Thereís a technique known in Texas Hold ĎEm as Stealing the Blinds, and if you want to play serious poker, you need to learn how to do it, when to do it, and why you do it. Now, there are some people who donít like that word stealing and for one reason or another refuse to even use it when they are playing. I suspect it has to do with Karma or something, and they may have a point. If you donít want to use the S word, think of it as Winning the blinds because that, essentially, is what you are doing.
Before we get into the mechanics of stealing, one thing needs to be crystal clear. It is far less important to steal the blinds in a single table cash game than it is when you are playing in a tournament. If you are a tournament player or want to be one, it is essential that you become knowledgeable and comfortable with the process of winning the blinds when you can. The reason for this is simple: Other players will happily be stealing your invested blinds and you will (for the most part) have to sit there and take that abuse. So, as far as we are concerned, and as far as you should be concerned, what goes around, comes around.
And with that in mind, letís learn how to steal.
As mentioned above, stealing blinds is one of the keys to winning poker tournaments. In the early stages of a poker tournament, stealing blinds is not very important, and the reason is simple. Early on the blinds are low and not worth the risk. But as you know, as the game progresses, the blinds increase. In the middle-to-later stages of a poker tournament, stealing blinds is very important.
Having said that, always remember, you cannot attack the poker blinds very aggressively in the early stages of a tournament because the other players will call you more often than not. The blinds are low in relation to stack size, so it is not very expensive for someone to call your raise. When you are stealing blinds you do not want to be called. You want to pick up the blind and move on to the next hand.
Here is some simple math. When the blinds become large (in relation to your stack), you must steal them on average of once every round just to keep even. But winning a tournament is more than simply keeping even. In order to win a poker tournament, you must increase your chip stack so that you will have enough chips at the final table to allow you to win the tournament.
This is why it should be your goal when entering a poker tournament to WIN it and not just to survive enough to get to the final table. Your mindset should be an aggressive one. You cannot win poker tournaments by playing passively.
Your aggressive stealing mode should kick in during the middle stages of the tournament. This is when poker players start to tighten up, and that means they are not going to defend their blinds as often and call your raises. Players want to protect their stacks and not gamble as much when it gets to this stage of the tournament. This is especially true in No-Limit games.
In a Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament, you can attempt to steal the blinds with just about any decent poker hand if you are playing from late position. This includes hands like: 8-7 suited, 10-8 suited, Q-8, A-X, any pair, and so on. Because of the structured betting in Limit games, it is highly suggested that you only try to steal the blinds when everyone ahead of you has folded, leaving only you and the blinds.
In No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments, you use the same blind stealing strategy from late position, but you can do it in a more aggressive manner. Your raise would typically be three or four times the size of the big blind instead of just twice the size of the big blind, as it would be in a Limit Hold ‘Em tournament.
Keep in mind that other players may be using this same strategy of stealing the blinds with just about any kind of hand from late position on you! Knowing this in advance can help you to re-steal their steals. A good rule of thumb is: Do not give a player credit for any decent poker hand at all if he raises from late position in the later stages of a tournament. But remember those key words: late position and late in the tournament. The exception would be a tight player who raises with only good poker hands no matter what his position. This guy you stay away from unless you have a killer hand and believe you have him beat. Even then, tread carefully.
