One of the greatest, most overlooked strategies in a poker game is stealing blind bets. The process is often devalued simply because blind bets do not seem like much in the way of poker chips, but when playing an optimal, tight poker strategy, they can be the difference between a rising chip stack and a slowly dwindling bankroll.
What is Blind Stealing?
Blind stealing is when a poker player bets or raises with the sole intention of causing other players to fold before the flop. When this occurs, the player is awarded the pot, consisting of nothing more than the small blind and big blind bets, along with the return of his own bet/raise chips.
How to Steal Blind Bets
The success of stealing the blinds has a lot to do with position. 95% of the time, the late position bettor is able to steal the blinds when other players are not vying for the pot. An early position bettor, more often than not, will only lose a chunk of chips attempting to steal the blinds.
So first things first, do not put chips into the pot from an early betting position unless you intend to call any reasonably size raise that follows.
With that said, from late position, stealing the blinds is often a highly viable poker strategy. The best position would be on the button, being the last player to act.
There should be very few players left from early and middle position bettors, 1 or 2 at most. If you are at a 6+ players table and 3 or more people have called or raised before you, it is not the right time. Too many players could potentially call your blind-stealing raise. Furthermore, if any player before you has placed a raise more than 2x the big blind, they are just as likely to call your blind-stealing raise.
You are looking for no more than 2 players limping into the pot (calling the big blind, but not raising). When this occurs, you have an excellent shot at stealing the blinds from late position. Place a moderate raise of 3-4x the big blind.
The only challengers you have to worry about now are the small blind and the big blind. The small blind has only made a minimal investment up to this point and is not going to risk tossing a lot more chips into the pot without a great starting hand. The big blind is in nearly the same position, and again, will almost always fold unless he has a premium starter.
Tips on Stealing the Blinds
It is best to have a little something to fall back on, in case you do get called, but if you have been reading your opponents well enough, you should be able to access what kind of reaction to expect. For example, if you are playing very loose, inexperienced players, stealing the blinds will not be easy. They are too willing to call just to see a flop before giving up on even a marginal hand.
If your opponents are highly skilled, be careful about stealing blinds too often. If you are raising the pot every time you land on the button, you are going to get called. Veteran poker players are very observant and will catch on quicker than you might think!
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