I think I found the hole in my game (Poker players thread)
 

I had an epiphany of sorts today.
For the life of me I couldn't figure out how I've been losing money consistently at poker....even though I study hard and usually play a solid game.

Then today it hit me....its the blinds.
I get stupid when I'm playing in the blinds. I call too many raises, I hang onto middle or bottom pair because for some reason I get paranoid like everyone is bluffing and trying to steal the money I had to put into the pot. (For instance I seem to put everyone on AK when the flop is T72 rainbow and figure my J7 is good)
I'd be willing to bet that if I could take away all of the small and big blind hands I've played in my life I'd be up a substantial amount.

So my question is....is this a common problem for poker players?
How do you play from the blinds?
Should I start playing only hands that you would normally play from early position and muck the rest? (of course you'd take a flop for free with any two cards but then muck em if you didn't hit the flop in a big way?)

I think if I can patch this hole I might start seeing dramatically different results.

hey man that is cool, hope it works out for you, keep us posted

well

play from the blinds isnt all that difficult if youre paying attention to who youre up against

i will muck the small blind a lot unless im getting really great odds for my money and hitting the flop well with smaller cards would prove profitable - still you need to tread lightly and not overplay your hand because it is still week

if i feel i can put tight players off their hands by raising aggressively in the blinds i will just to sweep, but i dont make this play very often

everything in poker is so fucking situational fuck it

In the 3-6 games and 10-20 SNG's I play in there aren't many "tight" players that you can bluff off of a hand.
You usually have to show down the best hand at the river to win.

:2 cents:

I usually fold the small blind unless I have great cards. I have no problem folding the big blind after a raise if I have shitty cards. When you play with good players, you usually don't get in a hand for free just because you're the big blind. They're gonna raise pre-flop to get you out of the hand if they can.

Don't try to protect your blinds...let them go.

i play more live than i do online now but i think i might start doing the online thing again

i have a poker site www.rounderz.com that i dont even update anymore cuz ive been so busy but the board still gets some traffic

Nice site.

i think its good to protect blinds with moderate cards (usually by RERAISING, not calling) every once in a while just to throw people off of their game. if for instance they have a medium pair and the board comes off high you can take a good stab at the pot and take it away.

If I raise you and you're the blind, you'd be wise to fold. I don't even stay in a hand without the power cards, let alone raise. Except for the occasional bluff hand, of course, but you have to let everyone see how conservative you play before you can bluff properly. My bluffs are successful 99% of the time because I establish myself as a tight, conservative player.

oh i agree

perhaps i should have prefaced this by saying that a normally play a pretty solid game and i dont get too creative - again this is a once in a while play engineered specifically to deceive

Start by considering the Blinds as taxation, and forget about the amount you put in as soon as you put it in.... Blinds are there to 'stimulate action' not require you to lose money on chasing hands you would not otherwise play... ;-)

i lost a fuckin load at online poker a few years ago, luckily i was underage and so my mum rang them up and i got a full refund of all losses. Unfortunately she wasnt to happy with me either

If you have to show the best hand to win, then throw away those J-7's on the blinds, for gosh sake !

Fuck the 3-6 and 10-20 games. Get off them as you'll encounter nothing but river rats. Play at the No limit tables. You can usually find some decent no limit tables with 2-5 blinds and $100 buy-ins with a max of $300-$500 buy-in. The casino I play at has a $100 buy-in and allows you to buy-in again when you are under a $100 so i buy in for $100 and tip the dealer a buck and buy another $100 and off I am. Far better players so you don't have to deal with the river rats. It's a whole different poker game and MUCH more enjoyable.