Battles of the Blinds

Confrontations between the blinds can occasionally lead to some pretty big confrontations.

Even when your hand gets there in a strange spot, the wide range of hands that your opponent can hold makes for some difficult decisions on every street.

On a board of [3d3c2hKs5c] with over 10,000 in the pot, over 100 big blinds at this early stage in the tournament, Matt Affleck sits in the big blind and faces a bet of 4,150 from the small blind. He tanks for nearly two minutes before calling and showing [6h4s] for a rivered gutshot straight draw. After dragging this pot, Affleck is up to 34,500.

Other pots can grow from almost nothing. On an adjacent table to Affleck’s, another battle of the blinds is underway. On a board of [Jd6c3h5c] with just over 1,000 in the pot, the small blind checks, Heather Sue Mercer bets 1,500, and the small blind check-raises to 5,000. Mercer quickly calls, and the river is the [9h].

The small blind goes all-in for 20,100, and Mercer, who was in a pot of just 1,000 a minute ago, now faces a decision for nearly two-thirds of her chips. After about a minute, Mercer raps the table and mucks her hand, yielding the pot to her opponent. After a strong start, she still has over a starting stack with about 32,000.