Playing Blindfolded - Position and Aggression Wins

It is a fact that the best poker players are more aggressive than the average player.  The best poker players also take advantage of table position relative to the button.  Position is more important than the cards you actually hold.  Another important thing to remember is that very few pots actually end up going to a show down.  Your seating position versus other players position relative to the button has more value than your actual starting hand. 

I am proposing an experiment.  Play a low limit 3 to 5 table Sit N Go tournament blindfolded.  Well not literally but you will not be able to see your hole cards.  Put a Post it Note over the area of the screen that displays you cards and commit yourself to not taking a peek.  If you are using a poker database with a HUD, disable it for this experiment.  You must be playing completely blind.  So what is the point of this exercise?  It will force you to see opportunities that you may have been missing.  You must carefully study your opponents.  The only information you will have is how often does someone open a pot.   How much do they bet?  Do they fold often when facing a 3 bet?  Use only this information and your relative position to make your decision on how you will play your hand. 

Most of us spend too much time looking at our hole cards and not enough time studying our opponents for weakness and looking for a spot to use our position and stack to win the pot.  How many times have you been sitting in the cut-off or on the button and an aggressive players opens,  the player to the right of you calls and  you say to yourself, "I bet  if I go all in here, I will likely win" , but you look at your hand and see an 8 - 3 off suit and fold.  Because you cannot see your cards you will have to look for the spots like this and shove all in.   

As the tournament progresses you will develop a feel for playing different stack sizes as well.  Look for spots to put an overactive player to the test for his tournament life by forcing him to call your all in.  Most players do not like to call with all their chips without a premium hand if it means a loss will end the tournament or cripple them.  Look for the spots where you think you can exploit and punish the weak players at the table and make them pay to continue playing the hand.  

Remember this is just an experiment to help you view the game in a new dimension.  I really doubt that your results at the blind game will be better than when you can see you hole cards, however, when you play your next tournament where you can see your cards, use what you learn from this experiment.  I am certain this experiment will make you will be a better poker player. 

Good Luck!!!  Let me know how this experiment works for you.