I like your line. Really player dependent for me.
c/r flop might be good vs someone honest and not too agresive.
lead T also have some benefits as you write, but they will never buy it on turn with any equity, so imo you should shove most rivers to be ok with that.

as played> c/r flop > leading turn

With 20bbs I'm not a fan of defending A6o honestly. If we are deep sure but with 20bbs I think it's optimistic at best.

Don't really care for anything about this line as it's the standard float the flop cbet and lead river when they check back turn. I've seen that many times and will check back turn with made hands just to get them to bluff it off on the river. Just because he checked back turn doesn't mean he's giving up or has nothing.

I actually like calling river and leading turn and shipping river. Then you actually put him in a tough spot.

If he was shorter and we had stats that said he opens the CO a lot and can fold to 3b's I like shipping it pre but he has 100bb's and I don't know anything about him so I'm not sure if that is good or not.

I guess I'm just a nit in the blinds. Yes I know we are getting great odds, have an ace, yada yada yada but we are OOP, with a weak ace and only have 20bbs so there isn't a ton of post flop play to be had with our stack size. We are going to miss the flop a lot and then basically are playing chicken with the biggest stack at the table. With 20bbs left I'm ok with just folding and waiting for a better spot in position. I don't think calling is bad but I just try and play the least OOP as possible. Maybe thats wrong and I should start defending? What kind of range are you defending with?

I'm not a believer that when he checks back turn he is weak/has air. Why wouldn't he check Qx behind? What is he gonna get three streets of value from? If I'm V in this hand I check back turn with Qx, 4x, KK+ just so I look weak and hope you either bet river for value with worse or bluff river. So now you lead river for 4bbs with 13 left and I just ship on you and make your life miserable.

I'm really not sure what else to call it besides standard. Maybe common? I see it everyday...someone raises pre, cbet flop, give up on turn, V leads river and takes down the pot. I've been doing that for years and think a lot of other are doing it as well. So my counter adjustment is to check back turn with made hands and let them bluff river/value with worse. I don't do this play all the time but I do it with some frequency against the right people.

I like the c/c, lead, ship line because I think it looks really strong and we may be able to get him to fold some one pair hands.

I also shove pre against certain V's but it is really V dependent for me.

My BB defend range is something I have been actively working on and currently it is certainly too wide, but am defending around 50%. I think it should be 40-45% or maybe less. Vs. some villains I agree shoving is great with a lot of Ax and probably a polarized shoving range. I think that it also may be good to have NO shoving range in some spots like this, flatting wide and folding the rest. Would be interesting to hear thoughts on that.

All of what you said makes sense. I think with that line Villain basically has to have Qx or better to call river.

I have a few questions about defending as it's something that I haven't implemented into my game.

1. Are you defending wide from any position open or just late position?
2. Multi way pots or just HU?
3. If we are defending we aren't just looking to hit a flop, we are looking for spots to take away the pot post flop..right?

The more I think about it I kind of like having a wide flatting range because it still keeps them guessing and we can disguise the strength of our hand. It could also be a good spot to flat with the stronger hands to keep the dominated hands in that would have folded to a 3b/shove.

I agree if we take that line of c/c, b, b he would have to have at least Qx to call and he may even fold a Qx. Could also be suicide as he could be setting a trap but it's a risk I'd be willing to take.

Good thread so far.

Great post Doug. BB defending is definitely something I'm going to have to work on and implement into my game. Really am a fan of this

I think there are actually a lot of spots at many different stack
sizes in many different positions where never 3betting is going to be
a very effective strategy and tough to play against,

Honestly I think that is a great out side of the box way to think and it's going to give me something to work on and think about for sure.

Would definitely be interested to see some more hands where you (or others) defend out of the BB with varying stack sizes and take different post flops lines.

So what do you think about BB defend here? FT 11$ cubed. Booth seems decent players.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, 11 Tournament, 15,000/30,000 Blinds 3,750 Ante (7 handed) -

SB (t389,034)
BB (t831,399)
UTG (t986,716)
(MP1) (t717,994)
MP2 (t267,521)
CO (t822,509)
Button (t1,177,827)

5 folds, SB raises to t60,000, BB calls t30,000

Flop: (t146,250) 4d, 5c, 4s (2 players)
SB bets t64,444, BB calls t64,444

Turn: (t275,138) 10s (2 players)
SB bets t260,840 (All-In), BB calls t260,840

River: (t796,818) 7d (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t796,818

Results:
SB had Jd, Js (two pair, Jacks and fours).
BB had 10c, 7h (two pair, tens and sevens).
Outcome: SB won t796,818

Unfortunately I'm a US grinder and can't play Stars.

ugh... that sucks...

Great thread lads,

Really enjoyed the read and the hand posts as it's something I'm trying to improve on myself

I'm definitely a fan of defending big blind with a wide range and taking stabs in unusual spots so for me it's a great read and good to hear different opinions,

Personally and this is just my opinion fellas ...I'm not in love with the T7off flop call of 65K on a 445 rainbow, This is probably a hand I would fold on flop (nit) and probably even pre.

Only thing that makes me peel more (PRE) is that we are playing HU in position Vs such a wide range, But when we flop this board he's barreling all hands that beat us and is likely to continue barreling lots of turns. I just think we are losing chips here in long run by calling flop.

Like if hero doesn't turn a pair which is more than often then we just have to give up the pot or turn our hands into a bluff which in my experience don't get a lot of credit out of BB as you are repping a very narrow range.

The defend v SB pre flop is probably correct I'm probably just tight! A lot for me though is player dependant and skill level. I know he's c/b'n nearly 100% of the time and we can stab when checked to us on turn etc (if he checks) and also suppose theres some good turns for us like 6,7,T's but think a lot of the time when we call flop and brick turn we just have to give up when he barrells.

I'm just trying to look at the hand in general and not the way it played out.

Would be curious to know how wide you are defending this spot from other postions, Like what hands do you fold B on B etc

Great thread!!

Yeah definitely agree Doug. It's also a spot that comes up often and for me something that could do with some fine tuning. I defend really wide out of bb in MTT's probably not 100% of the time but not sure maybe 80% fold all trash hands like 93 type stuff. I am starting to defend a lot more as it seems to be the new craze. Like you say experimenting different lines and been aware of new situations is how we get better. Great post though Doug and could do with some advice on the omelette can never make then without it turning into a mess :)