Stealing Those Blinds

[Ray Of Light]

How do I steal blinds?

I play SnG's of up to $5.00 buy-in, and occasionally Multi-table tounaments. During the latter stages however, I know that a good way to stay in the money (and eventually go on to win the tourmament) is to protect the chips that you are forced to invest.

So how do I...

1. Protect my small blind... One thing that I have recently started to do, when the game becomes shorthanded, (last 4 players, first 3 places payout), is to call the BB with any kind of playable hand (even 5 4 off-suit), if there have been no previous callers. Is this a good defensive technique, or should I focus more on conserving chips for much better playable hands later on?

2. Protect my Big Blind... I have no idea on how to do this. Usually, (unless I have a hand that is strong enough to raise with from an early postion), I simply check to see the flop cheaply. However, I think that maybe I should be raising my pocket sevens or better, and/or any suited face card, or Ace any kicker if there has been no previous raise and/or very few callers. Especially, as by this stage, my opponents tend to become tight as we all start vying to squeak into the money.

3. Steal my opponents blinds... Should I leave this for much later play (heads-up), or should I make a grab for chips during the middle stages by raising with less than premium hands from late position.

I'm getting into the money without stealing blinds, but I think that blind stealing must be a very important part of tournament play, or is it something that should rarely be attempted (and only after you have built up an image at the table as tight-fisted)?

[t_perkin]

Do you play NL or fixed?

stealing is much easier in NL

[Sly_Grin]

as always, just one non-pro's opinion:
1. protecting small blind. Since you are in the worst position for all subsequent betting you don't want to start playing junk from the SB. On the other hand, it only cost you 1/2 a bet. If it's a raised short handed pot you'd better be sure you have a hand that plays well short handed (pairs, A-anything, face cards) since you aren't getting the odds to try to make a str8 or flush. If it's unraised and the BB doesn't raise often I limp for the 1/2 bet with anything decent. Go ahead and raise with a premium hand. Stops the BB from getting a free ride and when it's late the conservative players may give you the pot right there. They KNOW you'll only raise from such bad position with a big hand.

2. From the BB I think there is a huge difference between NL and limit. If you have a hand that plays well many handed go ahead and limp, but anyone with a hand most likely would have raised. I go ahead and raise my higher pairs and quality aces. As usual depends on the opponent. If it's someone capable of slow playing a big pair trying to entice a raise be careful. Again, you have bad position to all the callers.

3. Gotta steal and not just when short handed. In fact, when short handed your opponents are more likely to think you are stealing and will call or reraise. Unless of course everyone is playing REAL conservative trying to make the money. In that case it's a math problem. If they will only defend with the top 5 or 10% of their hands you can steal with just about anything. If you are on the button or one off and there are no callers you've go to raise with your playable hands just because you will a) win immediately a decent amount of the time and b) have position if you get called.

Relative stack and blind sizes are of course a huge factor. Players with big stacks and tiny stacks are more likely to defend IMO. And if you are a small stack and try to steal you can expect to get called of course so you'd better have the goods. Conversely you can muscle people out of the blinds as a big stack, especially if people are waiting for one player to go out so they can get in the money.

And if playing no limit remember this Sklansky quote: don't raise if a reraise will make you throw up. In other words, raise with great hands and poor hands cuz you will either welcome a reraise or gladly dump your hand. Careful with a hand that is good enough to play could be in huge trouble heads up.

and I went 0 for 6 in Sit-and-Goes today so what do I know...

[CrisBrown]

Hi Ray,

First, as a general rule, don't think of the blinds as "your money." They're simply the price of playing X hands of poker, and once posted they're no longer "your money." They belong to the pot, and ultimately to whomever wins that pot. So don't play trash cards just because "I already have money in."

On the other hand, because you've already posted a blind, you will be getting better pot odds than other players. So you can profitably call some hands that wouldn't be worth a flat call. But you have to balance that against being out of position for the remaining betting rounds. So you want to be on hands you can "play from in front," not hands that require you to see what everyone else has done first. As I like to say, "trash plus the button is a pretty good hand," and you have to respect that.

So, given that general advice, your specific questions:

(1) In an unraised pot, especially with 2+ limpers already in, I'll complete with ANY suited hand, off-suit connectors T8 or better, any pocket pair, and any two face cards. I usually won't raise here without a premium hand because I'm almost certain to get called and I'll have to play the hand out of position. If the flop hits me hard, I'll either bet out (at a passive table), check-raise (at an aggressive table), or check-call (if I've hit the nuts). If it hits me soft, I'll check and see what happens. If it misses, I'll check-fold, for only half a bet spent.

In a raised pot, I'm more cautious from the small blind. I'm not protecting my blinds now. I'm playing for value, out of position, so I only want to play premium hands. Depending on my read of the raiser(s) and the strength of my hand, I'll call or reraise all-in.

Finally, if the pot is passed around to me in the small blind, I'm going to steal-raise on any Ace, any pocket pair, any big suited connector, or any two painted cards. I want a hand with strong outs because the big blind is going to play back at me sooner or later. So I want a hand I can stand a reraise on. (Obviously, this is player- and stack-dependent.)

(2) In protecting the big blind, there are two situations. The first is an "honest raise," i.e.: from early position, or a raise that has already been called. Here I'm back to value; I'm not going to call without a hand that I can play with confidence from out of position. This is where I tell myself "that's not my money in that blind; it's the pot's money and the price of playing X hands of poker."

Against likely steal-raises -- from the CO, Button, or SB -- I think about whether to play back. I'm still not going to play any two random cards (as a general rule). I want a hand that has good outs, just in case that WASN'T a steal-raise. Because if I play back, more often than not, I'm going all-in.

Finally, there's a special situation that sometimes arises where I'll have a huge stack one or two seats to my right, and they'll routinely make a raise that would put me all-in to call. They're stealing. I know they're stealing. And so long as I can cover the blinds for a few rounds, that's just fine with me. Sooner or later, they'll make that move when I have a hand, and I'm going to double through. I'm trading my blinds earlier for that double-through later.

(3) So when will I try to steal? This depends on my stack size, the blinds' stack sizes, my table image, my reads on the blind players, the size of the blinds (why risk a steal on minimal blinds?), and so on. As a general rule, once the table tightens up, I'm going to come in for a raise if I play a hand at all. (I rarely open-limp.) So you could say I'm always "stealing" if I'm the first one in a pot. I do have a hand, though. Well, almost always. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Hope this helps....

Cris