what do you do when the cards are absolutely bad?

[CDSNUTSINYAMOUTH]

Just got done playing a live tourney with some buds. The cards were absolutely bad. No top tier hands. A couple hands I had were AJ and AQ where my last all-in was against pocket Aces. The stacks were quite deep in the beginning but I could do nothing except win a pot off a bluff. When the cards go extremely bad, do you force the action?
Just get ante'd off? What to do? Play aggressively in the beginning to build up a stack when the blinds are low?
Kinda depressing when you wanna play and dance, but you just can't do anything about it, it seems.

[UncleDuke]

I generally try to remain patient and wait for a legitimate hand until I feel like my stack is getting close to crippled. At that point, I pick the first tolerable hand I see and go with it, preferably when there are several folds in front of me to lessen the chance I'll run into a monster. If I survive that, it buys some more time. Rinse and repeat as necessary. More expert players might have a slightly more graceful response, but this seems to do decently for me.

[curtains]

Best strategy is to show your hand everytime you fold (64o) and complain bitterly about how you aren't getting any good cards.
Seriously if you really think there are good chances you can steal with any 2 cards, go for it. Note that some players overestimate their liklihood of stealing, whereas some are the opposite. In the past I always overestimated my chances, but I've worked on becoming more of a realist.

[CDSNUTSINYAMOUTH]

when would be a good opportunity to steal?
when it's folded to you and look down at something like K7offsuit?
J9offsuit? What if the blinds are big stacks and are willing to gamble?

[Bernas]

Play very conservative early on, even if you aren't catching any cards. Then once the blinds get to a point where they are worth stealing, try to do the following.

Watch the 2 players to your left. Especially if they look at their cards before it is their turn to act. If you sense weakness, it is folded to you, and you are in late position then try to steal with any 2 cards.

NL Hold'em is more about people and position and less about the cards.

[ryedin]

Ok, I've been lurking for some time now not feeling like I've necessarily been able to contribute, so this is my first post (take that for what it's worth)...

I've found that a pretty decent steal strategy is to wait it out as long as possible trying to hit a hand, maybe until the big blind is about 1/5 or 1/6 of your stack. At that point you should start thinking about steal opportunities while you still have some folding equity. A decent technique is to wait until you are in the big blind and maybe 1 or 2 people limp (good also if the SB completes), then you can push with any 2 cards and have a reasonable expectation to steal (especially if they are aware of what should be a pretty tight table image). I've found this to work a little better than pushing on the button with any 2 when its folded to you, but then again someone may come in and blast me for that advice. My thinking is that there is no one left to act and the limpers have indicated weakness already, plus the additional 2 or 3 BBs out there compensate a little for the odds of a succesful steal. If you are successful you have just bought yourself at least 1 more orbit before you have to think about it again. I wouldn't try this if one of the limpers has less than half your stack as this may give them odds to call on a wide range of hands.

There are other steal strategies that apply, and you should mix it up (as with all plays) so you are not predictable. Using a push preflop a couple times to steal might allow you a crucial double-up when you have a monster and someone tries to look you up with K 10...

Expert posters please pick apart if there are major flaws in this post.

[Xhiggy]

yes, position is the key. J9o on the button is a very playable hand. and it isn't a "steal attempt which..if it fails, I lost". if you're called..you're playing with position and with a deceptive hand. if you aren't called, well..you've won the blinds. the deeper the stacks, the more important post-flop play is.

[Hotchile]

You are asking the wrong question here. You are not trying to steal based on the value of your own hand, you are stealing based on your estimate of it being successful. Example, you see the BB look at his cards and then snap the second card onto the table. He is obviously disgusted with his inability to find a hand. You look down and find 27o and go all-in knowing that there is a 100% chance that the BB folds. Of course, you have the sb to contend with too so if you can get a read there as well, all the better but understand, if you have a "reasonably" tight image at the table, there are VERY few hands that the small blind is going to call with here.

Two quick things to consider. 1) Make sure that your stack will hurt the blinds if they call and lose. If it doesn't even make a dent, you might still get called by a wide range of hands. 2) Pay attention to the players to your left all the time you are folding in early rounds. You don't want to get caught by a big blind "actor" who trys to look disgusted whenever he has a big hand.

HC

[rybones]

O.K. this advice of the blind steal from the bb is great ...
BUT ONLY if you are willing to try it with a slighly bigger stack. Here is the problem: you are in bb with 500 after posting 100 blind (note blind is 1/6 your stack)

your BB = 100
limper 1 = 100
limper 2 = 100
sb completes = 100
your push = 500

Total = 900

The result is that anyone of the other 4 players need only call 400 to win 900 that is roughly 1:2.25 odds. If my stack is anything larger than 3 times your stack I would call with any two. Plus, If I have already limped then I have something better than "any two". Alas, the time to start bluffing is when you have a 10xBB stack or sooner. Alas, these are just my thoughts and any comments are welcome.

Ryan

[ryedin]

Good point. Yes, be aware of your stack size in relation to the blinds AND the people you are trying to steal from. I usually tend to wait it out a little longer than 10xBB, but you are right in that it should at least be a thought in the back of your mind by then, and by all means if an opportunity comes you should take it. As you start to employ a steal strategy as a part of your game you should be able to see opportunities more clearly, which, as always, will depend on the players and the situation. Sometimes just calling the button's min-raise in either blind and then pushing on the flop will work. I've had much greater success stealing limp-ins or min-raises while on the BB than stealing blinds from the button when folded to me. The latter is pretty common though.