Small Blind and Flop %

[RCUtting]

First of all I really like playing poker
and I am trying to become a good player so
any help I get from the Forum is greatly
appreciated.

I play on Absolute Poker

If you are sitting in the Small Blind
and you are holding say

10 3 off suit or
9 5 off suit

assuming no one has raised the pot, also
the blinds are small

better to fold the small blind or call?

Second question

tracking my stats on Absolute Poker

Games played: 200
Flops seen: 38 Percent
Winning percentage: 53 Percent

Is this a good percentage of Wins to Flops ?
Am I seeing too many flops ?

Thanks for your help

[Muck]

If you are sitting in the Small Blind
and you are holding say

10 3 off suit or
9 5 off suit

Statically if no one has raised and you don’t think the BB will raise it’s almost always worth completing the SB.

Thanks to you’re initial forced bet you only need to have a 26% (or greater) chance of winning to make it a good call. To put that in perspective check out this heads up comparison:

AKs 70%
vs
72o 30%

Odds have always been my weak point so these may not be 101% correct but the idea should be correct.

[MrDarling]

As a new player who are still learning to play post flop I fold a lot of hands in the SB. I might complete with any hand if 5 or 6 other people limped in.
Less then that I will not complete with most off suit hands, but will complete all suited hands. I might complete Kx-Qx if I have a feel to the way the table play, so I don't get stacked with TPNK.

SB is the worse position to play, so it is easier to play hands like suited connectors when you only continue with the hands if you hit it big (ie if you hold 56s, you wont play in a big pot if all you hit is a 6, even if it is Top pair on the flop. However if you flop a str or a flush you might be able to get people to give you some money)

[Muck]

Darling makes a good point in regard to consider other things as well as odds. Since those are only the entire picture when a call is putting you all-in.

My rule is to complete a lot but fold on most flops.

I wish I kept stats because I’d be interested to know how much money I make from the SB with poor hands. I.e. if the times I hit 2 pair make up for all those post flop folds.

I think it would be close.

[Jernej Zorec]

i think it wouldnt be that close at all
i fold a lot of hands in SB, needs to be sooted connector at least for me to call and even then i like at least 3 or 4 limpers

sure with any 2 u have odds against 1 random hand but if u consider there is already 4 people in and they dont exactly limp with random hands, and u will be first to act, those odds dont look that good anymore

only have nl25 6mx db with 15k hands, (including big tilt and shit play which made me go to 500$ and back to almost 0)
my vpip for sb is 46%
net is -528$
and without blinds is -80$

[snoogins47]

If a call put you all-in, then you should probably be completing with any two.

In the real world all the post-flop fun comes into play. In NL it's probably more dependent on how bad your opponents that have limped into the pot are. In FL, there's lots of spots where total trash hands probably aren't worth getting involved, even if you're winning more than your share at present, since you're giving up a lot of equity being out of position and having to play speculative stuff.

As for flops seen: you'll need to specify what game, structure, limit, etc. you're playing, but 38% is pretty high for almost any game of hold'em Though if it's only after 200 hands, there's no telling what your VPIP% really is.

[Muck]

Hummm this is looking like a clear hole in my game.

Thanks for the advice all.

[supafrey]

I complete 99.5% of the time if there's no raise.

[RCUtting]

Thanks for the advice.. it's cleared things
up alot...

I mostly play NL Tourney's and SNG's

[MrDarling]

I complete 99.5% of the time if there's no raise.

Cool. But is this something you will recommend a new poker player.
Someone who has hard time laying TPNK or 3PGK...
When your post flop game is advanced enough its ok to play almost any 2 hands (watch any HSP) however for us mortal people, its better to try avoiding these sticky situation when we flop TPNK and we have no idea if other villain in the hand has a better kicker,are on a draw, love their 2PTK or simply betting with air.

Playing micro level I now fold many of hands where chances are I am ahead. Especially in unraised pots.

[JohnnyCache]

Well, do you want the right answer? The right answer is, complete your small blind if you're going to get to play a hand for half-value.

even if it's 7 2. Hell, you should actually RAISE once in a while.

If you can't fold when you don't have a hand, all the poker statistics in the world won't save you (trust me - this is the reason there's no beamer in my driveway)

[MrDarling]

Well, do you want the right answer? The right answer is, it depends

There is no right answer. This is poker dude. If there were right answers the bots will kill the game. As it go, the bots just make an ok income playing against players whi think they know the right answer .

No offense meant to any one, but this is really so depended from situation to situation :
If the table is real tight, I might complete every time.
If the table is real loose and my post play is real good I might complete every time.
If I play with tricky aggressive players, I'll probably only complete strong drawing hands...

If my post flop game is real good, I might complete every time.

[AHBrownell]

One major point to consider - which nobody mentioned - is that you are playing out of position after the flop when you call in the SB. So, your decisions will be harder, and your implied odd and EV will be much lower.

One thing most players who are still new to the game, hell, one thing all players tend to overlook, is position. Its just so important. If you folded every hand except for AA, KK, QQ, and AK from the SB, you probably would not have much different results to a player who played a much larger range. You have a negative expectation in the SB - regardless of how good you are. I try to lose the least money possible by just folding marginal hands, unless I have many limpers in the pot ahead of me or medium/small pocket pairs.

[MrDarling]

One major point to consider - which nobody mentioned - is that you are playing out of position after the flop when you call in the SB...

[quote="MrDarling"]...SB is the worse position to play,...[/b]

And being un position aware is a new players problem. You can't be decent in poker until you understand position.
Sure, it took me few good month to understand it myself, and I still play way too many hands in EP (though in 6 max) vut until you understand the power of position, you are losing money