Stealing the Blinds

Spaceman

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Ok, major leak here. I suck at stealing the blinds. Any answers to my questions and/or extra tips would be really helpful!

1. How often do you steal blinds?
2. When do you start stealing more often?
3. Do you steal with complete air or what hands usually?
4. Do you try stealing blinds by going all in or by a big bet? And whats the usual bet sizing?
5. Shoving with air from early positions when you are not low on big blinds is a dumb move or am I being too nitty?
 
A

audacity

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I start to explore stealing the blinds not to far from when we cash in a tournament.

I don't play cash games for the most part.

I don't know why -but I do better in tournament play.

My attitude is people are playing tighter and don't want to risk having wasted 2 hours to get where they are.
 
BnaD

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In the mid-late stages of a tournament you should be attacking the blinds as often as you can. The money from the blinds/antes are what you are trying to get. Everything starts from here. When you open raise into a pot you are saying I have a good enough hand to play for the blinds and antes that are out there. The more that is in the middle the more you should be attacking them. Unless you are severely short stacked you should not be trying to steal the blinds without a playable hand. If you play well and attack the blinds consistently with strong holdings and are winning pots, people will respect your raises and fold their marginal and poor holdings. This is when "stealing" comes into play. You can start trying to steal the blinds with less than premium hands like low suited connectors and suited gappers. If you are having trouble knowing what hands to play try looking up some range charts by position on google. hope this helps!
 
kratos

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I steal the blinds when the ante starts and when the blinds are 200x400 ante 25 or 50.The pot must have almost thousand chips.It's worth make steal but only in position.
 
eberetta1

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It is easier to steal the blinds when you are chip leader at the table. No one is going to respect a small stack trying to steal blinds, except when things are close to the bubble. Then a small stack has a chance at blind stealing.
 
sissto

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I do it like kratos! I start to steal blinds when ante starts and blinds are high enough :)
 
Perceval

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Hello, yesterday I tried to prevent a thief to steal the blinds and I have received nothing ***** cards, so I lost over half my stack, I got angry and I lost everything ....:angel:
 
Mootizit

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Observe table dynamic,exploit weak players and taking advantage thru position.
 
cranberry

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I rarely steal blinds. I start stealing the blinds after the middle of the tournament, when I have a big stack. My average bet for stealing blinds is 4 BB, from late positions and range of starting hands 25-35%. In general, it all depends on the style of the game and the size of the opponent's stack.
 
Shrops

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Hello

I try to steal the blinds later in tournaments after I have shown the other players at the table that I am a tight player. Then I will try to steal the blinds in late position when no one else as come in to play the hand. It can be a good way to get some easy chips. Good luck !
 
TeUnit

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The best steal is where you risk the least. So you want to take notes on the villans and figure out which way and which size works the best. Some people wont fold to steal attempts so value own them, some are stationy but give up on the flop- stab at those, some like to donk lead and you can just reraise them with air.
 
Dailon Arroyo Blandon

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I just try to steal blinds when I'm playing a tournament and we're close to the bubble and my chip stack is bigger than the opponents on my left ...!
 
neiroob

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It is rare to steal curtains, in cheap tournaments this enterprise does not work, they often call with any garbage.:fight::fight:
 
whiskers77

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1. I often try to steal blinds, especially when there is a nitty player behind me
2. More often, when I am big stacked and around the bubble
3. Often with connectors, gappers and not completely with air
4. Usually no all-in. About 2.5-3 BB
5. It makes no sense for me to go all-in with a good stack
 
masik6

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When I was in the position of always trying to steal the blinds.:cool:
 
Spaceman

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1. I often try to steal blinds, especially when there is a nitty player behind me
2. More often, when I am big stacked and around the bubble
3. Often with connectors, gappers and not completely with air
4. Usually no all-in. About 2.5-3 BB
5. It makes no sense for me to go all-in with a good stack

I started believing that nobody looked at my questions. Thanks mate!:top:
 
blueskies

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1) Adjust your frequency depending on who is to your left
2) When blinds start climbing
3) Doesn't matter. If you are stealing you are raising light and will likely fold anyway if you get 3 bet.
4) Depends on blind to stack ratio
5) Yes, the more ppl to your left the more likely someone calls you
 
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Swanny19735

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Ok, major leak here. I suck at stealing the blinds. Any answers to my questions and/or extra tips would be really helpful!

1. How often do you steal blinds?
2. When do you start stealing more often?
3. Do you steal with complete air or what hands usually?
4. Do you try stealing blinds by going all in or by a big bet? And whats the usual bet sizing?
5. Shoving with air from early positions when you are not low on big blinds is a dumb move or am I being too nitty?



I agree with some of the other comments and try to steal the blinds later on in a tournament.

I also find that if I am playing loose then it is harder to steal the blinds. If you have a table image of a tight player then you can steal the blinds easier. I try to observe how people play in bb and sb. Some players will defend their blinds and others will let it go if they have nothing. Try to create the perfect storm where you have the right combination of table image, position, players in bb and sb and number of players in the pot. Try not to bluff to many times to steal the blinds as this can be a risky strategy as if they decide to call or raise you could end up loosing a lot of chips.
 
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Samsamsonite

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In cash games, stealing the blinds is not that important. In tournaments, it's huge. You can actually make it ITM just by stealing the blinds.
 
Spaceman

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1) Adjust your frequency depending on who is to your left
2) When blinds start climbing
3) Doesn't matter. If you are stealing you are raising light and will likely fold anyway if you get 3 bet.
4) Depends on blind to stack ratio
5) Yes, the more ppl to your left the more likely someone calls you


Thanks for the answers!
 
Peppinotom

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1st of all stealing blinds starts later!!! Don't shove all in for 90 chips, but why not? show presence from the beginning if you are on that strategy, it MIGHT help you later.

2nd have a look who is playing!!!

if you try to stel blinds from MTcashman, you could get a deep dish reraise with 72
If you try to steal my blinds, go ahead...
Know, what I'm talking about?
Who R U?
What is your reputation @ the tables?
Do you have enough chips to re-raise the re-raise?
And YES, stealing blinds and pots is what makes you win or lose a race....:icon_king
 
sryulaw

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1 - Stealing the Binds, is for two reasons, stack maintenance, and for survival.
For this to happen we need to take some factors into account, 1 factor 70% of the time nobody hits nothing on the flop, when there are 2 to 3 players playing, just having this information is already a good reason to get in the game if no one has entered before.

2 factor, - defending the blinds is important for you to maintain stack, as the bet is mandatory you do not need to put many chips normally, this becomes even better when you have a well-balanced 3bet or call range, the Big's range , and small may be too large for certain players, and if you know how to apply it, you win many blinds throughout the tournaments.

5 -You will have to play from all in to steal the blinds when you are short, you do not have many choices, at this moment it is good to know how to exploit the opponents' stack, when to enter ITM for example, stealing blinds can make the difference to be in the FT,
 
Peppinotom

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1 - Stealing the Binds, is for two reasons, stack maintenance, and for survival.
For this to happen we need to take some factors into account, 1 factor 70% of the time nobody hits nothing on the flop, when there are 2 to 3 players playing, just having this information is already a good reason to get in the game if no one has entered before.

2 factor, - defending the blinds is important for you to maintain stack, as the bet is mandatory you do not need to put many chips normally, this becomes even better when you have a well-balanced 3bet or call range, the Big's range , and small may be too large for certain players, and if you know how to apply it, you win many blinds throughout the tournaments.

5 -You will have to play from all in to steal the blinds when you are short, you do not have many choices, at this moment it is good to know how to exploit the opponents' stack, when to enter ITM for example, stealing blinds can make the difference to be in the FT,
recalc, 30% hit in two players and 40% don't hit:damnmate:
 
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stealing blinds is crucial in tournaments or sng, especially when blinds get heavy in later stages
 
Spaceman

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Thank you all for your tips. Believe it or not, I improved tremendously just by your posts! Thank you everybody!!!!!!

Now, I steal blinds more often, and from bubble boy, the last days I'm always close to final table! Please, give me more answers and tips!!!:):):)
 
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