Stealing with a biggish short stack

So i don't really get fold equity, but i'm thinking it means i don't want to risk chips if they're a significant portion of my stack if theres a good chance that i'll end up folding postflop.

In a sitngo or mtt I like to stay aggressive and steal the blinds. On the button, I like to shove with any two cards to steal the blinds when i have around 10 big blinds.

How should i go about stealing the blinds when i'm on the button if i have say 20 big blinds and I'm dealt 4d 6h? Should i wait for a better spot? Blinds increase every 5 min.

Depends on the stack sizes of the blinds,if they tight or loose...

If they are short they might 3bet shove, so if thats the case just fold it.
If they are average stacked they can call but because you are in position you control the action post flop
If they are tight i would raise it and if they are lose i would fold it

At the basic level, fold equity is the probability the opponent(s) will fold if you bet. So e.g. if it's folded to you in the SB and you think the BB is tight and will only call or 3bet an open-raise 10% of the time, your FE is 90%.

fold equity has nothing to do with you folding, it's the likelihood that your opponents will fold to your bet.

So if a player has 1,000 chips left and 800 of those are in the BB...what are the chances he will fold to your button raise? pretty much slim to none...so in this case your fold equity is almost zero.

as for stealing the blinds..

I think, as with many things, stack size determines which moves are in our arsenal and which are not. Which are most profitable and which should be reserved for different situations. Certainly with 80bbs, open shoving preflop should NOT be in your arsenal. certainly with 8bb open raising should not be in your arsenal.

In the situations you described ~10bb and it folds to your button...I wouldn't shove any 2 here, but I'd shove probably the top 60-70% of hands (which if you look at a hand rankings chart will appear almost like any 2 and includes such beauties as T2s and 96o...couple that with some fold equity and its ok to shove pretty wide on your button.

with a 20bb stack, I think it's too big for an open shove but the PERFECT size for a re-steal. so look for somebody who is raising light, pick a hand with reasonable equity if you get called (unlikely to be dominated...so I'd rather resteal with T7 than A7) and shove.

with a 20bb stack open raising is in your arsenal, but it is VERY trick indeed. if you want to raise a hand, raise for value...so from early position pick a hand that can stand up to a re-raise and from late position pick a hand that you won't mind being all in if you catch a piece of the flop.

Thanks for all of your input guys

robertgraves7 said:

So i don't really get fold equity, but i'm thinking it means i don't want to risk chips if they're a significant portion of my stack if theres a good chance that i'll end up folding postflop.

In a sitngo or mtt I like to stay aggressive and steal the blinds. On the button, I like to shove with any two cards to steal the blinds when i have around 10 big blinds.

How should i go about stealing the blinds when i'm on the button if i have say 20 big blinds and I'm dealt 4d 6h? Should i wait for a better spot? Blinds increase every 5 min.

Click to expand...

The more loosely call your opponents, the harder it will be for you to successfully steal the blinds preflop!
When you receive a call on your steal raise - it's not tragic. This is - an excellent opportunity! Most opponents tends to break down quickly at a constant, hard aggression and you must learn to be aggressive.
Do not despair if your identity fails.
Clear idea of ​​what your table image.

pot steal can end rly bad for u in some positions so be careful, better never try to steal pot with 4d 6h