3 Responses

1. ZCT

   February 23rd, 2010 at 2:12 pm

   1

   You are probably already aware of the small and big blind in Texas Hold’em. These are the forced bets placed in the pot before the hand is dealt. In High Stakes Poker the small blind is $300, the big blind is $600. Also in this format each player puts in an ante of $100. Therefore at a full table of nine players there is $1,800 of real money in the pot before the hand is even dealt.
   The players you are watching enjoy the thrill of high stakes so much, they often decide to do a ’straddle.’ The concept of this is the player to the left of the big blind, puts in a bigger blind of $1,200 as if he were another blind. This means that before the cards are even dealt there is now $3,000 in the pot.
   The reason for a straddle is to create even more action, and force more exciting and aggressive play. With $3,000 in the pot before anything gets started the action can heat up very quickly with players attempting to take down what is already a significantly sized pot.
   Since a straddle is not a requirement of the game, all the players have to agree to do it beforehand. This is why you often hear some debate about straddle before they agree to it. Not all players like it because it can create far too much action. Also it effectively means that simply playing three hands (straddle, big blind, and small blind) can cost a player $2,400. If they get really bad cards, they have just put $2,400 of their own money into the pot in just three hands, and if they have garbage hands they may simply have to fold them.

2. Crebral Assassin

   February 23rd, 2010 at 3:58 pm

   2

   Another advantage of a stradle bet is that it gives that person the option even after the big blind comes in. if you get 3 or 4 players it makes for a huge pot even before you have the option to raise again if you have the cards. it is a strategy that will get that pot up, can be very effective if you raise the stradle, might scare out some players.

3. ron19719

   February 23rd, 2010 at 10:30 pm

   3

   A stradle is a blind bet that a player who is in first position can make before the cards are delt out. For example lets say the game is a 2-4 limit game, so the small blind is 1 dollar, and the big blind is 2 dollars. The player in first position can make a stradle bet before the cards are dealt out to 4 dollars, he is basicly making a blind raise. But it also gives him the last option to raise as well. This play is the worst play you can make in poker, but a lot of players in poker games do this just to build the pot up.