News Tag: Gop3 Small Blind - ChipsPro

The small blind is located to the left of the button (button) and must post half the blind. Pre-flop, you can fold, call, and raise after the button has acted. Post-flop, however, it's the first position to make a decision, making it a disadvantageous position.

You'll sometimes find yourself in this position in GoP3, and it's impossible to overcome these disadvantages completely. This is why all players, regardless of skill, will lose GoP3 chips in the long run if they play in the small blind.

If you don't have the patience to read this entire article, remember these six key points:

• 1. Steal as many blinds as possible.
• 2. Don't be too aggressive when defending the small blind.
• 3. 3-bet with your entire continuing range (or flat-call in tournaments).
• 4. Be aware of the big blind's tendencies.
• 5. Don't Donk Bet.
• 6. Develop a blind-to-blind strategy in advance.

Step 1: Steal The Blinds

When you're in the small blind and the table folds to you, you only need to beat one player to take the dead money in the pot. This is an opportunity you should exploit.

Many players, especially less experienced ones, are prone to folding from the big blind to a player attempting to steal the blinds. Opening with a relatively wide range from the small blind is an effective way to exploit this vulnerability.

It's recommended that your opening range from the small blind be slightly wider than on the button. While playing this way from the small blind may seem risky, the chance to win the pot's dead money makes a wider opening range justifiable most of the time.

Step 2: Don't Get Overly Obsessed With The Small Blind

You should play tight from the small blind, the worst position at the table. Calling a raise hoping for a cheap flop will frequently get you into trouble on a later street. Re-raising will often put you in big pots out of position. To minimize this pain, you should frequently fold to protect your Governor of Poker 3 chips.

Step 3: 3-Bet With Your Entire Continuing Range

3-betting gives the small blind a chance to win the pot without seeing a flop and reduces the average number of players in the hand.

Your 3-betting range from the small blind should be tight, and only playing with strong hands minimizes the difficulty of being out of position. Playing a wide range from such a poor position is simply a recipe for disaster.

Even though you're at a disadvantage in position, it's crucial to balance the small blind's 3-betting range with bluffs (but use relatively strong bluffs). If you only 3-bet with value hands, your opponent will easily exploit this weakness and fold whenever you 3-bet.

Step 4: Watch The Big Blind

Have you ever encountered a very aggressive player sitting to your left? This can be an absolute nightmare, especially in a blind-to-blind game. They'll constantly flat, float, and 3-bet, leaving you with no chance of playing anything but your strongest hands.

In contrast, if you've ever been lucky enough to face a very conservative player in a blind-to-blind game, you know how calm it is to steal their blinds every single round.

You need to be aware of each player's tendencies in this regard, especially those to your left, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

If the player in the big blind is very aggressive and frequently defends their blind with three-bets and four-bets, you should significantly narrow your range to avoid wasting GoP3 chips. If the player to your left is particularly tight, you can widen your range to maximize your pot wins.

Step 5: Don't Donk Bet

Never Donk bet from the small blind; it simply doesn't make sense from a range perspective. When a player flats an opening raise (or limps), their range is immediately considered weaker than the player who opened the pot. If they had strong hands, they would have three-bet (or raised) in the first place, which means they completely eliminated those hands from their range when they flatted.

The Donk bet, as the name suggests, is typically made by a weaker player after hitting a few hands for value or to protect their hand. Because of their range disadvantage, they are better off checking to protect the remaining hands in their range.

Step 6: Strategy

Blind battles are both dynamic and complex. This is because both players have dead money invested in the pot, incentivizing them to use wider ranges. The small blind can adopt two different strategies, both of which can be successful if executed correctly. Choose the one you feel most confident in:

Raise Or Fold

The first is to raise or fold from the small blind simply. This strategy has two obvious advantages: simplicity and a high chance of winning the pot pre-flop.

Because inexperienced players are prone to folding the big blind when faced with a raise, this raise or fold strategy is very effective at lower stakes.

Mixed Strategy

A mixed small blind strategy is much more complex, encompassing limp/fold, limp/call, limp/raise, raise, and fold. Managing such a wide range can be challenging, and even more challenging in certain post-flop situations.

A mixed strategy is most effective when your opponent has a variety of incorrect responses to a limp. The downside is that when you limp, your opponent in the big blind simply checks and realizes free equity.

It's impossible to win from the small blind consistently, so don't beat yourself up when you lose chips. Understanding some small blind play will help you navigate this position and avoid losing all your GoP3 chips.