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My question is what is condidered a blind steal and when and with what is it appropriate?


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A blind steal is basically a preflop raise intended to take the blinds. Blind steals are usually appropriate when it is folded to you in late position. I usually like to steal blinds with mediocre hands that have a chance to hit the flop well, but I will not have second thoughts about folding if I am re-raised. For example, I would much rather try to steal blinds with hands like 89s than AT.

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Does Blind stealing in the middle and later part of the tourney happen from any spot?

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Usually blind stealing occurs from the SB, button, CO, and CO-1. Raises from early position tend to usually be from good starting hands.

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I frequently see all in raises or large bets preflop(In relation to the blinds) during the middle stages of a tourney onward. Is this just desperation or attempted blind steals from UTG?

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It's really entirely player and situation dependant. Generally, I would say all-in overbets are usually from a pretty good hand though.

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Also what cards are worth attempting to steal the blinds with, with an all in from UTG?(Besides the obvious)


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You should never try to steal the blinds under the gun. Only raise UTG if you have a very strong hand.


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For example last night I had about 3200 in chips blinds were at 150 -300 and I would go all in with A 7 or A8 from MP or sometimes UTG. Are these bad moves on my part?


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These are definitely bad moves. First off, you shouldn't really be pushing preflop until you fall a bit under 10xBB. Secondly, Ax is the type of hand you do not want to be pushing with, especially from out of position. You were risking 3200 chips to win 450 in a situation where you are going to be dominated nearly every time you are called. You are simply risking far too much to win too little with very bad cards. You should only be pushing Ax when in position when you are desperately shortstacked (5xBB and less).

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Now lets say you manage to double up and have about6-7k in chips, how do you start playing? You have about 20x the BB do you start tightening up and pick your spots and do an all in or do you start loosining your hand requirements and playing hands like A9 in the cutoff after a MP limper?


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Personally, 20xBB isn't quite comfortable enough to loosen up and start stealing very often. At 20xbb I generally play a typical TAG game and only steal when good opportunities arise (folded to me in LP and there is a tight medium stacked player in the BB). I would definitely not be going all in preflop at 20xbb unless it was over the top of someone else's raise.

I might raise in the CO with A9 after a limper if the limper had very loose opening standards and was not a call station. If my raise is called preflop by the limper (which it probably will be - most players don't like to fold if they have but money in the pot and can close the action preflop), I want to be able to push the limper off of a weak hand or weak draw on the flop if I don't hit (which I usually won't).

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I know so much of this is stack dependant but are there any suggestions for a rookie MTT player like me?

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Don't try to steal the blinds from big or short stacks. Big stacks will call or reraise with a much wider range of hands because they have so many chips and the shortstacks will play back with a much wider range of hands because they are desperate.

Also, don't go into tourneys with a preset blind stealing plan. Adapt to whatever table you are at. If your table is full of calling stations, don't try to steal blinds at all. If everyone is very tight then steal much more often than normal. Pay attention to all of your opponents at your table and try to get an idea of their general calling standards and raising standards. Keep in mind who is looking out for blind steals and will play back at you. Knowing your opponents is key for stealing blinds.

Another thing is to continue with the steal on the flop if you are called preflop and checked to. You will be surprised how often people will check/fold on the flop to a preflop raiser (but keep in mind that a tricky player probably knows this and will look to put a big check-raise on you - once again, you must know your opponents).

I hope I helped some, if you have any other questions ask away.