Attempt To Steal Poker
Sometimes, a player will bet, not based upon the content of their hand, but because they believe that the other players in the hand cannot call. This is called “stealing.” A player may attempt to steal a pot by betting into or raising another player whom they believe is weak. If they are correct in their read, the other player will muck before the showdown, and the player who is stealing will win the pot without ever having to show.
Stealing in poker, refers to an attempt to pick up the pot on the first betting round by making a raise in late position. For example, in Hold’em, a steal is any open-raise made from either the cutoff, button or small blind. The key mathematical consideration when considering a steal attempt is the ratio between the cost of a steal attempt versus the reward of a successful steal. A thinking player needs to consider the size of the bet they need to make to steal the pot versus the size of the pot they will win if their steal attempt is successful. We can also consider using the stat “fold-to-steal” which is a little more specific than general VPIP/PFR. “ FoldToSteal% -% of the time a player folds to an open-raise from the CO,BU or SB.” Most of our pre-flop steals will be from CO BU and SB, but on exceedingly tight tables we can make steal attempts from earlier. ATS: Attempt to steal. How often a player open-raised from the CO, button, or SB when given the opportunity. BET F: How often a player bet the flop when given the opportunity. BET R: How often a player bet the river when given the opportunity. BET T: How often a player bet the turn when given the opportunity.
In addition to stealing pots, players may also attempt to steal the blinds. This is often done by players in middle to late position when there has not been any action preflop. The blind stealer hopes that one of two outcomes will occur. The first hope is that the blinds will not defend against a raise, so the blind stealer will win an uncontested pot. If instead the blinds defend, the blind stealer hopes that they will be able to outflop or outplay the blind defenders and manufacture a winning hand.
The better your position, the more it makes sense to try to steal the blinds, and the less powerful hand you need to attempt it. Most commonly, players will attempt to steal from the cutoff position, which is the position immediately to the right of the button, or on the button itself. Since the cutoff is slightly worse position than the button, you will typically need a slightly better hand than you would need to have for a button steal. This is because your risk is significantly greater when you steal from the cutoff than it is when you steal from the button. When you steal from the button, you only have two opponents acting after you before the flop, the small blind and the big blind. Both if these players will have to act before you after the flop, and you will have position on them throughout the course of the hand. On the other hand, when you steal from the cutoff, you have three players to act after you before the flop instead of two, increasing the chance you will smack into a monster or be played back at. In addition to the two blinds, you also have to concern yourself with the actions of the button, who will have position on you throughout the hand if he chooses to play.
Most players have starting hand requirements, meaning that they will not play a hand unless it meets a minimum standard. These requirements can be adjusted to take into account variables like your position, how well your opponents play, and their propensity to defend their blinds. Similarly, many players have stealing requirements, and will not attempt to steal unless their hand meets a certain standard. When a player steals with a very weak hand, which is unlikely to be the best hand, it is called a “pure steal.” A player may attempt a pure steal if they believe that their opponent is soft, weak, or unlikely to defend.
Tournament play is often characterized by a tighter, more cautious brand of poker than occurs in a ring game. This makes stealing an integral part of tournament play. Since players are generally less likely to defend their blinds in a tournament, you should be more inclined to steal. But you also have to be cautious, because an ill advised or poorly timed steal attempt can cost you your entire stack. If you are going to have success in poker tournaments, there will be moments where you will need to build your stack by stealing, and moments where you absolutely should not risk it. A major consideration is leverage. If you steal when you have your opponent outchipped, it is more dangerous for him to defend than it would be if he had you outchipped. This is why the big stacks tend to beat up on the short stacks in a tournament. Often, when you have a big stack, it makes sense to steal with a rag hand, because you know that your opponent is not likely to risk their entire tournament by calling with anything less than a super premium hand.
Usage: Stole the blinds, Stealing The Pot
Previous Poker Term: Stand Pat
Next Poker Term: Steaming
Heads up poker is the purest form of the game and is one of the most profitable game types for skilled players.
Heads up poker format means that you will have to play the blind every hand and hence will have to play LOTS of hands - in some cases 100% of the hands you are dealt.
It's a high-pressure environment, that's for sure.
For a proficient player, this gives the opportunity to impost their skill set onto weaker opponents every single hand and can mean higher win-rates when compared to 6-max and full-ring games.
The key skill in heads up poker is the ability to adjust to your opponent and exploit them - that is what we will be covering in this article as we try to adjust to another professional player and target his leaks and weaknesses.
Adjusting Your Heads Up Strategy
A winning player's heads up poker strategy consists of a malleable game plan ready to go from the onset. Solid ranges they’ve developed that they look to adjust as new information is learned about their opponent.
Playing against a past challenger allows you pick-up where you left off in your previous encounter. Looking for ways to get an edge. Exactly what I was doing in a recent heads-up poker SNG tournament battle where I was pitted against a coach from Japanese poker site, www.pokertrainingjp.com.
I had won 2-1 in the previous bout of HU SNG’s, but Akinori issued a new challenge. He was keen for revenge since the games would be recorded for content on the Japanese poker training site.
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The key to defeating Akinori again was all in the adjustments. His style was ‘TAGish’ which leaves you particularly vulnerable in short-handed and heads-up games.
My plan was an aggressive blitz. Constant aggression allowing me to win the majority of the pots. Chipping away at him until eventually, I’d finish off his dwindling stack.
This is also a very common scenario when heads-up in an MTT.
MTT poker players often lack a heads up poker skill set and are easily exploited since they aren’t used to playing the wide ranges necessary to be competitive heads-up.
Check out the video of the match and then we will discuss the strategy involved:
Heads Up Poker Strategy: Preflop Starting Ranges
I planned to open around 5% wider than I would against a tough opponent. In hindsight, I think opening 100% of hands would have been a reasonable strategy. This would allow me to exploit his tendencies to over-fold preflop, and 3bet at a low frequency. A style which was confirmed in the replay as he made some questionable folds.
Conversely, against his open raises, I didn’t plan on folding much at all.
Versus his 2.5x open raise I was calling more than 5% wider than I would against a tougher player. The pot odds would be 2.3:1 to call. Around 30% ‘straight-up‘ equity required. When considering the all important equity realization, with some of the weakest calls in my range like 63o, I’d need to realize equity as follows;
Equity realization required = pot odds / equity = 0.3 / 0. 334 = 90%.
I was fairly confident I’d be in this vicinity given Akinori’s tendency to be a little passive post flop, especially on the later streets. This is common for a lot of ‘TAGish’ players when they get to heads-up.
They know a good strategy is to open a lot of hands preflop, but this translates to them being out of their comfort-zone on later streets when they’re frequently left with much more marginal holdings then they are used to. Typically resulting in a lot of turn and river checking.
This passivity on later streets would allow me to realize a reasonable share of my equity OOP. Again evident in the replay as some of my weaker out of position floats did get to the river where I was able to steal some nice pots (Q2, J9, etc).
Defending The Blinds Heads Up: 3betting
Part of the HU strategy to defend frequently from the big blind included 3 betting a lot.
A typical strategy might include a mix of:
- weaker suited hands,
- premium hands,
- and a mix of suited connectors mostly for board coverage protection.
All at a frequency.
Equating to around a 15-20% sort of range spread. I planned on pushing this a bit further to 20%+ by including a mix of high-low holdings (as we saw with Q2s, J4o), and some weaker combinations at a low frequency. Aiming to profit from my opponent's over folding ways.
Key Strategies To Beating Heads Up Poker
Overall the adjustments pointed out are not huge. However, they help set the tone of the match, as well as lay the foundation for post-flop play. Increased opens, more defending from the big blind including a lot of 3 betting.
This style makes it really tough for a 'TAGish' type of opponent to get into a rhythm as it keeps them constantly under pressure. Their likely response is to attempt to steal less, which has the profitable result of allowing for more walks from the big blind.
This tough preflop play is then backed up postflop with frequent cbets and barrels, as well as a good mix of raises and floats. Which will be the topic of next article as we continue this heads-up series!
What About VS Loose Heads Up Opponents?
Each type of opponent presents different challenges to overcome. Loose opponents allow you to me more patient with your offense. Reducing your bluffs whilst increasing your value bets - Since your opponent will be doing more calling.
You can 3 bet wider for value if they aren't folding to reraises preflop. Proceed post-flop by cbetting less, but look for 'thinner' value. Especially on the later streets when you have more accurately identified your opponents range.
Floating out of position which works well against tighter opponents, should be used carefully. When calling a flop cbet with a marginal hand, along with some hope of improving to the best hand, the chance to steal the pot on a later street often makes this play profitable. However loose opponents often call the river with a wide range. So bluffing in a lot of spots can be a futile play. Stick to solid holdings and contest the pot more aggressively in position.
Positional advantage offers you the opportunity to take more free cards, value bet confidently, and fire small ball bluffs. Remembers a loose opponents range will often be wide, so timely bluffs should be an important part of your strategy. Attack when their range consists of numerous weak holdings, and the board heavily favors your range. Don't push the aggression but rather look for boards that develop favorably when firing multiple bullet bluffs. Moves like this can be quite risky against a loose opponent!
Summary: Strategical adjustments made this match
Having played against my opponent previously, I'd gained a good feel for the way Akinori was playing. Overall a little too tight, in, and out of position. This provided me with an opportunity to make some adjustments to gain an edge in the match.
Starting with preflop. Raising more on the button and defending more aggressively from the big blind. Setting the tempo of the match, I kept my opponent under pressure and was clearly winning the majority of the pots. By adjusting and gaining an edge in the game, I was again able to claim a 2-1 victory in this heads up poker match.
Attempt To Steal Poker Tracker
Make sure you check out the video below for some more heads up poker strategies:
Pokertracker Attempt To Steal
Get Access to Lesson 5.8 From the Road to Success Course which is a 45 minute video covering important heads up strategies.
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