Stealing The Blinds In Limit Holdem

Most people who play limit hold em cash games have the failed belief that stealing blinds is a worthless proposition. After all, it's only one small bet for the big blind to see the flop. Understanding when and when not to steal the blinds can make the difference between a winning and losing session in Limit Hold Em. For this discussion, stealing is open raising first to act from either the cutoff, button, or small blind. There are four specific factors you should be looking at when deciding whether to steal or not. #1 – the actual strength of your hand. #2 – The likelihood that the remaining players will fold. #3 – The likelihood that if one of the remaining players calls, that they will fold post-flop. #4 – The likelihood that if one of the remaining players calls, that they will pay you off if you hit a hand post-flop. #1 is the easiest to explain. If you have a strong hand that plays well, it's not really a steal, but most of your opponents are going to think that it is. Raising should be the only course of action here. An aggressive opponent who thinks you are on a steal might even three bet you and you can build a significant pot against them. A calling station or weak opponent will call you and often they will pay you off with a marginal hand post-flop because they believed you were stealing and that their hand is good. #2 is a bit trickier and requires some careful observation of your opponent's tendencies. What you need to look for here is the tight player that only plays premium hands or speculative hands in position. Have you seen the player fold his big blind when it's been raised and called by one or more players? Have they folded their small blind in an unraised pot? If they have, there is a strong chance that they will fold their big blind. Some poker writers advocate only raising with a certain range of hands in these instances, but if you are first to act and the remaining players all fall into this category, it is perfectly acceptable to open with any two cards here. #3 might be the best factor of them all. Here you even get an extra bet for your aggressive play. In limit cash games, you'll see this type of player often. They will defend their big blind, but will only put more money in the pot post-flop if they hit their hand. The action usually goes like this – you raise pre-flop, they call and check to you on the flop, you bet and they fold. If they check-call or check-raise you on the flop, then you can decide how to proceed on the turn based upon what you know about them, but more often than not these types of players are going to fold because the flop has missed them. Example: A tight but passive player is in the big blind. A rock is in the small blind. Everyone folds to you on the cutoff and you look down and see 7-2 offsuit. You know that the big blind will only call a raise with a decent hand and that if they miss the flop they will usually check-fold. The small blind will only play the best hands out of position. You raise and the big blind calls. The flop comes 9-5-3 and the big blind checks. You bet and they fold. #4 takes into consideration loose players in the big blind who tend to overplay or call to much post-flop. If you are first to act and this type of player is in the big blind, then raising with a hand like A-9 or K-10 is a good idea. The reason being that if you hit your hand they are likely going to continue to call bets from you on the hopes of either chasing you down or that their marginal hand is good. One of the keys to success in limit hold em cash games is extracting value from your opponents when you have a marginal hand that is still the best hand. One last note on stealing blinds. The importance of understanding your opponents can not be under stated. If you are first to act from the cutoff and there is a tight player in the big blind but a very savvy, aggressive player in the small blind, then stealing is not the correct course of action. You also need to understand what your image at the table is. If you've made five steal raises in the last four orbits, the other players are going to recognize this and make adjustments. Steal raising is most effective when you have a moderately tight image.