Playing the Blinds Against a Calling Station
Most station strategy assumes you have position: isolate, bet three streets, size up. From the blinds you have none of that, and the adjustments change more than most players realize.
From Poker Ascent: 110,000+ drills across 10 skills, graded against the player type you are facing.
Lead your made hands; do not check-raise
The check-raise needs the station to bet, and stations check behind constantly with hands that happily call. Leading puts money in from the worst position against the one player who never punishes it and always pays it.
Defend tighter than against a normal opener
Position matters MORE against a station, not less: your whole profit comes from value betting, and value betting out of position with a marginal hand means guessing on three streets. Drop the weakest defends; keep everything that flops pairs.
When you miss, be done
Out of position with air against a station is the single most hopeless spot in low-stakes poker. Check, fold, next hand. The discipline sounds trivial and is worth more than any fancy line.
Worked hand
Worked hand
Station opens (a rarity worth noting), you defend A♥ 9♥ in the big blind. Flop 9♠ 6♣ 3♦: lead two-thirds pot. Turn Q♦: lead again. River 4♣: lead again, sized up. Three streets of top pair led into the raiser, a line that looks insane against a TAG and is simply correct here: their opening range still calls three streets with 88 or A6.
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The mistakes that cost you
- Check-raising made hands (they check behind).
- Slow-playing two pair out of position (streets vanish).
- Bluff-leading (the lead only works as value here).
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