Steal-Raising Problems

[Sargon]

The steal-raise seems to be costing me a lot more money than it is making me, and I think it's because I don't know when to give it up. Typical scenario is to raise from late middle, late or the small blind, and get one or
(occasionally two) callers. I of course always bet out on the flop, regardless of what I have. Here are potential responses from the opponent:

1. Fold. Fine with me.

2. Call. I bet again, they call again, repeat on river. If they call on river, I am usually beaten. Still, if I don't bet on river, I am unlikely to complete the steal.

3. They raise back at me at some point. I foolishly almost always read this as an attempt to steal back, so I either raise or call down all the way. I am starting to think that the raise back is almost always legitimate unless I am against good players.

One key problem seems to be that when you win, you don't win much, and when you lose, you lose a lot trying to pretend you have the best hand. How can I improve my steal-raise moves?

Thanks,
Sargon

[SoBeDude]

What limits are you playing? Are you playing online or live?

What is the texture of the game, and the opponents left to act after you?

If you have a few calling stations after you or in the blinds, completely forget about trying to steal.

If you're playing low/micro limits forget about trying to steal.

If you're in mid position forget about trying to steal.

If you have a tight-aggressive table image, and the table thinks you only raise with premium hands then you can try to steal from the cutoff and the button, but only if the remaining players are capable of folding to a raise preflop.

Also if the table is tight, fold a fair number of your hands when you're in the CO or CO-1 and no one has yet called. Then, when you do raise, they'll be more likely to fold. IF they see you raising much of the time you're in that position, they're much more likely to call.

If you've recently shown down a few big hands you raised with PF, a steal is more likely to be successful.

Good luck!

-Scott