progressBig blind against a small blind limp
A free card or a raise: the big blind has a choice that most seats never get.
When the action folds to the small blind and it limps, the big blind faces a rare spot. It can check and see the flop for free, raise to 3 BB, or at shallow stacks move all-in. Because the small blind only completed, the big blind is not forced to put in anything more. In our solution book (8-max tournaments with ante, chip EV) it plays like this:
| Stack | Check | Raise to 3 BB | All-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 BB | 46% | 36% | 18% |
| 20 BB | 49% | 37% | 15% |
| 30 BB | 50% | 41% | 9% |
| 40 BB | 47% | 52% | 1% |
| 60 BB | 52% | 48% | 0% |
What the table shows
- The big blind raises a lot. At 40 BB the book raises 52% of hands and checks 47%. At 60 BB the split is 48% raise and 52% check.
- Shallow, the shove appears. At 15 BB the book goes all-in with 18% of hands, at 20 BB 15%, at 30 BB 9%.
- The check is never rare. Even at the deepest stacks in the table about half of the hands take the free card.
Why the big blind has so many options
The small blind limped for half a big blind, so it has not shown strength, and the big blind has the price of a free flop. Raising takes the initiative and uses the dead money, checking realises equity cheaply with hands that are not strong enough to build a pot. Which hands raise and which check is what the trainer drills; to see which hands the small blind limps in the first place, open the small blind chart at 30 BB.
What to take away
- Do not treat a small blind limp as a signal to check everything: at every depth the book raises at least a third of the hands.
- At 30 BB or less, include all-ins in the big blind plan.
- When you check, you can still fold to a bet later, so the check costs nothing preflop.
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Questions
Should the big blind raise a small blind limp?
Often. In our book it raises 52% of hands at 40 BB and 41% at 30 BB.
How often does the big blind check?
About half of the time: 49% at 20 BB and 47% at 40 BB.
Does the big blind shove against a limp?
At shallow stacks yes: 18% of hands at 15 BB and 9% at 30 BB.
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progressGTO guides use our own solution book (v13, 8-max tournaments with ante, chip EV): an approximation of equilibrium with a modelled postflop, not an exact solution. Numbers are computed from the book and from the exact ICM model.
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