And that determined the hand. Well, that and flopping the set. My blind raise completely intimidated and demoralized him (and he was eliminated soon after).

It also builds an image for me that if I am raising, you better come strong or stay home because I am not going to be afraid of any card that hits on the flop. It is a somewhat risky play...if someone DID limp/call with the Rockets, that hand would have broke me. Or if they limp/call with something like 8s and they hit their set while I miss mine it can cost me. But even if someone has something like A/9, A/rag, something like that, my blind-raise might get them off their Ace even if an Ace hits. It is something I will do sometimes with a weak pair...say, the hockey sticks. 7s are nothing to write home about, but properly played they can do wonders.

Of course, part of properly playing them is knowing your opponents. There are people I play against whom I am laying those 7s down pre-flop from the small blind and others against who I am going to raise them from Under the Gun. It all depends on my image for that night and who else is at the table. I know who is passive, who is a gambler, and who will respond with aggression. Against those who will re-raise, even with Aces I will probably not blind-raise since their re-raise might show 2 pair or something similar that will have me beat. With people who use blind aggression I want to consider the texture of the flop and the hands they will use before I put in a lot of chips.

So the blind raise is, like any other tool, one to be used selectively. Against the right player it applies tremendous pressure and gives you an advantage. Like anything else, when mis-used it will cause trouble. Just sayin'.