Pot-commitment problems when blind-stealing near a shortstack

[fatdave]

This is a problem I come across in the middle to late stages of a tournament. I have a decent stack, say 30xBB. I am going to steal with any two cards, and I'm going to do it whenever the opportunity presents itself. This is typically pretty successful.

My problem is when there is a short-stack between me and the blinds. If I raise with any two, and he goes all-in, I will be getting the correct pot odds to call. The problem is that I don't want anybody to see that I've been stealing with any two cards, so I end up not stealing for a while until that person is eliminated or has built up a decent stack that I can steal against.

Short-handed or head's up, I don't have a problem with people seeing my steal hands (and will sometimes vary my raise to commit myself on purpose, so that I will have the correct odds to call when they go all-in). However, in a full table in the middle stages of the tournament, it could cut down on my blind stealing if they see them.

How do I overcome this problem? Steal anyway and then call with the correct odds, knowing that people will see my trash hands? Wait it out? Suggestions?

[augie00]

Generally speaking, it's a bad idea to steal w/ trash from small stacks...but you seem to already know that. So what in God's name is your question?

[fatdave]

Perhaps it is more of a psychological issue... the presence of a short-stack behind me is throwing me off my game. It makes me tighten up too much while waiting for them to get knocked out.

The question is should I wait it out and let my stack kind of stagnate, or should I stay aggressive and not worry about if somebody sees me raising with any two?

[The Armchair]

[ QUOTE ]
Generally speaking, it's a bad idea to steal w/ trash from small stacks...but you seem to already know that. So what in God's name is your question?

[/ QUOTE ]

He's not trying to steal from a short stack.

The problem is that his left-hand opponent is a short stack, so, whenever he tries to steal, he risks a push from that stack and being pot committed because of the wonderful odds he is getting. That is a bad thing, because in that case, you pretty much blow your cover.

My advice is to keep on stealing, and if you get caught in this fashion, slow the stealing down (hoping that the next time, you'll have a legit hand and catch someone with their hands in the cookie jar) or start showing your legit hands.

[KyleM]

If the short stacked player is tight, I'll just fold and steal my chips back from him over the next couple of orbits lol.