Stealing the Blinds

Whether you are playing a Sit N Go or multi-table tournament, the practice of stealing the blinds can be a determining factor in your ultimate success. As the blinds reach significant levels late in a tournament, the failure to do so will almost certainly result in your hasty exit.

When players start approaching the cut-off of being in the money, they tend to play a lot more conservative if they are in a position to wait out other opponents who are nearly out of chips. This tight play allows aggressive players to capitalize and increase their chip stacks by picking up blinds wherever possible.

If using this strategy, then your cards truly do not matter. Rather, you are playing on your opponents fears and using both your position and chip stack to your advantage. Even though your opponents will be aware of what you are doing, it is difficult to be the one individual to stand up to you. Consequently, the play will work often enough so that when it doesn’t you can simply get out cheaply, but with an overall long-term gain.

The other advantage of playing in this aggressive fashion is that when you do in fact have a hand, you are more likely to get paid of handsomely by opponents who have grown tired of your forceful tactics.

The art of stealing blinds must be practiced to be accomplished successfully. Many new players confuse measured play for just wild aggression. While at times they may be difficult to differentiate, if you are exercising some discipline in your aggression, you will NOT find yourself paying off premium hands, or disposing of more chips than you are gaining by stealing blinds.

The Greedy Gecko