Straddling on the Button (1 Viewer)

chipmastah

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Is straddling on the button a profitable play long term? The place I play at allows this and it has priority over at UTG straddle. I usually only do this when the whole table agrees to make the game bigger. Just curious what others opinions are on this matter.
 
It is, but there are a lot of variables.

I'm not sure I can speak to NLH as well as I could PLO but everyone assumes NLH is the only poker game.

One aspect of NLH would be that it could be negative ev over long term depending on the game you're in, if you get caught in traps or if you are able to effectively trap.

Min straddle gets the position and all the info, if you max it and get a shove typically you're going to give it up.
 
Putting extra money in from any position without seeing your cards in a vacuum is -EV. Doing it from the button is the least -EV though.

But depending on game dynamics and/or whether everyone is doing it can change that.

If everyone is doing it, then it's obviously EV neutral. If your skill is higher than everyone and you aren't the only one doing it, then it could very well be +EV.
 
Straddling (especially from the button) is a great tool in a couple situations:
-You want to artificially raise the stakes to take advantage of weaker players
-The table is full of limpers
-The table is playing too tight.

Button straddles can really be action killers sometimes depending on the game. They really put the blinds at a bigger disadvantage because now they have to act first preflop. Pretty nasty, tbh.
 
I have a habit of putting dead blind in early stages of tournaments. It helps find out what sort of people you are sitting with. Plus you wouldn't believe how often I get KK or AA in this situation.
 
I agree that depending on table dynamics it can make the game more fun/profitable. I find a lot of the time when the table is short handed people tend to agree to do auto straddle as to prevent multiple chops in a row.
 

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