Have you ever found yourself in a battle of the poker blinds? It’s a situation many poker players are unprepared for, simply because it can be so unexpected. After all, on average, most hands will see action long before it folds to the blinds. 

For example, there’s often action before or on the button, so it’s a good time to review what the button means in poker. That said, blind battles happen more often than you may think, especially in online poker tournaments. Rather than risk being taken by surprise, let’s look at what you can do if you find yourself playing blind vs blind poker.

What Do Blinds Mean in Poker?

Poker blinds are mandatory bets placed by players in the small blind and big blind positions, so knowing how they work is an essential basic poker strategy. Poker blind rules put the big blind one position directly to the left of the small blind at the beginning of each hand. The blinds are put in fixed bets before play starts. For instance, in a $2/$5 cash game, the small blind would place a $2 bet and the big blind would place a $5 bet. 

After that, preflop betting begins, starting with the player “under the gun,” that is, directly to the left of the big blind. This player can call the big blind, raise, or fold. The action then moves clockwise around the table, with the small blind and big blind being the last two to act. 

For every betting round that follows, the small blind starts the action. If the small blind is out, the next player to the left begins. When the hand is over, the blinds move one position clockwise, and it’s time for a new hand. The primary disadvantage of playing the blinds is that you’re always out of position after the flop.

While this is not everything you need to know about poker blinds, the betting order is the most important to build your strategy options. 

The Battle of the Blinds

In online poker, blind-versus-blind action occurs when all the other players fold before the flop, leaving the small and big poker blinds to battle it out. This is where the importance of position in poker is vital. In this scenario, the big blind is always in position, meaning that the small blind has to act first every time. As a result, the small blind can take the initiative by open raising, but the big blind can defend from position. 

There are two general strategic approaches in this situation. The first is a simpler raise-only strategy that’s good for beginners. The second is a more advanced mixed limp-raise strategy. Learn about both of them in turn, applying the mixed strategy to 100BB, 40BB, and 15BB games.

Small Blind vs. Big Blind: A Simplified Approach

A simplified small blind strategy, derived from understanding poker positions like small blind and big blind, can serve you well in small-stakes games, should it come down to a battle of the blinds. 

Basically, if the flop is advantageous for your range, you should c-bet every single time from the small blind. This would include nine-high (or better) boards with rainbow (cards of all different suits) or two-tone (cards of two different suits) textures. 

If the flop is very bad for your hand, check every time. This will include monotone boards (all one suit) and boards that are eight-high or lower.

If the big blind looks weak, exploit them by c-betting every time the flop comes monotone or poorly connected (8-3-2, for example).

100BB Mixed Blind Strategy

So, you’re 100 big blinds deep in a cash game – confirmation that you are choosing the best poker table for deep stack play – and you’re playing from the poker small blind vs big blind. In this situation, you definitely want to get into the pot, and the best way to do this is to adopt a mixed limp-raise strategy. Play with a very wide range, but only raise with the very strongest hands. Otherwise, get comfortable with being a calling station.

In the big blind position, you’ll want to play in a very polarized way, iso-raising from position with a fairly broad range and using your strong hands to build the pot. This is a poker blind strategy that builds on general preflop strategies with deep stacks. Don’t be so polarized that you give the game away, though. Sometimes you’ll need to improvise your poker strategy.

In response, the small blind should 3-bet with very strong hands (pair of nines and better) as well as any hands with an ace or a king. Otherwise, it’s best to call with a fairly broad range, even down to hands like 7-4 and 10-2.

40BB Mixed Blind Strategy 

When it’s blind versus blind, and you’re 40 big blinds deep, there’s less money on the table, which means more scope to raise from the small blind. Your strategy here veers toward short stack cash game strategy rather than standard, deep stack poker. The main idea is still to build the pot with your strongest hands, but now you want to open up your range for a chance to connect with different board types.

The big blind’s response should be to 3-bet only with the strongest hands. Or you can call with a very wide range. If the small blind limps, iso-bet with a polarized range and check back with hands that you want to play.

15 BB Mixed Blind Strategy

Things are quite different when you’re down to 15 big blinds. The small blind’s best strategy is now to go all in with the majority of suited and unsuited aces, or limp in with stronger and weaker hands. It’s essentially a push/fold strategy for short stacks. Keeping your very strongest hands in your limping range will help you call off your opponent if they go all-in.

If the small blind shoves, the big blind should do a standard equity calculation and respond accordingly, demonstrating how stack size affects blind strategy. Against a limp, you should have a differentiated response, including shoves, raises, and checks with different hand types at varied frequencies. Iso-raise with your strongest hands, and consider shoving with smaller pocket pairs as well as A-2 offsuit through to A-J offsuit.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Players sometimes oversimplify poker blinds strategy, so you want to avoid common poker mistakes in blind vs blind play and recognize when opponents make them. 

The first is overfolding to big blind aggression from the small blind. All too often, players give up marginal hands that they could take to the flop. The solution is to call with a fairly broad range of hands.

The second is when players in the big blind overfold to a small opening raise from the small blind. Small blind players will exploit this weakness mercilessly by opening a large number of hands, so open up your calling range rather than keep folding.

Chopping the Blinds

Sometimes, you’ll have a situation where all the other players fold to the blinds before the flop comes. Some live games will then allow you to chop the big and small blinds in poker, which means that you take them off the table and start a new hand. The advantage of chopping the blinds is that you don’t have to pay rake after the flop. This can work out to your advantage in low-stakes games with a rake of 25% of the pot. However, if the stakes are high or the rake is comparatively low, you’re better off gearing up for battle.

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