I recently straddled for the first time.
I was thinking of doing the occasional straddle. The way it works in my poker room at $1/$2 is it is a live straddle to $4 and you can raise if you wish on your straddle.
I was thinking of when to straddle. In general I don't mind if people straddle although I've had to think about how it is different than a $2 blind. It's safe to say that I seldom straddle myself.
So I figured this is about right. If the table is loose and friendly with a good amount of banter; if 3+ people are straddling every round; if I'm up at least $100 then I'll straddle once.
Last time out it was all in place so with some trepidation I put in the $4 from UTG before the cards came out. I was dealt T5. Luckily no raise and 7 of us saw the flop. The flop was ten high. I bet $20 into the $28 pot. 1 caller and everyone else folded.
Then before the turn one guy who was talkative finally noticed that I had straddled. It caught him by surprise and he made a comment. I made a little joke about me being so friendly and talkative and outgoing that I naturally wanted to straddle. That got some snickers.
Back to the hand the turn was a low blank and it was checked through. The river was an Ace. I felt that was a good card for me and I bet $35 into the $68 pot. Opponent quickly folded and luckily I won a nice pot with a trashy hand I'd never normally play in early position.
