blind stealing.....

[bshanksj]

As this is my first post I would like to beginning by saying a big hello to all here, over the past week I've been reading from this site and find a lot of what is said to be very interesting.

Iv been playing tournaments on pokerstars for about 6 months now with moderate success, but i havnt yet won a NLHE tournament, I play conservatively early on and survive to the middle stages often, when i get to the end which is not often i know i am a good player. I feel one of the areas of play that lets me down is in stealing to maintain a steady stack. Id like some feedback as to the types of places people look to steal, the cards they would like to do it wth and position etc.. Any other general comments on this middle stage would also be appreciated, as I feel Im finishing just inside or outside the money too often and not making enough final tables. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Best Wishes

bshanksj [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[Al_Capone_Junior]

[ QUOTE ]
I play conservatively early on and survive to the middle stages often, when i get to the end which is not often i know i am a good player.

[/ QUOTE ]

I strongly suggest playing SNGs, as they really help your late tournament game. I also think they are much more profitable than multis.

When it gets late you need to steal more, obviously, that's what your post is about. However, which hands to steal with? I like to steal from the cutoff and button with hands ranging from any pair to 98o to Axo to K9o to Q5s and J8o. Obviously anything better and of course it's getting raised. It somewhat depends as well on who's in the blinds, how big my stack is, and how big the stacks behind me are. Playing SNGs should help you develop the feel as to when to try and steal.

al

[bshanksj]

The thing is I do play a lot of sngs. But imo they dont give you much of a feel for the period when the tournament tables are still full, im really talking about the time between the 1st and 3rd/4th breaks in the tournaments. This isnt recreated in sngs (where u always lose the nutters, or the guys screwed by them!!, at the tables in the first 20 mins and become short handed, before this the blinds are too small to be similar). It's how to get through these stages when im not picking up many cards is really where i struggle, I either find myself blinded away or Im chasing chips by being too aggressive in the wrong spots without a power hand - perhaps its just a better feel for these periods i should be after, that'll hopefully come with practice.

I appreciate ur comments on the sort of hands I should be looking to steal with though, it is not only helpful as a guideline, but it'll give me a better feel of what people are coming at me with because tbh i probably dont defend my blinds enough, but im not sure if this is such a big error, or at least i hope not [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

Thanx again

bshanksj

p.s. to represent any of the 2+2 teams do i still need 25 posts? And secondly who should i contact about playing for one of them, my obvious choice would be to play for the touns since i play a lot of tournaments [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[William]

p.s. to represent any of the 2+2 teams do i still need 25 posts? And secondly who should i contact about playing for one of them, my obvious choice would be to play for the touns since i play a lot of tournaments

I don't think you need 25 posts, that's for the KotZ tournament, but I am not 100% sure.
Talk to Mike Haven, he's the one who will sign you up.

Take care,
William

[Al_Capone_Junior]

We'd be happy to have another tooney member. Welcome aboard Mr. bshanksj!

as a side note I see only 69 players entered as of today. Hope that number gets to 120.

al

[DougBrennan]

Hi bshanksj,

There are no posting requirements for representing Loony Toons, and you are more than welcome. You need to set yourself up with an account at True, and PM Mike Haven with your 2+2 name and affilliation, and you true name, so he can score the tourney properly.

As for blind stealing, my general parameters are this: be the first one in after the BB, bet 2.5 to 4xBB, don't do it if the SB or BB are either very short stacks or very large stacks (as either one is more likely to call you), and don't get piggy about it. If you are stealing too much, people will start to look for ways to trap you and/or are much more likely to call/re-raise.

Those are my own basic stealing strategies, and they need to be adjusted for any table tendencies or reads of other players habits at your table. As you do it more, you'll start to refine your own stealing opportunities. (Which is about where I am now, just starting to refine. Look up some of Greg (Fossilman)'s posts for more advanced discussion of stealing blinds.)

[Al_Capone_Junior]

[ QUOTE ]
don't get piggy about it

[/ QUOTE ]

True. You need to steal slightly more than once per round to stay even, and gain a little. Steal more when your opponents are playing real tight tho.

al

[OneStuckFish]

Though I feel I play a little different from most people on this forum, it is none-the less successful for me so far (56% ROI in 5-10$ s-n-g's). I prefer to play a type of poker that prevents me from having to think hard, or make close call decisions in even slightly sticky situations in which any number of chips may be involved other than the most minute amount. With that said I choose to steal with only very bad unplayable hands such as anything worse than say a 6-7 offsuit or comprable hand like such a 10-3. I also steal with large hands such as AA-QJo after its been folded to me on the button-BB. Any middle grade hands suck as K-9o down thru a 8-9o or comparable hand I prefer to call. This does a few things that work out well for my style of play. If I steal with one of the big hands, and get played back at, obviously Im a favorite. If Im stealing with a bad hand and get called, it prevents me from getting committed to a losing pot. If I steal with something like K-9o and get called and a K or a 9 hits the flop, I must bet it, but getting played back at would put me to a tough decision, and tough decisions I dont like to make. Calling here gives him the chance to reraise me from the BB or the SB so I may have some idea of his type of hand. I wont overwork myself mentally over a blind steal, and then get too commited with a hand that simply had one purpose..winning without a showdown. I'm sure Ill get criticism, but that is the way I choose to play poker.