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 Stealing the Blinds in an Online No Limit Holdem Poker Tournament.
In any online poker tournament as well as casino poker tournaments in order to stay alive and make it in the money it will become necessary to steal the blinds from time to time. In cash games it becomes a part of your profits however it is not quite as important since blinds do not increase.
In an online poker tournament just like any poker tournament you start of with a certain amount of chips anywhere from 1500 to 5000 depending on the tournament. The blinds are set somewhere between 8 to 20 min typically however there are some tournaments like the World Series of Poker for example that have 60 minute blinds. Most online poker tournaments blinds are between 8 and 15 minutes. You also have turbo tournaments, which I do not recommend the blinds are 3 minutes.
Since Poker tournaments have this kind of blind structure, unless you are catching premium cards the whole time you are going to have to steal some blinds and some pots when you can. In tournament style poker it becomes vital that you so mainly because you will not likely get premium cards the whole game. So you will need to find points in the game where you can make a reasonably successful play at stealing the blinds.
So now the question remain when do you have the best chance of successfully stealing the blinds with out opposition? Tricky question but here are a few guidelines. The best place to attempt a steal is form the button or close to it. When you are in late position on the button or close to it and everyone has folded to you, that is usually a good time to try and attempt to make a move at the blinds. One of the other factors is the players in the blinds. Once you sit down in a poker tournament online or not the first two people it pays to study are the two to your left. These are the players that will be in the blinds when you are the dealer or on the button. If you see these guys will fold there blinds to reasonable raises make a mental not of how high the preflop raises have been that they have been folding too. Once you have established that they will fold to this amount and that they will not always protect their blinds. Now when you are on the button you can make a preflop raise of that amount and attempt to steal the blinds. The other factor here is if you do get a caller you still have a chance to take the pot down since you have position. Also remember that 70 percent of the time the flop will miss most hands. So if you raise preflop and you do get a caller after the flop comes out and they check to you, you will need to make a bet at least about half the pot. If this works 1 out 3 times you will be ahead. In online poker tournaments making these kinds of plays become important in order to survive long enough to make it in the money. The key factor in stealing the blinds is to pick the right spot to make the move. If you have tight players in the blinds is a good time as well as when you are playing in a short handed pot meaning there have been a lot of folds in front of you and you are in a let position. Picking these spots becomes a matter of reading the table and experience will give you that in time. The cards you make steal attempts with do matter some. Some people will do it with any two cards and if you are at a level where you have the ability to read people so well that you can do that so be it. However I recommend you do it with marginal hands. Not a hand you would usually do it with but one that if you do get a caller you still have a chance at winning. Let me name a few hands that a steal attempt in an online poker tournament would be feasible: Q10, J10 suited or unsuited, Weak A5 and up suited or unsuited, K9 to K7 suited or unsuited, as well as suited connectors and semi connectors like 79 68 45 810. Now these are just examples like I said you can make the move with any two cards and if you are able to get a good read on your opponents you can do it with a 62 off suit.
Stealing the blinds and the occasional pot in a No Limit Holdem Poker Tournament whether it’s a online poker tournament or a live game is an essential part of the game. You will need to do this to stay ahead of the ever increasing blinds as they gobble up your stack.
If you are an experienced player and have more suggestions on how to steal the blinds please join our poker forum and share them with our member or if you have questions about the game of poker and poker tournaments specifically No limit Texas Holdem join in in the discussion in our forum.
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