Showing a blind steal
 

I'd just gotten to this table about 15 minutes before, so I had a fairly tight image before this hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed) converter

UTG+1 (t991)
MP1 (t5000)
MP2 (t5502)
MP3 (t5313)
CO (t8555)
Hero (t5435)
SB (t3888)
BB (t4661)
UTG (t4072)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">6 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t600</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, BB calls t400.

Flop: (t1300) 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t800</font>, BB calls t800.

Turn: (t2900) 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: (t2900) 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t800</font>, BB calls t800.

Final Pot: t4500

Villain had AQ, and played this hand pretty bad in general, I thought. (Villain's response in the chat was "lol, wtf".) Is betting more on the river to avoid showing this down worth more than the chips I picked up on the river? In the end, it didn't matter a whole lot as I was moved about 10-15 minutes later, but I'm interested in opinions for future reference.

I pissed someone else off in the same tournament when I tried to steal with 84o from the SB against a smallish stack, he called with Q9s, we both hit a pair on the flop, I bet 2/3 of his stack, he went all-in, and I went on to make a runner-runner full house. I believe I was told that I sucked after that one.

Re: Showing a blind steal
 

I was at your table when the second hand happened. If I remember correctly, you were in the SB and he was in the BB and you minraised preflop. The whole thing could have been avoided had I pushed or raised preflop as I had AJo UTG, but I had raised preflop the previous two hands and did not want to steal too much. So as to the second hand, the BB did not have many chips left, so I do not like trying to steal BB's blind unless I have something decent. But, I think BB's play by not raising all-in preflop was horrible as he put in 1/3 of his chips. Yes you outdrew him on the turn and river, but it is his own fault for not trying to get you out of the hand preflop.

As for the first hand, I agree with you that BB played AQ poorly given the board. When he check/calls the flop, and checks the turn, I would have put him on the A without a diamond. If I were you, I might have bet 1500 on the river if you wanted to hope not to have your cards seen. However, given the line, I would have thought I had the best hand and would have bet 1000 for value. Having your opponent see what you played with when you steal can help down the line if you have a big hand in the cutoff or button. The blinds might try to play back at you given your stealing past and you can pick up a big pot.