10/20 blind steals

[bobbyi]

If you are checking back a blank turn on hand 3, I like it. If you are going to keep firing, I don't like it because I don't think you are getting enough folds to make up for the times you get called or check-raised on the turn and need to improve to win.

I think hand 2 is good. On this board as this played out, I think you have plenty of folding equity and I think you very rarely get three-bet by a worse hand, so you have an easy fold if reraised.

I don't like hand 1:
First, your fold equity is much lower than in hand 2. This is a draw heavy board (with both a twoflush and a 9T combination), so it is harder to sell the raise as being legit. Further, there just aren't that many likely holding for your opponent with which you can expect he won't find a call. Any pocket pair sixes or higher has a set, a gutshot+pair or an overpair. Overcards like AK/AQ may fold, but a lot of people will not. Pretty much any other reasonable hand has connected with this board in some way (top pair, straight draw, etc.) and isn't leaving.

To make things worse, I think you are often getting reraised in this spot. You have enough outs that you are stuck calling, but if reraised you are certainly behind and so I am not excited about paying $60 to see a river card when I could have paid $20.

[jason_t]

Thank you for your particularly insightful post on hand one. That makes a lot of sense.

I did intend to check behind a blank turn on hand three.