How to Play -- or Not to Play -- from the Small Blind

Tell me if you've heard this before.

A friend has busted from a tournament or lost a big pot in a cash game, and catches you shortly afterwards with an urge to give you a blow-by-blow account of his misfortune. Since you're a good friend you listen, even willing to sit through a dreaded "bad beat" story if necessary.

The hand history begins with an opponent raising, and it folds to your friend. He continues: "I'm in the small blind and look down at..."

Many poker hand stories with unhappy endings begin with the tellers in the small blind, an especially tricky position from which to play, especially for newer players. Some get into trouble repeatedly calling raises from the small blind,…