Playing your hand blind

This is one of my most favorite things in poker... and it's not just me, Doyle Brunson recommends doing it once in a while as well... the main idea is to completely play your opponent and not your cards, and what better way to do that than play a complete hand without looking at your hole cards... I have done this many times and trust me, it's an experience you will never forget... not to mention the confidence you'll get if you actually win the pot...

Here's the deal... the first time you try this, wait for the following situation...

1) You are in the cut-off position (i.e. one before the dealer button)
2) Observe people as they look at their hole-cards and try to gauge the strength of their cards
3) If you feel that no one has anything too strong, and no one has raised the pot, raise slightly more than 3 times the big blind and watch everyone's reaction; specially those that call your bet
4) You will probably be the last to act, and so watch everyone's reaction after the flop and bet about 60-70% of the pot if everyone checks, or raise to three times the bet if someone makes a small bet.
Of course, if someone bets big or re-raises you, look at your cards and decide accordingly.
5) If no one raised you on the flop and there is only one or two people left in the hand, he/they will probably check to you on the turn, so bet about 30-40% of the pot, making it look like you want a call.
Once again, if someone has bet big on the turn or raises your bet, look at your hole cards and act accordingly.
6) If all goes well, you will just have one opponent (if any) left on the river, and if they check to you, bet 30-40% of the pot again. If they bet or raise you, it's again time to look at your hole cards and act accordingly.

In all likelihood, if your read was half-way correct, there won't be any showdown and you'll win the hand on the flop or on the turn...

If all else fails and you were wrong in reading your opponents, use this hand to throw them off, by turning over your cards and say something like... "you might have me..." or "can you beat 9 high ?" (this way they'll pay you off next time you do have a hand)

Try it again in a couple of hours...

As odd as it seems, playing a hand without looking at your hole cards does have a couple of advantages...

1) You don't know your cards, so there is no chance you are displaying any tells about the strength of your hand... so your opponents have no clue what you have... heck! YOU have no clue what you have, so how can they... and thus you have the fear of the unknown in your favor...

2) Since the board is almost meaningless to you, you are forced to focus on your opponents so you have a better chance of reading them...

and as a backup,

3) If your read was off, and you end up losing the hand, you can use this to show your opponents that you are capable of bluffing, so they have a tendency to pay you off more often...


And now the real test... try this from early position !
but only if you have done it successfully from late position a couple of times, and have won enough money already that losing 10-15 big blinds is not gonna kill you... think of it as tuition... cuz regardless of whether you win or lose, trust me, you'll learn a lot about poker from this little experiment...