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Stealing Pots, Stealing blinds

How To Become A Poker Theif

Let me talk to you about stealing pots and stealing blinds. Stealing pots and blinds should be a bread and butter part of your every day poker game. It should not be confused with straight bluffing. Bluffing is just plain lying. Stealing pots and stealing blinds is a more elegant form of bluff where you use your position, table image and knowledge of your opponents to win the pot uncontested.

You should feel comfortable with stealing pots and stealing blinds. If you don't feel right making a bet when you know you haven't got the best hand then you really should not be playing poker. Stealing pots and blinds will increase your bankroll and give you an aggressive table image. These are two very big plus points for making this move.

Stealing Pots

Let's take a look at a few examples to illustrate how to steal a pot effectively.

You are playing in a 10 seat no limit texas holdem ring game, blinds are 1/2 and you have sat down with 500. In this hand you are on the button. The early positions fold, middle position limps as do the next two players. You look down and see 4s5s and decide theres enough in the pot to limp along with everyone else. SB calls, BB checks. Pot is 12.

The flop comes down a nasty Ah Ac Kd.

Your Hand	Flop	Turn	River

The table all check it round to you. You should put in a bet of about 10 here to find out where you stand. Currently the pot is uncontested. No one is taking the risk to put any money in the middle because there are a lot of scare cards out there.

Two aces on the flop could easily give anyone holding Ace-rag a tasty set. We can probably rule out anyone holding AK as there was no raise pre-flop. Possible hands we could be up against are AX,KQ,KJ,KT. But we don't know. The only way we can know what we are up against is to put a bet out.

With two of the four aces in the deck already being on the board, this significantly reduces the chances of someone else holding an Ace. So chances are no-one involved in the pot has an ace. If no one is willing to fire chips at the pot, this is another indication that no one has an ace.

Now that the action is checked round to you on the button, you have every right to put in what is known as a stealer bet. You are confident no-one else at the table caught a piece of the flop and so you chuck in a bet to find out. On a board like this, even someone holding a King wouldn't be sure they have the best hand.

Do not be scared to bet big in this situation. about 75% of the pot is ample. Do not be tempted to put in a small bet. A small bet is more likely to be called by QJ or TJ if you offer enough pot odds to them. Even KX might look you up should the bet be small enough.

The key to stealing a pot is to win it without a showdown.

If you can win it by the flop, all the better. If a pot is uncontested, then make it expensive for people to draw out another card. You will find that most of the time people will fold their hands to you.

In the small number of situations where you get raised, you can be sure that someone check-raising a dangerous board is either stupid, or they have got the goods. In the situations where your steal bet gets smooth called, see if your hand improves on the turn. Chances are it will not and you will end up eventually relinquishing your hand. You must be prepared to lay down your hand should you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

However, the number of times you will win money in these situations far out-weighs the times you will lose.

Here are some ingredients that make the perfect steal:

1. You are in very late position or on the button.
2. Every participant in the hand has limped to the flop.
3. The table has checked it round to you.
4. Your opponents are tight/passive.
5. There are only a couple of players in the pot.

Of course, faced with the opposite situations, you should rarely steal in the following circumstances:

1. You are under the gun, or in a blind position.
2. There has been raising and re-raising pre-flop.
3. You expect a raise if you bet out.
4. Your opponents are loose/aggressive.
5. There are many players in the pot.

Stealing Blinds

I love stealing blinds. It's like free money. If you have someone sat to your left who is a very tight player, then you should always raise his blind with any two cards. If you feel that the BB is going to buckle under a bit of pressure then make sure you crank it up. Be sure to put in a decent raise as a minimum raise will not be enough to make them fold. Usually a 3xBB raise is enough. Here's an example:

You are sat in the small blind. The table all fold around to you. You look down and see a dirty ugly 72u. Nice! Blinds are at 1/2 and so you raise it up to 6. If you have been playing a tight aggressive game so far, then the BB is likely to fold his money to you. Even if you get called, you could still catch a tasty flop. If you get raised back then take your time to re-assess the situation. Is this player tight? Are they aggressive? How often have they raised their BB in previous hands?

If you continue to fold your SB to the BB, not only are you losing out on the free money available from the BB, but you are surrendering your own SB and giving up chips without a fight.

Be sure to occasionaly switch up your playing style. If you have successfuly stolen three BB in a row you might consider letting one SB go the next time you have a marginal hand just to show that you don't just raise up with any two cards. Of course we know that you are, but you should project the image that you are selective about your raises and if it costs you one SB for every 3 BB you win, then this is most definitely worth it.