In an unraised pot playing the big blind is easy. You have a free ride. You have already made a bet so you only need to consider whether you want to raise or merely check your blind bet. In most cases you will probably want to just check. The reason for not raising with a strong hand is for deception. When a player raises from the big blind he is announcing to everyone that he has a powerful hand. You may find that you will not get too much action after the flop. If there are only one or two players, then you might consider raising to get more money in the pot, but you might be better off just calling and then trying a check raise after the flop.

If the pot has been raised, you need to determine where the raise came from and who made it. If the raise was made from a tight player in early position, you can pretty much determine that you are up against a strong hand. If a reraise occurs before it is your turn to act, you should not call unless you have a powerful hand of your own. If, however, the raise has been made from late position when no one else has entered the pot, you may be up against a player trying to steal and should treat it as such.

In a raised pot from the big blind with two or more players, you can call a raise with any pair, connectors, suited Ace or other middle position hands. Don't call a raise with a hand like J-2 or Q-5 or other hopeless hands. You want to defend your blind only if you have a chance of winning the pot not because you have already put one bet in.

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A-6sr A-2s and A-9, A-8, A-7
You can play any suited Ace in late position with enough callers. If you flop a flush, you will have the nut flush or you may flop a nut flush draw. You will only make a flush about six percent of the time, which means that these hands can be trouble. As with the middle position suited-Ace hands, you can be in trouble if an Ace appears on the flop, unless you make two pairs. You will have a very weak kicker. If you pair your kicker you will more than likely get beat with an overpair. You can play unsuited Ace 9, 8, or 7 as long as there are no raises in front of you. Again, these hands usually spell trouble if an Ace flops. You need to flop two pair to be secure. If you don't, you may find yourself in the same trouble as the suited Ace hands.

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