How to Defend the Straddle in WPT Global Three-Blind Games

At WPT Global, your straddle defends far wider than a normal Big Blind

Back in your $1/$2 game, the big blind is the last to act before the flop. It defends a set range against a button open, and you know it cold. At WPT Global the seat that closes the action is the straddle, and the game is three blinds with a 0.5 BB ante.

So do you defend that straddle like you would defend the big blind back home, or does the format change it?

Flip between the four scenarios below and watch the defend frequency move.

Tap through the four scenarios:

It changes, a lot.

Notice how much the defense range moves with the open size. Jack the open from the small size up to the average size and you fold roughly 10% more hands.

Why so wide in the first place? The ante drops dead money into the pot, and as the straddle you already have 2 BB invested. Even though the button opens bigger, the price you are getting is far better, so you continue with a ton more hands.

The Takeaway

If you defend your WPT Global straddle like a normal big blind, you are folding far too much.

In three-blind ante games you are already invested, so you have to fight much harder for the pot, and the price is better than your instincts from a vanilla game will tell you.

Explore Quintace

GTO. Off-GTO. Exploit. REAL POKER.

The only engine that solves every line, every decision, against every opponent, paired with a coaching layer that explains the WHY.