subject: Stealing Blinds and Antes [print this page] Stealing Blinds and Antes Stealing Blinds and Antes
What is the difference between raising in late position to take advantage of position and stealing the blinds? The simple answer is that of intent. When you are raising for advantage you really want a call from at least one of your opponents in the blinds but when raising to steal the blinds, often from the same position with the same two cards you raised for advantage, you simply do not want a call. Only you can know your intent when you raise.
Intent and Strategic Moves
When you intend to steal the blinds, that is your raise from late position is made to induce your opponents in the blinds to fold, there are a few things to remember.
Never limp with a monster: Say you look down at AA, KK, QQ or AK in the cut-off or from the button. One way to disguise the strength of your hand is to call if someone has entered the pot with a raise. From late position, however, your opponents expect a raise and to raise with a very wide range of hands. Raising here, especially if the table folds to you, actually disguises the strength of your hand by doing exactly what is expected of a player in your position. Because you are expected to raise with a wide range of hands it is unlikely that your opponents can put you specifically on a monster hand.
Observe opponents to your immediate left: The three players to your immediate left will be the ones who will be there when you are in the cut-off or on the button. How do they act when they are in the blinds? Are they likely to defend some, most or all of attacks on blinds. Remember that one is around a 7:3 dog to be dealt a playable hand on any specific deal. If these players are solid they will defend blinds around 30% of the time. Anything more than that and attempts to steal may just backfire unless you are stealing with big hands. The player who tends to fold most often when blinds are attacked is the one you are most likely to have success against when stealing the blinds.
Primary intent: If your primary intent is to steal blinds then open up you hand selection, especially when on the button when there are but two players left to act. Remember, from the cut-off the button is still behind you and from the hijack seat there are four players yet to act. While from late position but not on the button, while you may open up your range a bit, it will never be so loose as when you are the button. Some advocate attempting to steal with any two cards because of the random nature of the deal. The likelihood that the two players behind you hold playable hands decreases as the field is reduced. The two players behind you when you are on the button are quite likely to have weak hands and will fold to any raise. Depending on the strength of your hand, if you are played back at and you still have a playable hand, so be it, play on. If not, get out of the way.
Calling Stations on the Left: If the players to your immediate left are so loose that they defend every time they are in the blinds then the attempt to steal is not a good idea. When I have a calling station on my left, I only attempt a steal with a strong hand or better. AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AKs, AKo, AQs for sure. Sometimes I will make the move with mid pairs down to 66 or 55. Big suited connectors and even gaped suited connectors are sometimes worth a speculative shot as well from late position against a calling station.
Observing your way to success
The next time you sit down at a table, select the player who will always be the big blind when you are on the button. This is the player you are most likely to steal the blinds from. Remember, this player has a full bet invested in this pot making it harder for him to get away from your raise. He always comes in for a discounted bet if he calls. The small blind is always less likely to defend because he has but a half a bet in the pot and with weak cards is likely to wait for a better opportunity. Make a note of each time you successfully acted to steal the blinds and record this record under that player's name. Do this long enough and you will accumulate a nice data base on players from whom you are most likely to successfully steal blinds.
The value of stealing blinds
In a cash game with or without antes, stealing the blinds allows you to play one entire circuit for free. If you steal the blinds successfully, you now have those blinds in your stack for the next time you are in the blinds. In a cash game the blinds never change so stealing them provides a stack preservation strategy. If you steal the blinds when there are antes then you have effectively stolen both the blinds and all the antes at the table.
In tournament play, stealing blinds and antes is less important during the early rounds when they are small relative to the stack size. But, in later rounds, when the blinds and antes are huge relative to stack size, then stealing them becomes both profitable and necessary to avoid being blinded out of the tournament. The simple truth is that you cannot win a tournament if you do not steal the blinds and antes a reasonable amount of the time.
