Does Stealing The Blinds Still Work?

It’s one of the oldest and most common moves at the poker table to raise and steal the blinds from late position, as players styles have changed dramatically over the past 2 Years we ponder whether stealing the blinds is still an effective play to make!

The answer in short is YES, without a doubt raising from late position is still the right play to make and should be carried out as often as you feel comfortable with. Not only will it be profitable it will from time to time pay off well on the occasions where you do have a genuine hand and the blinds see it as yet another move from you.

A lot depends on the opponents you are facing and the overall situation, let’s say yo are deep in a tournament and waiting for the bubble to burst, many players will simply surrender to any raise here but be wary of the more experienced player who will try to put a stop to your shenanigans.

As long as you know the players you are stealing from won’t put up much of a fight then go ahead and get what you can, even if from time to time you face a re-raise and have to lay down your hand don’t let it stop you from doing it again later on. If a player knows that you know he or she will play back at you they tend to give you a little more credit for genuine hands when you make the move again after being put to the test previously.

Personally i like to raise from early position when trying to steal especially when the ante’s are in play, raising from an early position is a big sign of strength but it’s often difficult to get your raise past a full table of players. knowing the right sized raise to make is crucial so make sure you think about the size of the pot you are looking to take down before risking too much or not firing out enough to put players off.

So there you have it stealing the blinds from any position works and always will, the super aggressive players will make a stand but those are the times your genuine hands equal big pay days.

Good luck at the tables!