Stealing Blinds in a No Limit Hold'Em Tournament - knowing when?

[digdeep]

I understand that one tournament strategy is to steal blinds; but how does one know when to steal and when not to steal? Furthermore, if 100 players all start out with $1000 in chips, blinds start at $10 $20 and double every half of one hour, how much of a raise does it take to steal the blinds early and later when the blind has doubled a couple of times? How does stealing the blinds change when playing different types of players, i.e. (loose, tight, passive, aggressive) and different caliber players?

Thanks for responses and insights.

[MLG]

Stealing blinds isn't just a tournament strategy its a must for any tournament player. As far as when to do it there's a lot of feel to it. In general a raise to double the size of the BB is too small, you should be bumping it to 3x or so. You want to target tight players as they are less likely to defend their blinds and more likely to fold and give you the chips. The most important thing to remember is your cards are not nearly as important as the situation when you are stealing blinds, you don't need a hand, you just need the blinds to fold. One other factor, its much more important to steal blinds when they are a larger percentage of stack size rather than early in the tournament. That is, with a stack of 1000 it is obviously more beneficial to steal blinds that are 75-150 (increasing your stack by over 20%) than blinds that are 10-20.

[TheDrone]

I can only answer your general questions with a general response, so here goes:

Generally, steal attempts are more profitable when
(1) there are no limpers in front of you
(2) you are in late position
(3) the remaining players to act are tight
(4) your steal bet is the same amount as your standard raise, assuming that it's at least 2.5x BB (or more in early stages)
(5) the tournament is at bubble stage.
(6) you have a tight image.

This is not an exhaustive list and there are many exceptions, but it's a start. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[SossMan]

Boy...that's a lot of topics for one paragraph.

There are general guideline answers to most of the questions you asked..so I'll give you those.



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I understand that one tournament strategy is to steal blinds;

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This is not "one" tournament strategy...it is part of ANY good tournament strategy. In fact, you could go as far as saying it (blind levels in relation to your and your opponent's stack sizes) dictate 50%-75% of your decisions. You would have to get very, very lucky to finish high in a tournament without EVER bluffing or stealing blinds.

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Furthermore, if 100 players all start out with $1000 in chips, blinds start at $10 $20 and double every half of one hour, how much of a raise does it take to steal the blinds early and later when the blind has doubled a couple of times?

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Well, the standard raise in NL is what we call 3x. That means if the blinds are T10/T20, a 3x raise would be making it T60 to go (T20 x 3 = T60). If you made it T100 to go, it would be a 5x raise.
3x is a good number because you put pressure on and charge junk hands to come along. Anything more, and you are risking too many chips to just steal the blinds. Another good reason to have a standard raise is that it protects the strength of your hand. Let's say a player is constantly attacking your big blind w/ 7x open raises from the button. All of a sudden he opens for the minimum raise of 2x. Does this send off warning bells in your head? It should.

By having a standard raise, nobody can tell when you are stealing w/ junk or have a legit hand.

There are exceptions to this rule...as blinds start getting bigger as compared to your opponents stack, a smaller raise is just as effective with less risk. Let's say your opponent has 8x and is in the BB. You are on the button and it gets folded to you. You have 72o.
Notice that if you make a raise, he is not likely to call you. He will either fold or push all in. In this case, you can make a 2x or 2.5x raise and it is just as effective as a 3x or 4x raise with half the risk. This assumes you will fold when he pushes.

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How does stealing the blinds change when playing different types of players, i.e. (loose, tight, passive, aggressive) and different caliber players?


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Assuming you know what tight, passive, loose, and aggressive mean, I think you can answer your own question on this one.

One thing I would watch out for is stealing w/ junk from the button vs. an observant blind opponent. Open raising from the CO or CO-1 is a little more disguised.

Hope this helps.

[digdeep]

Thanks for the responses; how do you deal with an opponent you is protecting his/her blind. Considering that it is common practice to steal in late position, I have played against many opponents who are aware of this and attempt to protect their blinds, how do play: Do you fold if reraised, call, or reraise his raise?

[DOTTT]

As MLG mentioned stealing blinds becomes a necessity in the middle to late stages of tournament play. Anytime you're making an all out steal, you would like to be the first one in the pot, you should also be stealing against the medium stacks, and avoiding the big stacks because you're likely to get called or played back at. You should also be warry about short stacks because they're likely ready to give up and go all in. Another thing that I tend to avoid is stealing on the button. It's just an obvious spot for a steal to come from, and any good player will notice that and play back at you. Make you’re steals steal from the co up too the button. Also a steal from ep every once in a while is ok if you have a tight table image. Just don’t over do it.

[paland]

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how do you deal with an opponent you is protecting his/her blind.

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When I'm in the blinds and I suspect someone of stealing my blinds, thats when your knowledge of the persons betting habits come it. I watch the table after my folds and try to figure the loose/tight players, etc.. If I feel that I can get the blind stealer to fold, then I will come over with a much higher bet, regardless of what my cards are. If you do this, just remember that sometimes you lose.