Certain players can begin to panic when they are receiving a bad run of cards as the blinds will be reducing their stack every round.

Certain players can begin to panic when they are receiving a bad run of cards as the blinds will be reducing their stack every round.

The way to counter this is to try to steal the blinds from other players. Here is some advice to make stealing as successful as possible.

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First of all don't try if they are not worth stealing. If you are playing in a tournament you should wait until the middle stages at the earliest before you start.

The game will have become a lot tighter at that point and it will be worth the risk to steal blinds as they will make a difference to your stack.

Position is very important. You should be in a late position if you are going to steal as you need to make sure that you will not be facing any other opponents.

If someone has entered the pot already then they have some sort of hand so you must fold and if you try to steal from an early position it is likely you will get called by someone in a later position.

When making your bets you need to make it look like you want them to get called. Going all-in may well scare off your opposition but also leaves you vulnerable if you come up against a good hand.


By betting about three times the big blind it looks as though you want some action in which case opponents will most likely fold.


It is often a good idea to bet a random number rather than using the slider. This makes it look as though you have thought carefully about how to play the hand, as opposed to just making a robotic raise to steal the blinds.


Finally don't worry if you get caught out. Although it means you may have to stop for a while to avoid being called, when you do receive a good hand you are more likely to get callers as they will think you have reverted back to stealing the blinds.

Source: The Daily Record