The subject here is your betting strategy when you're playing Texas Hold'em and another player is trying to steal your blind bet.
As a reminder; blind bets are obligatory wagers placed by the two players to the left of the dealer before any cards are dealt. The purpose of blind bets is to get the pot started for each round of play.
The player to the dealer's immediate left places what's called "the small blind" while the second player to the dealer's left places "the big blind." Typically, the big blind is equal to the smaller of the two bets in the game's betting structure, and the small blind is equal to half that amount. For example, in a Texas Hold'em game with a $1/$2 betting structure, the big blind would be $1 and the small blind .50 cents.
What is meant by the phrase "stealing the blinds"? Suppose you are seated at a table with ten players and the dealer button has moved to a position that obliges you to place a blind bet. Further suppose that the first six players to the left of the blinds fold their hands. Then, if either the seventh player, seated in a position called "the cutoff," or the eighth player, seated at the dealer button, raises the big blind bet even though they are holding statistically weak hole cards, they are trying to get you to fold and sacrifice to them the money you have already contributed to the pot.
By the way, here's why that seventh player's position is called "the cutoff." In any round of poker betting, it is most desirable to be the last player betting because that allows you to see what everybody else in the hand is doing before you must make a betting decision. At the beginning of any Texas Hold'em game, the dealer has that last-to-act position. But if the player to the dealer's immediate right can get the dealer to fold by means of an aggressive bet, then he inherits the last-to-act position. He has cut the dealer off.
Now, how do you know whether the cutoff or the dealer is trying to steal your blind bet? After all, those players could be holding statistically strong hands, such as a pair of aces, or an ace and a king (colloquially referred to as "Big Slick"). Their raise would be justified by their strong hole cards.
The truth is that a huge part of Texas Hold'em betting strategy is sizing up your opponents. By observing their betting behavior, you can make informed guesses about what they are up to.
How do you apply your observations about your opponents' betting behaviors to these "stealing the blinds" situations?
You might even be reading this and ask yourself "What if I just started at a table and have no idea about my opponents' betting behavior?" Well, in that situation, if you just sat down at a table, everybody folds to the dealer, and then the dealer raises the big blind, you absolutely do not want to give that person the idea that you will fold every time he raises in analogous circumstances. Be aware that there are some players who never try to steal blinds, others who try to steal only occasionally, and still others who constantly try to steal. So, if you are holding statistically strong hole cards, your best move is to re-raise, giving the original raiser the signal that you're holding a strong hand. Remember that the dealer button moves around the table but the players to your right are likely to be there a good while. By showing them from the get-go that you won't fold to every raise, you inhibit them from trying to steal your blinds. Incidentally, a complete explanation of strong and weak starting hands is beyond the scope of this article. But if you don't understand which starting hands are strong and which are weak, drop whatever you're doing and seek out that information.
Before proceeding, we're going to mention a few factors regarding blind position psychology. It is a typical beginner's mistake to be overly attached to the blind bet. Having been forced to post a blind, beginners often, but wrongly feel justified doing any damned thing to "defend" their blind bet. In truth, it is just one of the realities of Texas Hold'em that you are not going to win back the majority of the blind bets you post. Calling and raising from the blinds with weak hands in an effort to "defend" the blind bet is foolish. Never forget that your main goal in Texas Hold'em is to win the biggest pots, not to get your blind bets back come hell or high water.
It follows from the above that your principle hope in foiling your opponents when they try to steal your blind bet is to break even overall in such situations. Breaking even in such situations is nothing to sneer at, by the by. It is, for example, a lot better than losing every blind bet you post.
Be aware that there's a considerable difference between being the small blind and being the big blind. We're first going to address foiling a steal attempt in small blind position. Remember that in order to stay in the hand in those instances when no player has raised, the small blind must add a bet equal to his small blind bet, thus bringing his total bet up to the level of the big blind. Beginners will often make the mistake of reasoning that because they have already put in the small blind, putting in the matching amount to see the flop is "a bargain." That reasoning is erroneous. If you have statistically weak hole cards in small blind position and fold, then you have saved yourself the do-re-mi for posting the small blind the next time around.
But supposing you are in small blind position and have statistically strong hole cards? We're going to assume that everybody has folded to the dealer, and that the dealer raised. You must ask yourself "What kind of player is he?" If you have observed that he is a tight player, which is to say that he consistently plays few hands, and only plays statistically strong hands, then you can assume that his raise means he has statistically strong hole cards. If you don't have extremely good hole cards, such as a pair of aces, you should definitely fold. On the other hand, if you have observed that the player is loose, which is to say that he's constantly jumping into the action, betting on hands unjustifiably, then you can presume that he's trying to steal the blinds.
The small blind position is actually more perilous than the big blind position because in order to call a raise the player must both meet the original big blind bet AND double it to come up to the level of the raise. Therefore, the best strategy is to only re-raise a pre-flop raise from the dealer when your read on him tells you he is likely trying to steal AND you have statistically strong hole cards. Otherwise, just let your small blind go. Fold.
Now we're going to consider what you should do if you're in the big blind position and suspect that the cutoff or the dealer is trying to steal the blinds. The big blind, of course, has the additional consideration of what the small blind has done. The big blind's decisions in these situations will naturally be influenced by his observations of his opponents' post-flop play.
If the small blind folds, then the big blind must decide if he wants to play heads up against the raiser. If you're in this situation and decide you want to play, then your strategy becomes interrelated with post flop betting. If your opponent is trying to steal, then it's virtually certain he will bet after the flop, no matter what he's holding and no matter what's on the board. So, if the flop significantly improves your statistically strong hole cards, your best move is a check-raise. What this means is that you check, and then if your opponent places a bet, you raise it. If he has garbage, he may well fold at this point, because you are representing strength. If he is especially nervy, he may raise you again. Your further decisions about what to do must be informed by your previous observations of his betting behavior.
If the small blind calls the suspected stealer's raise, then the big blind, if he holds statistically strong hole cards, has more reason to re-raise, as with two other players in the hand rather than just one, there will be more money in the pot. One of the main perils to beware of in these situations is that the small blind could himself be bluffing. By calling the original raise rather than re-raising, he indicated that he is not holding the very best of hole cards. If after the flop he then posts a big raise, he could be doing so to force you to fold, even though in truth he didn't make his hand on the flop.
If the small blind re-raises the suspected stealer's raise, then you as the big blind are in a pickle. Unless you have top pairs, aces or kings, you are probably better off folding. There is little point to becoming heavily invested in the pot pre-flop when you are holding statistically inferior hole cards.
Here are some main points for you to take away from this article:
1) "Stealing the blinds" refers to situations in which either the cutoff or the dealer get the remaining players to fold pre-flop.
2) When you first suspect that a player is trying to steal your blind bet, you should call or raise him, to keep him from thinking you will fold to every raise.
3) Thereafter, you should be judicious about the hands you play. Playing tight from the blinds, which is to say, only playing the best of opening hands, should never make you go bust at a full table.
4) Your decisions in blinds-stealing situations must be informed by your observations of your opponents' general play styles.
