Strategy for stealing the blinds.

How do you steal from the blinds?
Let's say your at the button and everyone folds to you. The blinds are significant.

Do you make the standard 3xBB bet, hope the BB and SB folds...but what if they call?

Why not just call on the button, have position post flop and make the c-bet to get the blinds. It cost just the same.

Always raise if it gets folded to you on the button and you want to play your hand, never limp. If you limp you let the sb in cheap and you give the BB a free flop. If you raise you can take down the pot pre-flop(you cannot do this by calling pre-flop) and if they call you have position post flop and will take it down with a c-bet often as you showed strength pre-flop.

I usually don't try to steal the blinds from the button because everyone thinks that what the button is for. I agree I would just call on the button but every situation is different. I won't say how often this should be done, but late in the tourney's is a good time to keep up the stack.

Let people think that, I dont see why that is bad for us at all. It just means that we will get called lighter which is great as we have position.

If you limp and then get a raise from a blind, you have no idea if it is a real hand or it is just because you limped. You are giving up control of the hand. Even if you call and flop a pair, what do you do about the inevitable c-bet? Could be air, or could be overpair.
If the blinds are that significant, I don't think you want to get this many chips involved when someone else is running the show...

What is the standard raise to steal?
I have found 2x or 3x or 4x or 5x the BB works.

This can depend a lot of blind levels. If it's significant I usually do 2.5x (i.e 200/100 BB/SB) i'd raise to 500.

Do this with your strong and weak hands without fail and BB/SB will find it difficult to put you on range/hand.

Lower blinds like 15/30 and 40/80 arn't worth stealing or defending steals.

when i am bb the only thing better than a button limper is sb limp. I often raise 4xbb and steal one or the other or both. NEVER LIMP from button.

If you get called you:

- put them on a range
- evaluate the flop; how does it connect with your hand? How does it connect with their hand?
- if they donk bet, evaluate why, how much equity your hand has against their range, if you can make them fold by raising, if you can peel and take it down later, etc
- if it checks to you, decide whether to c-bet or not, and what to do if they raise
- if they call, repeat above 2 on each of the next 2 streets

What if the button limper or the SB limper calls your 4X bet?
Does it happen to you?

In regards to all of the limping discussion:

There is definitely a place and time for limping. It can be an unbelievably effective tool if used properly in conjunction with other pieces of information. HUD stats, previous hands you've seen and recall, or stack dynamics all contain information that might lead to a limp being the best play. Sometimes in late position, sometimes in the SB, sometimes from random places on the table...there's reasons for all if we look hard enough. How often do we see these spots? Depends on what tournaments we're playing...in a 9 man SNG I do a fair share of limping for a wide variety of reasons. In a large field MTT there won't be many situations at all that you'll find me limping.

when it does happen i see the flop often another strong bet and they will fold but it depends on the player my hand etc.

I think you also have to consider the players in the blinds. If you are on the button and the players on the blinds are usually very tight players you want to raise frequently. When they call your raise you know they have a decent hand and can play it carefully from there post flop.

Good comments.

I find that during the mid tournaments when the blinds are increasing is when to start stealing. Sometime the players on the immediate left are not tight. So I have to steal from the CO or HJ rather than the BTN

Evaluate your stack size here? Can you afford to even 3bet shove with no fear of getting called? If you are short stacked on the btn I wouldn't try unless you are holding premium cards that you would shove with.

If you're short stacked on the button you should be shoving super wide, not opening light

MTT - It all depends on stack size and your opponents range.

Cash Games - If you have been keeping in tight and have the cards, by all means give it a Raise.

I was going to start a post about this but was beaten to it! I play a lot of satellites and frequently find myself with less than 10BBs approaching the bubble. The more I've played, the more comfortable I now feel shoving with K or Q high from the button or small blind or earlier than I used to. Sure, you'll get called by a good hand from time to time but it's interesting to see how many people aren't willing to sacrifice part of their stack to call you at this stage of the satellite. It's ideal if you have a similarly sized stack to your left because the vast majority of the time you can take his blinds. If you have a giant stack to your left, he'll call with a wide range and you might get knocked out having got your chips in with a better hand. So you have to pick your moments and observe who has what chips.

As far as MTTs are concerned, when I first started playing I was so tight waiting for good hands and I was getting blinded out. As time has gone by, I've learned to pick my spots more and it's really satisfying to steal blinds from middle position with a simple 3xBB or 2.5xBB raise with complete trash. I know everything feels more comfortable the more you play, but I feel like this especially applies to stealing blinds.

The bubble is really late in the tournament. Only the top 10% usually gets payed and bubble in more than 3/4 into the tournament. I think you can steal earlier in the tournament when the table gets short handed with 2nd tier starting hands like J,10 .

If it's folded to me i am taking my odds that the BB has crap well i am in the SB so i am 3X it, the same gos for when i am on the button.
I would give more info, but to many know how i play.
Thought most of the time i get great hands on the button, that helps a bunch.

Great stuff, thanks a lot guys.

Question that I don't think has been addressed yet: how do antes affect your blind stealing strategy in terms of bet sizing, frequency and hand ranges that you "steal" with?

you propley want to rasie pre flop becouse 70 persent of the time the big and small blind have weak hands and lookiing to get out of the hand

Huge effect - it's bonus time. Antes literally add hundreds in dead money to each pot, just waiting to be collected. The biggest adjustment I allow for that is not frequency or hand ranges, but position. Before antes I may not even take a crack at it from the CO, but with antes I might even make a play from middle.

Thanks. Actually, that's another huge factor I completely neglected. I'd imagine position would alter with the onset of the antes, as well.