If you're playing a tight-aggressive playstyle their will be longs periods of time where you're folding hand after hand. At the start of a tournament, when the blind levels are low, this isn't really a problem - but towards the end of a tournament the blinds really start to eat away at your stack. Stealing blinds is an important skill to learn for online poker tournaments, but you can't just steal them whenever you want. If you follow these 5 tips you'll be able to successfully steal blinds.
Position, position, position. It's so important it had to be repeated twice. If you try to steal a blind in early position, any other player who acts after you can raise. You're essentially giving everyone at the table the odds to either limp in or raise you. You need to be within two players of the big blind if you want to make a move, if anyone at the table has limped in or made a bet - the steal is off (unless you have a premium hand, but then it's not a steal anyway). If you're within two players of the big blind, you don't even need to look at your hand. Make a bet and put the pressure on the big blind, most of the time he'll have trash and will have to fold. If he calls then you can always get lucky on the flop and if he raises then you'll throw away your hand. Believe me, more often than not you will increase your chip stack by doing this.
Don't steal all the time. This is especially important if you're playing in a cash game (ring game), as your opponents wont tend to change tables often. If you're constantly stealing their blinds they'll just start calling or raising you, which would ruin this profitable strategy.
Raise enough. If you only raise my 2x the big blind, your opponent will always have the odds to call you. 3x the big blind is ideal, it doesn't give him the odds to call unless he has a premium hand. If he re-raises (with a premium hand) you have the information you need to make a quick escape and lose as few chips as possible.
Know when you're beat. Don't be too stubborn when it comes to stealing blinds. If you make a stab at the pot and someone raises you, it's not 'gutsy' to make a call if you have a trash hand... it's idiotic. Poker is a game of odds, once you've made a bet to steal the pot that money is no longer yours. If someone re-raises you it's a separate decision you need to make.
Know when to stay in the hand. If you have a mediocre hand (any ace, any low pair or any suited connector), and someone min-raises your bet - you're probably still getting the right odds to call them. If they're min raising you they'll normally have an ace or two picture cards. If the flop doesn't look like it helped them then it's time to take a stab at the pot.
These tips for stealing blinds will help you make a profit from poker, especially towards the latter stages of tournaments. Try these tips out at the easiest online poker rooms, you can even use a no deposit poker bonus to try them out for free - the best part is you can still win real money!
Position, position, position. It's so important it had to be repeated twice. If you try to steal a blind in early position, any other player who acts after you can raise. You're essentially giving everyone at the table the odds to either limp in or raise you. You need to be within two players of the big blind if you want to make a move, if anyone at the table has limped in or made a bet - the steal is off (unless you have a premium hand, but then it's not a steal anyway). If you're within two players of the big blind, you don't even need to look at your hand. Make a bet and put the pressure on the big blind, most of the time he'll have trash and will have to fold. If he calls then you can always get lucky on the flop and if he raises then you'll throw away your hand. Believe me, more often than not you will increase your chip stack by doing this.
Don't steal all the time. This is especially important if you're playing in a cash game (ring game), as your opponents wont tend to change tables often. If you're constantly stealing their blinds they'll just start calling or raising you, which would ruin this profitable strategy.
Raise enough. If you only raise my 2x the big blind, your opponent will always have the odds to call you. 3x the big blind is ideal, it doesn't give him the odds to call unless he has a premium hand. If he re-raises (with a premium hand) you have the information you need to make a quick escape and lose as few chips as possible.
Know when you're beat. Don't be too stubborn when it comes to stealing blinds. If you make a stab at the pot and someone raises you, it's not 'gutsy' to make a call if you have a trash hand... it's idiotic. Poker is a game of odds, once you've made a bet to steal the pot that money is no longer yours. If someone re-raises you it's a separate decision you need to make.
Know when to stay in the hand. If you have a mediocre hand (any ace, any low pair or any suited connector), and someone min-raises your bet - you're probably still getting the right odds to call them. If they're min raising you they'll normally have an ace or two picture cards. If the flop doesn't look like it helped them then it's time to take a stab at the pot.
These tips for stealing blinds will help you make a profit from poker, especially towards the latter stages of tournaments. Try these tips out at the easiest online poker rooms, you can even use a no deposit poker bonus to try them out for free - the best part is you can still win real money!
