Dogged by the big stack.

[Guthrie]

I keep finding myself dogged by the big stack when I'm trying to steal blinds. This isn't an actual hand, but an example that keeps repeating itself. Stars turbos, 15+1 or 25+2, 1500 chips, blinds 100/200.

SB (1500)
BB (1000)
UTG (6000)
CO (2500)
Hero (2500)

I'm holding a decent hand well worth pushing to pick up the blinds, but the big stack raises 2x or 3x ahead of me. Every time. After a just a couple orbits of this, I'm down the blinds I should have stolen, plus my blinds he stole from me, and my fold equity is now crap.

SNGPT says this is a clear push if there's no bet in front of me, but I can't even get it to take the numbers if there's a bet or raise.

I'm still a noob at the push/fold strategy, but I'm assuming you need a better hand to push behind a limp, and a much better hand to push behind a raise.

It seems a good player might be raising just to keep someone from stealing, but a donk might be raising because that's what he sees on TV. Or either of them may actually have a hand.

Is it a legitimate big-stack strategy to put in a small raise almost every time to prevent someone from pushing to steal the blinds?

Is there any defense against someone who does this, other than catching a monster and pushing anyway?