STT - mid stack aggression

The return from my favourite $3 STT seems to be suffering over the last 40 or so games. Apart from the odd dumb move and bad luck a recurring theme is being unable to steal a pot. I'd appreciate any words of wisdom.

Here's a situation from a game tonight that is fairly typical. We are down to 5 with 3 paying, big stack $4k small stack $1k my stack $2 and blinds at 100/200. I have been playing standard TAG for the first few levels then opened up a bit. I've got notes and stats on the other players, am feeling comfortable and have a plan on who is best to steal from. I have won a few pots here and there but opportunities have dried up a bit. I pick up A8s on the button and raise to 600; the SB raises all in with a stack a shade smaller than mine. What to do?

This player started tight but has also loosened up a bit, stealing a few pots on a tightish table. If I fold I am down to 7BB and have got little room for anything much, yet A8s isn't a hand I want my tournament to hinge on. Of course if I win I am one place nearer the money and as near as damn it chip leader.

In a nutshell, my problem is how to steal (which is basically what the play is) when a fair chunk of my stack has to go in and I'm not getting great hole cards. I have tried less obvious stealing positions but can find myself in a similar position with worse cards; I have tried bigger and smaller bet amounts and not stealing at all. But I keep either folding myself to a short stack or risking my life on KTo.

Any ideas, thanks - Viv.

Check out these two great threads on pot stealing

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/learning-poker-57/turbos-165117/

and

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/cash-games-11/kc-advanced-blind-stealing-strategy-165193/

Hope they help you out!

You have to jam once you have 10 blinds or less. Can't try to play postflop poker.

First of all, once the blinds begin to get higher you'll find that a raise of 2.4 -2.5x is big enough to take the blinds (if they're going to call 2.5x they would've called 3x). It's less to invest if you're played back at.

Secondly if your preflop raise is going to be approx. 1/3 of your stack, just shove it allin preflop instead. In this spot here you must call when the other guy plays back at you (you are pot committed >> you are getting odds to call his shove here). Knowing you will be pot committed, instead of raising preflop, just shove it allin.

In a tournament situation, raise/folding with less than 20bb's is bad play (You must typically tighten up your opening requirements as you should be only opening with a hand you'd be willing to go all the way with).
In a SNG format where stacks aren't as deep, use 10bb as your guideline.

The player in SB who has shoved on you 'SHOULD' realize that you are pot committed here with your preflop raise, which should mean that he has a fairly strong hand.. .BUT at the same time his range could be 22+, KJ+. You absolutely MUST call here in this spot. You are getting 2to1 here and you are probably not in too bad of shape against most of his holdings.

Can you post the hand? would help to see exactly what happened, generally you make your decisions on your chip stack compared to the chip stacks of the players to act behind you.

You definitely have to shove that with only 5 bb's left. Once you get down to less than 10 bb's in a sng you are only looking for shove opportunities. (Which is basically any decent hand in an un-opened pot - and almost ATC once you get to less than 5bb's.) You do not have enough fold equity to be trying to steal any other way.

As played you have to call. He probably has a decent hand - but his range is wide enough that with most of your chips in the pot you can not fold this.

Also per your last comment in these situations you need to be glad to risk your tournament life with KTos.

it depends, if the blinds are both around 5-10 bb's then its a push, if one has around 25-30 you may want to reconsider as there are two players with 1000k in chips, so you are wanting to wait and not risk an all in at this stage, so if you cant risk an all in, you cant risk a std raise, so this is a fold.. but if both the blinds had 1k in chips, then this can be a push, as they are not calling often enough to make it a losing play. although personally id rather have a hand like 89 suited as its likely your cards are live, as any ace that calls you has you likely dominated.


but yeah, post the actual HH or at least info on which blinds your stealing from, like stack sizes etc.. otherwise its a guessing game

Agree that a HH would be great to look at.

But we do know this - Hero has 1k, big stack has 4k and sb less than 1k. That is enough information to know he shoves or folds regardless of the other stack sizes and positions.

You cant be opening 3xbb OTB when u have a 10BB stack.
When its folded to you OTB, close to bubble with tight players in the blind u should be jamming with a fairly wide range, including A8s imo.
When u do decite to raise though and he jams your asked to call 1400 into roughly 2800(aproximatly since u didnt include exact stack sizes), unless villain is a utter nit we have to call here with basicly atc.

Stop trying to raise 3x late stage sng and just start jamming, if effective stacks are <15BB raising is pointless unless it all in since there isnt any room for post flop poker.

So to sumarize start jamming more...

I just noticed I misread his post thinking his stack size was 1K instead of 2k - but most of what I said still stands.

You really need a HH for this one. Stack sizes are the most important thing here. You got 1 stack of 1k you and another as ~2k one at 4k that leaves anothet 4.5k but the chip leader has 4k so it doesnt add up. But to add about the jamming less than 15BBs. There is another reason do do this too. It takes away any idea the the SB will have any chance that you will fold if he shoves. A players range for restealing will be wider than their range for calling a shove, giving you a better chance to win without showdown.

i think the play differs if you have a 4k stack in the blinds,, you dont really want to be picked off by him and finish in 3rd, having said that his calling range is supertight, still 5 players left, id most likely be shoving a9s here, about the lowest id go if the 4k was in the blinds, if they blinds are both aroudn 10 bb, this is an easy shove..

I started this post a while ago and then went absent for a while. Now I'm back in town I'd just like to say thanks for the help on this one and sorry not to have shown my appreciation earlier.

I seem to have sorted out my problem (oh yeah?) with the stealing. I think I was becoming too scared to get it in. It seemed to me that in any given tourney I was waiting until too late, that I was getting to a stack of 10bb before having a go. I think I was too nervous at the 15-20bb level if I wasn't getting the cards - but then I figured if I'm stealing blinds I don't need the cards. D'oh!

Thanks again for your help guys, much appreciated.

I agree with rocketman, once your xBBs are flickering away to nothing, it's better to make an all-in shove with a decent hand to steal blinds.