Blind vs blind is where online poker games quietly print money. You are fighting over a small pot, but the ranges are wide, the positions are weird, and the mistakes are massive. Most players either over fold because they feel out of position, or they over fight because it feels like “just blinds”. Both leaks get punished.
Your job preflop is to build a plan that survives contact with the rake, stack depth, and the opponent type. Relative strength is everything here, because hands that look pretty in unopened pots often become fragile once ranges widen and 3 bets start flying.
Why Blind vs Blind Feels Different
In a blind vs blind pot, both players are forced in, and nobody is capped the way a tight early position open might be. The Small Blind gets first chance to apply pressure, but plays the rest of the hand out of position. The Big Blind gets position postflop, but starts with dead money invested and faces a very aggressive opener.
This creates a unique combo of incentives. The SB should open wider than most positions. The BB should defend much wider than versus BTN, because you are getting a price and you have position. At the same time, online rake makes low equity calls less attractive, so you want fewer “hope” defenses and more hands that either realize well or can push fold equity.
Small Blind Strategy: Open Raising With Intent
In most online pools, the SB should be opening very frequently. If you are playing 100bb deep, a solid baseline is a high frequency raise first in strategy, with a smaller limping component only if you have a reason. Many players auto limp because they fear playing bloated pots out of position. That is passive, and it hands EV to competent BBs.
Use sizing that keeps your range elastic. On many online sites, 2.5x is a clean default. 3x is fine versus players who under defend. A smaller size increases BB defense frequency, which is good if you outplay postflop and keep your range wide, but it also increases rake impact, so do not go tiny without a plan.
- Value opens are obvious: premium pairs, strong aces, broadways.
- Utility opens matter more BvB: suited kings, suited connectors, one gappers, hands that can barrel.
- Trash folds still exist: the worst offsuit junk that cannot defend a 3 bet and cannot realize equity.
A mistake I see constantly when multi tabling is opening hands that are technically “in the chart”, then folding too much versus 3 bets. That is burning EV twice. If your open range contains hands that cannot continue versus a normal BB 3 bet strategy, you need either a tighter open or a defense plan.
Big Blind Strategy: Defend Wide, Not Weak
The BB has position postflop, and you already have 1bb in there. So you defend a lot. The leak is defending with hands that do not do anything well. We do not want “set mining” calls with tiny pairs purely to hit a set, because in rake environments you need more than implied odds. You want hands that can win without flopping a miracle, or hands that can turn into aggressive lines.
Your BB toolkit has three actions: fold, call, and 3 bet. The best players build their strategy around a strong, mixed 3 bet range and a disciplined calling range that realizes equity.
- Call hands that play well in position: suited aces, suited broadways, suited connectors, pairs.
- 3 bet for value with hands that crush SB opens: QQ+, AK, and a healthy amount of AQ, JJ, TT depending on opponent.
- 3 bet as a bluff with blockers and playability: A5s to A2s, K5s type hands, some suited connectors at deeper stacks.
The reason blockers matter is simple EV logic. When you 3 bet with an ace blocker, you reduce the chance SB has the top continuing hands, and you increase fold equity. That matters a lot when the pot is small and you are trying to win it preflop.
3 Bet Pots: The Real Money Spot
Blind vs blind is where 3 bet pots happen the most, because both ranges are wide and both players smell weakness. You need to know what you are trying to accomplish with each 3 bet. It is either value because worse continues, or pressure because folds are profitable and you have blockers.
Think in terms of continuing ranges, not hands. If the SB opens very wide and then over folds to 3 bets, you should 3 bet a lot, even with hands that are not strong, because the immediate pot pickup is high EV. If SB opens wide but 4 bets aggressively and defends well postflop, you tighten your bluffs and 3 bet a more polarized range.
Pay attention to who is left to act when you get into blind vs blind sequences in games with straddles or unusual formats. In standard cash, there is nobody left, so you can apply maximum pressure. In some online variants, extra blinds or antes change the pot odds and tighten the equilibrium slightly.
4 Bets: Stay Sane, Stay Profitable
Many players turn BvB into an ego war. That is expensive. Your 4 bet strategy should be mostly linear for value, with a small bluff component when opponent 3 bets too wide. Position is inverted here. SB is out of position postflop, so SB 4 betting creates a big pot where you will be guessing. That means SB should 4 bet a bit tighter than BB would from position, all else equal.
From the BB, you can 4 bet more aggressively because you will have position postflop if called. That positional edge increases realization and makes some thinner value and bluff 4 bets viable.
- SB versus BB 3 bet: value heavy 4 bets, pick bluffs carefully.
- BB versus SB 3 bet: more ability to lean on position, mix in more pressure.
Rake and Stack Depth: Two Silent Inputs
Online rake punishes marginal calls. That is not an excuse to over fold, it is a reason to upgrade the quality of your continues. Edges come from clean preflop construction. If you call and then fit or fold postflop, you are paying rake to donate.
At 100bb, many hands can profitably 3 bet bluff because stacks are not deep enough to realize massive implied odds for callers. At 200bb plus, suited connectors and suited wheel aces move up in value because you can win big pots when you hit strong draws and disguised hands. At shallow stacks, you should reduce speculative calls and increase aggressive preflop action.
Exploitative Adjustments You Should Actually Use
GTO gives you a baseline. Online, you make money by identifying pool tendencies. Here are the three most common BvB leaks and how you punish them.
- SB opens too big: Defend tighter, 3 bet more linear for value, and punish with more calls in position when price is bad for SB postflop.
- SB over folds to 3 bets: Increase BB 3 bet bluff frequency. Use ace and king blockers. Keep sizing consistent so you do not telegraph.
- BB over defends: SB should open bigger and value bet thinner later. Preflop, widen your value open and reduce garbage bluffs.
Context dictates strategy. A thinking reg will notice if you only 3 bet premiums. A maniac will give you action and over bluffs postflop. Your preflop plan should already account for that, because preflop is where you decide how often you arrive on later streets with range advantage.
Hand Scenario: The Price of Position
Game: 100bb online cash, heads up in the blinds. Hero: BB with 8♠7♠. Villain: SB is a competent reg who opens wide and folds a bit too much to 3 bets.
Preflop: SB opens to 2.5bb. Hero 3 bets to 9bb. SB calls.
Flop: K♥6♣2♠. Pot is 18bb.
Action: SB checks. Hero bets 5.5bb.
This is the point. Your hand is not a made hand, but it is not dead. You have a backdoor flush, a backdoor straight component, and you have the range story. Your 3 bet range contains strong kings and overpairs. SB check calling range is full of mid pairs, some weak kings, and floats. A small c bet pressures the weakest part of that range and sets up turn barrels on spades, 5, 9, and many high cards.
Notice what we did not do. We did not flat preflop to “see a flop cheap”. We took position, used fold equity, and created a pot where our range advantage matters. That is how you avoid hope poker while still defending wide.
Common Mistakes to Cut Immediately
- Open folding too much in the SB because you fear playing out of position. You are surrendering forced EV.
- Defending the BB with dominated offsuit hands that cannot continue versus barrels. Yes you are getting a price, no it is not automatic.
- 3 betting only premiums. You become readable, and the SB prints by opening any two and folding when you finally wake up.
- Calling 3 bets out of the SB with hands that cannot realize. If you call, you need a postflop plan beyond check fold.
Key Takeaway
Blind vs blind preflop is a wide range battle where EV comes from disciplined aggression. In the SB, open frequently but only with hands that have a plan versus 3 bets. In the BB, defend wide but prioritize hands that realize equity and include a real 3 bet bluff strategy built around blockers and playability. Respect online rake by cutting passive, low equity calls, and let position plus fold equity do the heavy lifting.
