Why do people tend to play very loose from the big blind position in a Limit Holdem tournament or cash game (I am ONLY referring to tables that are full or close to full, 7 to 10 people)?

I keep seeing this over and over in various situations, so I began to wonder if I was missing something.

My goal when I started thinking about this question was to find out the pros and cons of defending your Big Blind (BB) and calling when faced with a single raise in a limit game. I wanted to use basic logical reasoning without in depth calculations (for those, there are lots of books out there). So I thought I would share my ideas and I came up with the following:

PROS-

1) It is a good idea to play back at a raise sometimes to try and prevent people from picking on you. I know that I will often open for a raise with lesser holdings against someone that I know has a tendency to fold to a single raise in the BB.

2) You are usually getting decent pot odds to make the call. Obviously, the more people in the single raised pot, the better your pot odds.

a. Example- Bob is holding Js9s in the BB and post $2, Seat 4 raises to $4, Seats 6 & 7 call and the Small Blind (SB) folds. Pot contains $15 and it costs Bob $2 more to call. He is being offered 7.5 to 1 odds (not bad) with a decent drawing hand.

3) A loose image can often pay off big if used correctly. A few instances where this may occur:

a. If someone thinks you are willing to call any pre-flop raise from the BB, they may think twice before raising with mediocre hands when you are in this position.

b. If a good player has pegged you as a ‘calling station’ he will be less likely to try and bluff at you and more likely to give you some credit for a hand when you decide to bet/raise after the flop.

c. Opponents will have a harder time putting you on a hand if you always smooth call (no raises) when facing a raise in this position regardless of whether you have AA or 56.

CONS-

1) First and foremost, YOU ARE OUT OF POSITION. Ask yourself the question, “would I play this from Under the Gun (UTG)?” Once you make the call, you are first to act with the raiser and any callers to act behind you. It can essentially be compared to limping from UTG even though you already know that someone is representing a big hand behind you.

2) If you don’t hit a monster flop, you are usually forced to simply check/fold. Now you have lost two BB bets instead of just one. Yes, your opponent is most likely going to be making an automatic continuation bet after you check, but can you really call him with K or Q high or 2nd or 3rd pair? Obviously this can be dependent on the opponent, but regardless can be dangerous.

3) The good pot odds can be deceiving, especially in a tournament situation. Let’s go through a common tournament situation that I see to show you how the pot odds can reel you in but really hurt.

Bob (the average player) is in the big blind of a Multi-Table tournament. It is Limit Holdem and the blinds are 150/300, no antes. 52 people left and 30 people pay. Average stack is 3800 and Bob has 3300 before the hand.

He is dealt 7d 8d and it is folded to the tight/aggressive player with 8K in his stack. He raises from the cutoff and it folds to Bob. The pot contains 1050 (his 300 + the SB’s 150 + the raisers 600) and it cost him 300 to call. Giving him 3.5 to 1 to call. Based on his read up to this point, Bob can safely assume that his opponent either has two big cards or a decent sized pocket pair.

Many would argue that these odds say he should probably call, but then Bob remembers my first two CONS—”I’m out of position and I will need to hit a big hand. Also, I am only slightly below average and I have time to be patient and wait for a better spot. Hmmmmmm?”

“But I’m getting 3.5 to 1 with my suited connectors! Okay, okay” Bob decides to call and see a flop. FLOP- Ac Qd 2d— Now he is faced with drawing at the pot and how to play his draw. Bob now thinks about his opponents holdings (A x?, K Q?, A Q?, or even Ad xd?) and he decides his opponent has hit something. Bob decides not to bet out with his draw expecting the automatic raise.

He checks and calls the 300 bet because the pot was offering him a strong 5.5 to 1 for his flush draw. The turn brings the 7c! Now Bob has more outs to ‘Improve’ his hand (only improve because none of his outs will give him the Nuts). Adding the two 7 cards and the three 8 cards left he now has 14 outs. He checks and his opponent bets. The pot odds are good once again. With 2450 now in the pot it costs Bob 600 to call. (We have all seen this when we draw at it, but never seems to happen when we are against someone else drawing it)—- The river brings a BLANK! Nothing! Nada! Bob doesn’t think a bluff would work here and check folds.

Now Bob has spent 55% of his stack instead of 9% of his stack if he folded pre-flop. He is short stacked and ends up busting out near the bubble. BUT, BUT, BUT- “The pot odds were there. I had to draw at it!” ——- (Then he goes to his favorite forum and posts: “I can’t ever catch a break. Why am I so unlucky? Wah, wah, wah! Blah, blah, blah!”

So now! What have I come up with in my conclusion? The same old thing: “poker is a game of situations” and there isn’t an answer to this question. Simply put! Every question regarding strategy for poker is dependent on far too many factors. There isn’t an answer to this question for every situation other than ‘it depends.’

I did come up with one other conclusion though- I need to slow down and look at each of these PROS and CONS , and the situation I am faced with before I decide to defend my BB with a marginal holding.

I also try to look for what others do with their blinds more. If the donkey defends with any two, I value bet with my big cards and I never try to steal from them with weak cards. Remember to stay creative and keep everyone thinking so I won’t know how to treat you when you are in the BB.

For what its worth,

beauright