Low Stakes No Limit Hold'em - Completing The Small Blind

In this article we will discuss why you should "complete" from the small blind less often, and why it's a major leak the bankroll of most low stakes cash game players.

Winning at low stakes no limit hold'em is tougher than a lot of poker players realize - the average low stakes game online is tougher than your local home game. Most online poker experts would agree that the skill level at Full Tilt .05 / .10 no limit full ring games are about as tough as a brick and mortar casino $1/$2 game, and many would argue that the online games are actually tougher. That said, the $1 / $2 no limit cash games at my local casino are very soft - so let's discuss a crucial concept that can help you adapt and beat the low stakes online ring games.

When seeing several limpers enter a pot without open raising, and holding cards like "hi-low suited" (something like K2 suited) most players think the correct play is to complete, since you are offered huge "pot odds" by the presence of limpers in the pot. I would argue this line of thinking is a major drain in your bankroll - while even though you are being offered odds of 8 to 1 or even better, you still are playing from a position of "negative expected value" and thus, expect to lose money most of the time.

A few points about why you shouldn't complete with hands like this:

• Most players overplay seemingly good flops that are in fact not good for your hand - holding King deuce out of position on a King high flop is very rarely a profitable situation. If you lead by betting your top pair and are called - you probably aren't ahead and playing the turn you will be faced with a tough choice, do you double barrell? Check/call? Fold to any bet? This is why playing any hand out of position is a skill left for only top player.
• A good player in the big blind will often still choose to raise and "punish the limpers. If this happens, you will have lost one full bb without seeing a flop instead of the "expected" half bb if you would have made the more valuable play in folding.
• If you flop a good hand, you will usually only win a small pot. Players just aren't likely to give you much action if you flop trip deuces, and two pair consisting of top/bottom while occasionally a great spot to double up is still vulnerable to being outdrawn.
• Most players will lose extra bets by calling with draws or marginal holdings like middle pair or top pair weak kicker. If you entered this pot speculatively because you were offered attractive pot odds then you are likely to face bets from weak players that also force you to "leak off" your bankroll by chasing the draw - the problem with playing this way is that when your draw gets there, these same weak players aren't likely to give you action for a bit pot!

Overall, I would argue that most players can significantly improve their winrate just by setting a fixed range of hands they will complete with, I would reccomend Ace Ten and better, only mixing in hands like middle suited connectors if you are at a table with loose agressive players that offer strong implied odds and a deep stack.