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A poker straddle is a voluntary blind that players in many cash games are allowed to place before the cards are dealt to spice up the action, intimidate opponents, or simply make the game bigger than it already is.
More recently, many online poker sites have also been introducing the concept of straddles, making it important for every poker player out there to understand the actual meaning of poker straddle.
If you haven’t been properly introduced to straddles in poker just yet, we will explain what they are, why people choose to place them, and whether it is ever a smart decision to straddle in Texas Hold’em.
Before we can go into any strategic talk, let’s discuss the poker straddle meaning and how the concept works in most poker games.
As already mentioned, a straddle in poker is a voluntary blind usually placed by the player sitting to the direct left of the big blind, the so-called "under the gun."
In most live games, UTG player has the option to straddle. This requires them to place the value of two big blinds into the pot before the cards are even dealt, which then acts as the third blind.
If a poker straddle is placed, the UTG+1 player effectively becomes UTG and acts first preflop, while the straddle acts last.
On all further streets, players in the small blind and big blind will act before the straddle, while the straddle will act right after them, still not having a position on players sitting after you like cutoff or button.
For this reason, placing a straddle in poker is generally considered a bad idea. You will effectively be making a min-raise from UTG, one of the most unfavorable positions at the table, with your only advantage being that you will act last preflop.
What’s even more, many poker games allow further players to place re-straddles. This means you could place 4x the BB value in UTG+1, making the game even bigger, or even 8x the BB in UTG+2, etc.
It is not uncommon to see live small stakes poker games that start with stakes of $1/2 turn into regular $1/2/4/8 with occasional $16 straddles in many places, as more cash makes it onto the table and players look to get “unstuck” on the session.
Before we go into details on how and when you may want to place a poker straddle, let’s talk about button and Mississippi straddles as well.
A "normal" poker straddle is always placed by the UTG player. Players to the left of UTG may then re-straddle if they so choose, which does not change the order in which players act before the flop.
However, many poker games also allow for a button straddle and/or a Mississippi straddle. These straddles can be placed in other positions at the table and are sometimes unlimited in size.
As the name suggests, a button straddle can only be placed by the player with the button for the hand.
When a button straddle is active, the player in the small blind is usually the first to act, with the action playing all the way around to the button, who acts last pre and postflop.
On the other hand, Mississippi straddle can be placed by any player at the table, regardless of their position.
In most cases, Mississippi straddles only becomes active if the action folds over to the player, and if there is a raise before them, the player is allowed to take their straddle back.
Both button and Mississippi straddle are usually unlimited in size, which means you could place a $50 button straddle in many $1/2 cash games without any objections.
However, any money you put out there as a straddle is money you will not be getting back unless you win the hand, so be careful about straddling for more than the minimum.
In a normal poker hand, players posting the small blind and the big blind are generally at a big disadvantage as they have to put in money with 100% of their range.
In fact, it is nearly impossible to be profitable from those two positions, regardless of your opponents, and every cash game player’s graph I have ever seen shows them in the negative for those two positions.
Placing a straddle is twice as bad as placing the big blind, making this position even more unprofitable than the regular blinds.
If you regularly place straddles, you will pay dozens of big blinds per session just to straddle and put yourself in a ton of bad spots.
Being in the straddle means you will often be playing the hand out of position against players holding better cards than yours.
Very often, the player on the cutoff or button will make a raise over your straddle, and you may think you are priced in with a hand like J8 or T7.
Continuing to the flop with these hands will see you put more and more money into an already inflated pot, which will cause you to bleed left and right.
Of course, a straddle can also go very well if you pick up a monster hand before the flop or connect very well with the flop with an unexpected hand. However, when all scenarios are accounted for, placing straddles is a –EV play and one that will cost you dearly in the long run.
If other players at the table are not straddling, I highly suggest you don’t either, or that you only occasionally straddle for fun or a little extra action.
If you are looking to win in a poker game, you should only be straddling for a very good reason, and I am going to go into a few of those reasons right now.
As I mentioned, there are a few scenarios in which placing a poker straddle may not be as bad as it generally is.
The few specific scenarios I am referring to are:
In each of these scenarios, we are placing a straddle with a specific goal in mind, so let’s go over each and try to explain why a poker straddle can make sense.
There are some live poker games where straddling becomes nearly mandatory, and in some games, the straddle is turned into a third blind altogether.
If everyone at your table is straddling, you will not be losing any EV by placing a straddle yourself. However, you would gain EV if you did not place any straddles.
Yet, cash games are not tournaments, and you don’t want to be the only player antagonizing everyone else.
If every player in your game is straddling, you should also straddle at least some of the time.
What’s even more, if everyone is straddling, there is a good chance some people will re-straddle to get even more action going, and you will gain EV by these players putting in so much dead money.
Of course, you can expect a game like this to be extremely hectic, and you should be prepared for the kind of swings that come from a mandatory straddle game.
Nits are some of the best players to play poker against, as they are never aggressive without a monster hand, and they let you run right over them.
A nit will never make a raise unless holding a top 5% hand, and such players tend to get even more nitty when straddles are on.
If the table is made up of nits, you may find that straddling gives you an advantage. You will be able to apply preflop aggression over their limps to take down the pot right there, and you will easily get away from your hand if they raise.
Just remember that you should not be calling raises from nits unless you have a solid hand, as they are not the types of players to get stacked lightly if you make a straight or a flush.
Save your money if you are facing a raise from a nit and wait for a better spot where a bunch of players limp, or everyone simply folds to you and relinquishes the blinds.
Even better than nits are players who play a relatively solid poker game preflop but completely hit the brakes once the flop hits, and they miss it.
If your table has several players like these, you can often defend your straddle quite liberally and win many pots after the flop if you make your hand or if your opponents don't.
Passive postflop players are the best types to play against as they will not put pressure on you, will not bluff you, and will allow you to win every pot that isn’t 100% theirs by right.
In a game like this, you will be looking to put in a ton of money before the flop and expect to make it all back with dividends each time your opponent checks back the flop and folds to your small turn probe.
The nature of live cash games is such that most players tend to start with 100-200 big blinds, but as time goes by, the stacks start to grow exponentially.
By the time the clock hits midnight, and the session has been going for five to six hours, several players are not uncommon to be sitting on a 1,000 big blind stack.
In wild games where money is flying left and right, it can be wise to put some straddles on and initiate some extra action, assuming you have an edge.
Picking up a big hand or two in such straddled pots can lead to you winning a massive pot that will immediately make you a huge winner on the night.
Of course, you should always be careful not to go too far with the straddles, but applying them in a game with thousands of blinds on the table will definitely not hurt your EV as much as it would in a traditional poker game.
More recently, a number of online poker sites, including big poker rooms like GGPoker, have introduced the poker straddle at some of their tables.
An important thing to consider about online poker is that games typically tend to be much tighter than live games, and the effective stacks tend to be much smaller.
For these reasons, straddling in online cash games is almost never a good decision. You will be losing EV by placing straddles, and there usually won't be anyone looking to reward you for doing so.
If you are an action junkie and can't resist the urge, you will do better to play a bigger game where everyone has to place a bigger blind instead of straddling.
The fact that you have an option to straddle does not mean you have to do it by any means. What’s even more, no one will be able to antagonize you even if you are the only player at the table who is not straddling.
If you can find an online poker game with many straddles, you will be winning money by playing a simple ABC poker game and capitalizing on all the dead money left behind in pots by frequent straddles.
A straddle in poker is a concept that was invented by players who don’t have the patience for the game of poker and want to boost action.
For the most part, you should not use straddles as part of your poker strategy, with a few notable exceptions that I’ve mentioned.
Even when you decide to straddle, I highly recommend going for the button straddle rather than one from UTG. Other than that, stick to a solid strategy, and you will be able to significantly increase your winrate and pick dead money when others are straddling in your games.
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