Win Money When They Straddle

You must make strategic adjustments, both before and after the flop, when there’s a straddle in play. Otherwise, you're simply leaving money on the table. Pots are much bigger and stacks will be flying back and forth, so it’s critical you get this close to right in-game.

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Written Version of this Episode

00:00 Introduction to Straddle Strategy

01:19 Adjusting Pre-Flop Raise Sizes with a Straddle

02:31 Playing in Games with Variable Straddles

03:18 Tightening Pre-Flop Ranges in Straddled Pots

04:22 Example Pre-Flop Ranges for Straddle Situations

06:31 Post-Flop Strategy Adjustments with a Straddle

07:49 Short Stack Adjustments in Straddle Games

09:15 Final Thoughts and Promotions

In this episode of our poker strategy podcast, hosts Mike Brady and Gary Blackwood dive deep into the art of playing effectively when there's a straddle in play. The straddle is a common but often misunderstood move in both live and online poker games, where a player voluntarily puts in a blind bet, effectively doubling the stakes and creating unique dynamics that can significantly impact your strategy. Mike and Gary explore the key adjustments you need to make pre-flop and post-flop to maximize your profits when facing a straddle, offering insights that apply to both cash games and tournaments.

The episode begins by explaining the different types of straddles and their impact on gameplay. Gary highlights the importance of adjusting your pre-flop raise sizes when a straddle is in play. He recommends reducing your open size, much like you would in a deep-stack tournament, to compensate for the effective reduction in stack depth caused by the straddle. This poker strategy podcast also covers the need to tighten your opening ranges, particularly when you have more players to worry about behind you who are more likely to defend their blinds or three-bet aggressively.

Listeners will gain practical advice on how to adjust their strategy based on the specific type of straddle they are facing, whether it's a standard under-the-gun straddle, a Mississippi straddle, or other variations. The hosts discuss the importance of playing tighter and stronger ranges, particularly in high-stakes games where stacks are deep, and the straddle has a more pronounced effect on effective stack size. They also explore the differences between playing in games with static and variable straddles, offering tips on how to navigate these dynamic environments.

As the conversation progresses, Mike and Gary delve into post-flop strategy adjustments. They discuss why continuation bet sizes should generally be smaller when a straddle is in play and how to make the most of your positional advantage. This poker strategy podcast also addresses the challenges of playing with shorter stacks due to the straddle, offering tips for maneuvering in these situations and maximizing your skill edge over less experienced opponents.

Tune in to this episode to learn how to effectively adjust your game when a straddle is in play, capitalize on opponents' mistakes, and enhance your overall poker strategy. Whether you're a cash game regular or a tournament grinder, this poker strategy podcast provides valuable insights to help you dominate in straddle situations.

Episode Transcript

Mike (00:00):
Let's level up your poker strategy.
I'm Mike Brady and I've got Poker Pro,
Gary Blackwood on the line to help you make more profitable
decisions when there's a straddle in play.

Gary (00:10):
That's right guys and girls.
Today we'll be discussing how to make changes to your own
strategy when somebody pops the straddle on.

Mike (00:17):
There are a few different types of straddles.
We'll be focusing on the most common type in this episode,
the under the gun straddle for two times the big blind.
For those who don't know,
a straddle is a voluntary blind bet made by a player
before the cards are dealt.
A player who straddles is effectively buying the big blind and
doubling the stakes.
You must make strategic adjustments both before and after the flop

(00:41):
when there's a straddle in play.
Pots are much bigger and stacks will be flying back and
forth, so it's critical you get this close to right in
game. Before we jump in,
I want to note that we're currently running a massive world
series of tournaments sale.
Courses and bundles are between 30 and 51% off.
Head over to upswingpoker.com

(01:02):
and click the banner at the top of the screen to
learn more.
I'll explain a bit more about that at the end of
this episode as well.
Now let's get into straddle strategy.
Here's my first question to you,
Gary. How should you adjust your pre-flop raise size when there's
a straddle in play?

Gary (01:19):
It's so simple,
so obvious,
but still so important.
Imagine you're playing level one of a tournament.
Everyone is super deep.
You can open much larger 3x even 4x in certain spots.
Imagine now you're playing level 50 of the same tournament.
Everyone's got 20 big blinds.
On average,
you raise to much smaller sizes.
Cash games with a straddle are no different.

(01:39):
We assume the straddle is now the big blind,
so when someone straddles,
we're suddenly playing half the number of big blinds effective and
as a result,
we must raise to smaller sizes.
If I'm playing five ten,
I'll normally open to $30,
but when the $20 straddle goes on,
I'll change my opening size to $50.
That's going from 3x to 2.5x.

(01:59):
It doesn't sound like a massive difference,
but it really does make a difference post flop,
especially on future streets,
so it's very important our open size gets a little smaller
to account for the straddle.
One last thing I want to say is that generally the
straddle is double the big blind,
but if you're playing one two,
you sometimes straddle to five and if you're playing five ten,
you can even straddle to 25 in certain places.

(02:21):
So that is really important.
When the straddle becomes 2.5x
the big blind,
it's even more important that we make these changes.

Mike (02:30):
You might even play in some games where you can
straddle to any amount.
I actually played a low stakes cash game last night where
a player straddled all in for like 80 bucks in a
one three game.
So in a lot of these games you can straddle to
whatever you want and if a player straddles,
if you're playing two five and a player straddles to 30,
that is a very unique game that you're playing and I'm
actually going to speak to that a little bit at the

(02:51):
end of this episode when I talk about some sort of
tournament comparisons.
There's going to be several tournament comparisons throughout this episode,
but I'll speak to that a little bit more towards the
end. Moving on here,
Gary, how should you adjust your pre-flop raising range?
For example,
if you're seated in the cutoff position or the button,
you have a whole extra player to worry about when there's

(03:11):
a straddle in play.
This has to lead to tighter play,
but just how much tighter?

Gary (03:17):
So as you say,
there's now an extra player to worry about.
That extra player is in the blinds and we all know
how much people love to call when they're in the blinds,
so we're now less likely to get our raise through and
steal the blinds,
and we want to considerably strengthen our range.
My advice here is to take your opening range from each
position and trim off the bottom parts of it.
So if you're in a spot where the first pocket pair

(03:38):
you'll open is say pocket fours and above,
let's trim off those fours and go for fives and above.
If we're in a spot where six five suited is the
bottom of our suited connector opening range,
let's trim off the six five and go seven six suited
and above.
If ace ten offsuit is the worst offsuit ace that you
open, we take that out and keep in ace Jack offsuit.
It sounds pernickety,
but it is really important that we remember our raise is

(04:01):
less likely to get through,
we're more likely to go to a flop and we want
our range to be a little stronger as a result,
so we win more money post flop.
Remember, the game is also halved,
IE, the number of big blinds effective that you're playing for,
which means it's a little more likely you're going to play
for stacks and if you're a little more likely to play
for stacks,
you want your range to be that little bit stronger.

Mike (04:23):
To go over a specific example of what Gary's talking
about here,
I've pulled up some pre-flop ranges from the Smash Live Cash
course that Nick Petrangelo made on upswingpoker.com.
It's a great course.
It comes with literally thousands of pre-flop ranges that cover really
unique live situations like playing with a straddle.
If you play live,
this course is arguably worth checking out just for these ranges.

(04:44):
There's really not anything else like it that I've seen,
but anyway,
on the button,
200 big blinds deep,
no ante and no rake.
The button raises 47.2%
of hands when there's not a straddle in play.
So 200 big blinds deep,
47.2% of hands on the button and that's when you just
have the small blind and the big blind to worry about

(05:05):
a normal game of No Limit Holdem.
But so let's say the under the gun player straddled and
it now folds to you on the button,
you're now a hundred straddles deep instead of 200 big blinds
deep and the raising range for the button because of that
extra player goes all the way down to 34.2%,
a massive difference.
On the button with 200 blinds we're raising hands as weak

(05:26):
as Ace four offsuit we're raising Jack three suited sometimes,
jack eight offsuit even gets there for a little sliver of
the time.
King eight offsuit,
but then when that straddle happens,
we're folding King eight offsuit.
The worst offsuit ace we're playing is Ace five.
We're nowhere close to playing Jack three suited.
The range really tightens up considerably.
You're playing roughly a quarter fewer hands.

(05:46):
So as Gary said,
it's really important to be mindful that you have that extra
player to worry about who's potentially going to defend their blind
or three bet or do anything to put up resistance to
your raise.
The button is kind of an extreme example.
It has the widest opening range to begin with,
but if we look at any other formation,
a cutoff opening range is going to go from say 30%

(06:08):
to 26%,
so that's a solid little drop as well.
The earlier positions are going to drop fewer percentage points than
that, but in all positions you are going to be playing
a good bit tighter compared to how you would normally play
when there are just two blinds to worry about.
Let's move on to post flop.
How and why does post flop strategy shift when there's a
straddle in play?

Gary (06:30):
So again,
let's come back and use tournaments as an example.
A bit of an extreme example,
but it does get my point across.
Imagine you're a hundred big blinds effective in a tournament.
You can use a lot of larger continuation bets in a
lot of different scenarios because of that deeper stack size,
but now let's imagine we're 15 big blinds effective.
We're using infinitely smaller bet sizes all the time as a
result. Straddles in cash games land somewhere in the middle of

(06:52):
these two examples.
We'll so rarely have a straddle that makes us 15 big
blinds effective,
but often we'll have a straddle that means we go from
a hundred bigs to 50 bigs and therefore our continuation bet
sizes start to get smaller.
Overbetting, for example,
is less necessary in general when you're only 50 big blinds
deep if your end goal is to get the money in
by the end of the hand,
so we can size down slightly and still achieve the same

(07:15):
results. One last thing I think is really important to mention.
If we're playing a super deep game where everyone has like
400 big blinds and then the straddle goes on to make
us 200 big blinds effective,
all the adjustments we have mentioned so far are adjustments that
we don't need to make.
There's a minimal difference in strategy between playing 400 bigs and
200 bigs effective,
but when we go from 200 to 100 effective and very

(07:37):
much so when we go from a hundred to 50 bigs
or 60 big blinds to 30 big blinds effective,
those are the points where we must make these changes to
our pre-flop and our post flop game.

Mike (07:48):
Before we wrap up,
I want to say a quick word on playing with super
shallow stacks.
Since many of you listening will encounter straddles in one three
games and two five games,
I feel compelled to include some adjustments for when you or
your opponents are short stacked,
significantly short stacked.
This is going to overlap with some tournament strategy we've covered
in this episode and past episodes.

(08:09):
As stacks diminish in size,
your pre-flop hand selection should start to shift,
so not just your frequency,
not just your sizing,
but also the specific hands you choose to play.
We will start to value high card hands more and speculative
hands like suited connectors and small pairs less.
This is because the implied odds of those speculative hands,
which is kind of what makes them worth playing in a

(08:29):
lot of scenarios,
go down when there are short stacks,
which makes chasing sets flushes and straights less enticing.
Put simply,
your implied odds aren't very good when your opponent only has
20 or 25 big blinds behind.
It's just not worth chasing that set or flush.
And we've touched on this already,
but when playing against players with very short stacks,
say around 20 or so straddles,

(08:50):
you should raise even smaller preflop than what Gary recommended earlier.
If you'd normally go 2.5x
the straddle,
consider a straight up min raise of 2x the straddle.
This would be if say you have a couple of short
stack opponents behind,
or maybe the player that's straddled is the short stack.
That's the scenario where I'm going to reduce my open size
to kind of play their stack.

(09:10):
That way your opponent won't make as much money when they
shove over your raises and you are forced to fold.
If you had a hand that's not worth calling their shove.
Continuing to raise large basically gives their three bet shoving range
free money.
Really sucks when you raise a hand like King jack offsuit,
they jam for 22 blinds or something like that and you're
forced to fold.
You'd rather risk less when you do that.
Additionally, it gives you a little extra maneuverability post flop.

(09:33):
If you raise to a smaller size,
the pot size will be a little smaller post flop.
That means the stack to pot ratio is going to be
higher. That means you're going to have more room to maneuver
after the flop,
and that actually increases the value of your skill edge.
The pot's already big and they only have a little bit
behind. It's not really much of a skill game anymore,
it's just who hits the pair.
You get the money and see what happens.
Kind of flip some coins,
but if you keep the pot a little bit smaller,

(09:55):
skill plays a little bit more of a role.
And if you're listening to the Upswing Poker Level Up podcast,
I assume you're a player who has an edge on their
opponents. Speaking of tournaments,
the big World series of tournament sale is happening right now
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(10:15):
there's even some bundles that we've thrown together with all of
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Head over to upswingpoker.com
and click the banner at the top of your screen.
Don't miss this opportunity to learn strategic secrets from Elite Pros,
Nick Petrangelo and Darren Elias at a huge discount.
If this episode has helped out your straddle game,
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(10:36):
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