Stealing Blinds In Limit Hold'em Tournaments

[HiatusOver]

Assume that we are in the middle of the tournament and everyone has medium stacks at my table...It is folded to me on the button and I have Ax off-suit. Is this an automatic raise, automatic fold? Also assume I am online so I have no tangible reads. What about K-8 or K-9? The thing that confuses me is that all of these hands are raises when suited, so they can't be too far off when offsuit...Any Late-position tournament blind stealing theories that you guys have would be great appreciated

[Bozeman]

I'd fold them most or at least some of the time or your opps will know that you raise with junk there.


It really depends on the players in the blinds though,
Craig

[GoBrowns]

Its a tough question. Obviously, when you raise in LP with Ax or Kx, you're hoping that your opponents folds either pre-flop or under subsequent pressure. I tend to be pretty aggressive with steal attempts, and, when in doubt, I go for it. However, it really depends on whose blind your trying to steal, and what your table image is. Button open-raises are automatically suspect, and a tough player is likely to take you to 3 bets, without necessarily a hand that warrants it, especially if he's seen you raise with trash before. Also, he may be liable to attack you on the flop, and do you really wanna commit any more money into the pot with a trash hand?

One more note: I'd actually prefer to raise with a hand like K8o or even Q8o then A3o. It seems to me that if you're trying a steal-raise, a flopped ace is your friend no matter what you're holding. If you're holding a hand like Qx, you're happy to see A K or Q flop. If your opponent calls an A or K high flop after you raised with a hand that does not contain an ace, you know that you're done with the hand. The problem with Ax, however, is that, if your ace does flop, you're in a very dangerous position if your opponent calls. Unless he's a total fish, he probably has you beat, but its not so probable that you would be inclined to give up the hand. That can mean trouble.

[drewjustdrew]

I like your point about the queen high, probably for a no-limit game. I would fold everytime in this situation with any of the hands mentioned. I would not be concerned with stealing blinds until there is some disparity in stack sizes, or the blinds are getting large in relation to the stacks.