In blind battles (SB vs BB), the hand ranges become wider, so playing tends to be more difficult.
In this article, I would like to summarize the key points of blind battles.
◆ Play with a wide range ◆
Playing too tightly in a blind showdown can be a leak.
From the SB’s perspective, they can steal the blinds by forcing the last player with a random hand to fold, and from the BB’s perspective, they don’t have to fold easily to the SB’s wide (weak) open-raising range.
This tendency is especially strong when there is an ante.
The BB has already invested 1BB, so the calling odds are good, and the SB’s open-raising range is wide and weak.
And because they have position, it’s easier to play and realize the equity of their hand.
For these reasons, the BB, in particular, should play many hands.
While this will vary depending on the opponent’s stats, the SB’s open-raising range should be around 45-70%, and the BB’s call or 3-bet range should be around 60-70%.
◆Post-flop◆
In a blind showdown, the hand ranges become wider, making it difficult for either player to have a strong hand.
Therefore, against the SB’s CB, the BB needs to continue playing hands like bottom pair, A-high, backdoor draws, etc. This
is partly a matter of floating, but it’s also because there’s a good chance that they simply have more equity at the moment.
A-high on a dry board often has showdown value, and strong hands like top pair are almost always strong enough to warrant a showdown.
Of course, you can fold on particularly biased board textures like a one-card straight or a flush, but in most cases you shouldn’t fold.
◆Keep the check range◆
If the hand range you check in SB is too weak, you will be vulnerable to attacks by your opponent. It is important
to maintain a good balance in your check-call range, including not only hands that can call 1-bets and double-barrels, but also hands that can withstand triple-barrels.
Hands that are difficult to get value from, such as top set, and top pair with a weak kicker, are strong hands suitable for checking and calling.
In response to the SB’s flop check, the BB should not bet with all value hands, but should balance the check-back range by including hands that are strong enough to withstand a double barrel (flop check, turn bet, river bet) from the SB’s probe bet.
Small bed size
As mentioned above, in the blind showdown, both players’ hand ranges are wide and weak.
This means that the post-flop hand ranges also contain many weak hands, so even a small bet size can be enough to put pressure on the opponent.
This tendency becomes stronger as the board gets drier, so a small bet size becomes more effective.
And against recreational players who don’t pay much attention to their opponents’ hand ranges or bet sizing, you can go for a lot of pot with little risk.
