Protecting Blinds

When playing in a Texas Holdem tournament setting, there is one thing that remains consistent with every player as the play begins; it's all about building the stack. In early play it serves two purposes: Building a stack means someone else's stack is dwindling, and thus players will be eliminated.

To the tournament player, surviving round after round of elimination can be viewed as great success, but one thing that must be addressed in regards to that survival is stack preservation and development - while facing potential loss in posting blinds.

In a perfect game, you would post the large blind and be dealt your strongest hand; if this begins to happen consistently, check your rear-view mirror for unicorns and fairies the next time you're tooling around town. It just doesn't happen that way, not even at Poker Stars even though some may claim otherwise.

So how do individuals protect their mandatory play-in money when the action comes to them? Do you call any raises in order to see the flop? At this point you have to let good play dictate. If you've got trash, you've got to get rid of it; you can rest assured that people will be attempting to snag those blinds to add to and replenish their stack.

If you try and steal back and the flop offers you nothing, you've lost more than you could have conceded to. Let solid play dictate; it cannot be said enough to the individual posting blinds. If you've got the goods, play the hand to win, not to protect your blinds. If playing to protect your blinds, you're playing NOT to lose; that's a defeatist attitude and will inevitably lead to such a result.

So how does a player get that money back? How do you protect your blinds? You protect your blinds by stealing blinds! As play continues, and the tournament progresses, it becomes more and more important to steal blinds at least once a round. This will take care of your concern about losing blinds, and your focused, strong play will take care of the rest.

Just as you are put in the player position in which you have the least potential to dictate the action, you'll also enjoy the opposite if you'll just remain patient and not make any stupid plays on weak hands. When playing late in the action, you can go after the blinds by raising on a strong draws, and you'll see that if you get very aggressive when you're holding worthwhile cards, the blinds will come back to you.

Just a few tips to consider the next time you're in poker tournament action and frustrated because you're dealt crud every time you're in the blinds. And when that happens, so be it, release your inner thief and take them back at the appropriate times. You can learn more and get all your poker & casino supplies at CasinoGamingStore.Com.