This article is for those players who are using HUD software or planning to use one. If you are a novice player, continue reading to find out how Blind Defense HUD stats help you to defend your blinds from steal effectively.
What is Blind Defense?
Blind defense refers to not folding to a pre-flop raise when you are in the big or small blind. Instead of folding and giving up your blinds, you defend your blinds by either calling or raising. Blind defense is an essential strategy that you must know in order to stop losing blinds whenever you face a preflop raise. If you give up your blinds every time you face a raise, it can be a major leak in your game that your opponents can exploit.
If you don’t know how to defend your blinds, read this: Blind Defense in Poker Explained
Blind Defense Against Stealing
Most of the experienced players attempt to steal your blinds when they are in late positions. If you do not defend your blinds against steals, you will be exploited and lose your blinds more often. Defending your blinds is most effective against steals with a re-raise. When you make a decent re-raise against an opponent who is trying to steal, the opponent will think twice before stealing on the future rounds. You will send a clear message to your opponent not to steal as you are capable of re-raising.
With the help of Blind Defense HUD stats, you will be able to defend your blinds from steal effectively. Let’s look at how to use these HUD stats to defend your blinds.
HUD Stats for Defending Blinds from Steal
There are two Blind Defense HUD stats that you should compare before defending your blinds from steal.
ATS (Attempt to Steal)
This stats shows how often a player steals from late positions. In some HUDs, it is called Steal%. If your HUD has positional steal percentages, look for individual ATS percentages from the Cutoff, Button and Small Blind.
3-bet Vs Steal
Also called Fold Vs Resteal in some HUDs, this is an important HUD that you should compare with Attempt to Steal to understand how a player reacts to a 3-bet when attempting to steal. If a player has a high 3-bet Vs Steal percentage, then the player usually folds to a re-raise (3-bet).
You can defend your blinds from steal by comparing both the stats.
Let’s Look at Some Examples
Player A: VPIP – 35/ PFR – 27/ BTN Steal – 60/ 3-bet Vs Steal – 75
VPIP and PFR suggest that the opponent is loose-aggressive who attempts to steal 60% of the time from the Button in an unopened pot. He has a high 3-bet Vs Steal of 75%, which means that he is more likely to fold to a 3-bet when attempting to steal. Therefore, you should definitely re-raise, even with a wide range and force your opponent to fold.
Player A: VPIP – 24/ PFR – 13/ BTN Steal – 32/ 3-bet Vs Steal – 18
VPIP and PFR suggest that the opponent is tight-aggressive who doesn’t attempt to steal a lot from the Button. Also, he rarely folds to a 3-bet in such a situation as he has a low 3-bet Vs Steal of 18%. He raises with a strong range from all positions, and you should defend your blinds with strong hands only.
Conclusion
ATS with 3-bet Vs Steal can give you great insights into your opponent’s tendency of stealing blinds. When you see that your opponent has High ATS and High 3-bet Vs Steal, you should defend your blinds with a re-raise. And, if your opponent has Low ATS and Low 3-bet Vs Steal, you should evaluate your hand before defending. Also, compare your opponent’s VPIP and PFR to identify his playing style. When all the stats seem favourable, you can defend your blinds from steal effectively.
