How to defend a big pre-flop blind in tournament poker

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Protection of the big blind in tournament poker is one of the most relevant topics, since the natural losses in this position are the highest and we, as players, need to reduce them as much as possible. 

1. Formation of a preflop strategy for protecting the big blind in tournament poker 

To form an effective defense strategy in the position of the big blind (BB), a modern tournament player needs not only to be well versed in the current pre-flop ranges, but also to have a wide range of possible post-flop draw techniques, starting not only from the equity of his hand, but also from the board structures, and other various situations that arise during the draw. If you just protect the wide big blind and do not understand at all how to go on with your weak or middle hand - the sense will be minimal for most of the range. 

Playing at microlimits will still allow many to bring their strategy to a plus, but at middle and high stakes this is hardly possible. The most important thing for microlimits and beginners is to understand that BB is protected profitably at the expense of mathematics, and there is no need to invent particularly cunning lines on post-flop. As a coach, I often meet crazy bluff from my students on BB. Don't do that! While you are learning to play, the bluff should only be conceptual, that is, premeditated and learned for certain typical situations. Do not bluff on emotions if at some point you suddenly want it! 

How to play cold-call against different positions and in different stacks 

Cold-call in poker action is quite difficult to play without errors, so any GTO charts are very wrong in terms of the latitude of the cold call that they recommend. Real players do not even close to bring such charts to plus, so our portal has developed special exploit charts based on which hands a real player (with all his average disadvantages in the field) will be able to play plus on BB against real rivals at a distance the long run. One of the realities of modern poker is the protection of the BB position on a wide range of starting hands. 

This is due to the mathematics of the game, namely: 

• we have already deposited part of the money in the pot, making a mandatory bet for the blinds;
• we make the decision last, after us there are no players who can have a strong hand, so on the preflop we have the most complete information.

The main factors that determine the protection range, as well as the choice between active (via 3-bet) or passive (via cold-call) protection: 

In later positions, the open-raiser range is usually significantly expanded, so against styling, we tend to proportionally expand the range of protection on the BB. But we have a strong increase in the range of 3-beta protection, while cold-call protection does not grow so much. The presence of not only a pre-flop-raiser in the bank, but also a collier (or callers) has a strong impact on the range of protection on the BB: it narrows significantly in both the cold circle and the 3-bet. Many people do not understand this intuitively, believing that the sub-odds have become better. Let's look at some situations in more detail. You can get a simple basic BB protection scheme both through cold-call and through 3-bet simply by registering on our website and going to the free 1st level chart section. 

If you would like to get a more professional chart, then pay attention to the paid video course with Level 2 charts. 

How to play 3-beta against different positions 

The typical scenario of BB protection until recently was a wide cold-call and a very narrow 3-bet only on premium hands. However, modern studies of large databases of hands played by players of different limits show that it is becoming more profitable to protection the big blind with an extended range of 3bet (with an effective stack size of more than 27 bb). And against both late and early positions. The main concept of 3bet on BB, which distinguishes it from all other positions, is the super-polarity of the range, when we have not only a “value pole”, but also a “bluff pole” of weak dominant hands. 

General concepts against different positions of the racer:

3-bet against early (EP) positions. 
Since the open-raiser range, even in early positions, usually consists not only of a premium hand, we can make a 3-bet not only on the velly on our premium starters (AA-TT, AKs), but also on hands with blockers to the opponent's velly range, such as aces with low offsuited kickers (A8o-), as well as suited kings with low kickers (K6s-) and sometimes even suited Queens with low kickers (Q6s-). This allows us to blur our 3bet range, make it less readable, and create a certain image for us at the table, which allows us to both get paid more with our premium hands, and sometimes knock out an opponent's stronger (compared to ours) combination right on the preflop. 

3-bet vs. middle (MR) positions.
As the range of the open-raiser expands from early to middle positions, we can also expand the range of our bluff 3bet by adding the least playable hands with blockers (K8o-J8o), as well as low offsuited connectors (78о-54о, 86о-57о) and low suited cards, which have poor playability on the post-flop (J5s-, T5s-, 95s- and others). Research shows that the field as a whole is prone to refolding to 3-bet from BB, so with such marginal hands, we can put pressure on the open-raiser range and, if successful, immediately pick up the pot. An additional factor in the choice of such hands is their weak plus in protection through cold-call, many play them generally in minus. Stronger hands, we calmly play plus through cold-call. 

3-bet vs late (CO-SB) positions. 
Styling (stealing blinds) from late positions is one of the key strategies of modern tournament poker at all limits, and a strategy so popular that sometimes players open from late positions up to 100% of their hands. It is not surprising that such a wide range is very vulnerable to 3bet, and we just need to protect ourselves on the BB actively. At the same time, it will be correct not only to further expand, but also to further polarize the range of our 3bet: along with premium hands, they are most advantageously played through bluff-3-bet not only any low offsuited (84s, T2s), but also almost any low offsuited hands (85о, 43о). Do not hesitate to 3 bet “garbage”, it is profitable! The main thing is not to pour it on a post-flop in a 3-bet pot. If you are still afraid of 3 bet so wide, then stick to about the same range as against middle positions (vs MP), with small extensions. 

Important! It must be remembered that the most successful 3-bet as a bluff (regardless of position) will be against opponents with an increased 3-bet fold. In general, all opponents are suitable except for "telephone" ones, who play the call all in a row. 

3-bet-push in short anti-raise stacks 

In stacks less than 27 bb, the situation changes. Reducing the effective stack limits the player's ability to protect the BB, since both bluff-3-bet and 3-bet in general cease to be profitable. In a stack of less than 27 bb, we strive to play suitable preflop hands through 3-bet all-in, and a completely different chart is used for this. This level 1 chart containing the range of preflop push, you can also get for free together with the 1st section of the video course “Basics of preflop and postflop games”. 

Now the profit protection of the BB will consist of a still fairly wide cold call (preference is given to single-masted hands or heterogeneous with good initial equity), as well as a fairly conservative range of 3-bet-push (all-in). This range includes premium hands (AA-JJ), as well as strong suited and offsuited aces and pocket pair, and generally depends on the position of the open racer and our stack. The smaller our stack, the wider the push range becomes against the raise. 

BB protection in multi-banks

The increase in the number of hand participants, when one or more players (up to the BB position) call after the open-raise, and the so-called multi-bank is formed, has a serious impact on the range of hands with which the BB can profitably take part in the game.

More than 27 bb in stacks
Active protection through 3-bet (Squeeze) is preferable to choose only on strong hands (AA-99, AK, AQ). Addition to the 3bet range in a bluff on offsuited hands with blockers, but poor postflop playability (A7o-A2o, K9o-K6o) also shows itself well. However, such bluff squeezes should be done only if the open-raiser and caller are located at the HJ+ positions. The rest of the protection range on BB (suited aces, strong suited and offsuited “Broadways”, as well as most of the suited hands) is played through a cold-call. 

In stacks less than 27 bb
With a decrease in the effective stack, bluff-3 betas, which become too expensive, are completely excluded from the protection arsenal. Active protection now consists of 3-bet-pushes with strong hands (AA-77, AK, AQ), and all noteworthy hands with good playability (strong offsuited aces and “Broadways”, as well as most of the suited hands) will be played passively through a cold-call.

2. Conclusion

Protection of BB in tournament poker is a relevant and interesting topic with its own specifics, fashion and a wide variety of situations that arise on the post-flop. We hope that this article will be useful to you and, along with other materials of our school, will allow you to increase your winrate.