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When to steal blinds with no antes in play?

CCKeenanCCKeenan Member Posts: 6
edited December 2021 in Strategy
Hello all,

First time posting on here. Seen some good advice knocking around and so hoping you can help me with this one.

One aspect of play on Sky that i still think i need to work on is when to try and steal the Blinds. With the exclusion of antes in play i am aware that raising to simply steal blinds is less profitable, but still needs to be a part of your game, as it can help with things like perceived ranges and table image.

I currently raise close to 50% of the time on the button depending on who is in the blinds (I have noted a large proportion of players on sky which often influences my play). As i get deeper through the tournament, especially in the bigger tournaments, this figure tends to fall slightly.

I suppose what i am asking, is should i place more value on raising to steal blinds regardless of holding? or with no antes in play is there not enough value in this?

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    MattBatesMattBates Member Posts: 4,118
    Simple response is to steal them as often as you can get away with! Knowing player tendencies is important, who 3bets often from the small blind? Who defends the honour of their bb to the death? Some people will pay no attention to your raise frequency, others will start playing back at you if they think you are getting out of line.
    I think you need to be quite fluid with what you do and adjust to the table dynamics.
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    Tikay10Tikay10 Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 160,619

    @CCKeenan

    Welcome to the Forum mate, & it's lovely to see a new face who writes "Hello" & kind of introduces themself & gives some context.

    Have a look around, & if you have any questions, fire away.

    I've noticed from Sharkscope you've been doing pretty well, hope it continues.
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    CCKeenanCCKeenan Member Posts: 6
    MattBates said:

    Simple response is to steal them as often as you can get away with! Knowing player tendencies is important, who 3bets often from the small blind? Who defends the honour of their bb to the death? Some people will pay no attention to your raise frequency, others will start playing back at you if they think you are getting out of line.
    I think you need to be quite fluid with what you do and adjust to the table dynamics.

    Cheers for the response.

    Yes, like i say the rate in which i do this fluctuates from table to table depending on a hole host of factors. I just feel like i find myself in too many tricky spots from doing this.

    On the flip side of this question then. What are you thoughts on defending the small blind with no antes in play? Should i be tightening my range? Obviously it can depend on who is raising, from what position and all the rest (I may have just answered my question there)
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    CCKeenanCCKeenan Member Posts: 6
    Tikay10 said:


    @CCKeenan

    Welcome to the Forum mate, & it's lovely to see a new face who writes "Hello" & kind of introduces themself & gives some context.

    Have a look around, & if you have any questions, fire away.

    I've noticed from Sharkscope you've been doing pretty well, hope it continues.

    Cheers mate!

    Yes, started taking it a little more seriously recently and more importantly, studying!
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    MattBatesMattBates Member Posts: 4,118
    CCKeenan said:

    MattBates said:

    Simple response is to steal them as often as you can get away with! Knowing player tendencies is important, who 3bets often from the small blind? Who defends the honour of their bb to the death? Some people will pay no attention to your raise frequency, others will start playing back at you if they think you are getting out of line.
    I think you need to be quite fluid with what you do and adjust to the table dynamics.

    Cheers for the response.

    Yes, like i say the rate in which i do this fluctuates from table to table depending on a hole host of factors. I just feel like i find myself in too many tricky spots from doing this.

    On the flip side of this question then. What are you thoughts on defending the small blind with no antes in play? Should i be tightening my range? Obviously it can depend on who is raising, from what position and all the rest (I may have just answered my question there)
    Playing pots out of position is a lot harder than in position so I would avoid playing pots passively from the small blind and if you do make sure it is hands where you will tend to know where you are. eg small pairs where we are set mining rather than hands like A8o.
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    F_IvanovicF_Ivanovic Member Posts: 2,395
    Short answer.... if MattBates is in the blinds you should raise close to every button.

    Long answer (joking aside now haha). I'd say 40-50% is a decent steal percent OTB. I remember mine used to be upwards of 75% years ago but I toned that aggression down somewhat. That said, a hyper aggressive BTN open range can still be viable against the right opponents. The key is understanding how opening so wide affects your range and understanding that you don't have to win every pot though.

    I used to be guilty of that, but if your min-open is getting folds 70% of the time and is outright profitable, then if you've raised with complete junk it's OK to just give up post-flop. (either w/o a c-bet, or a c-bet once and give up)
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    EssexphilEssexphil Member Posts: 8,028
    An interesting question.

    On the one hand, lack of antes makes it sound like you should open slightly less.
    On the other hand, thinking players in the Big Blind are defending slightly less.

    Think @F_Ivanovic has pretty much nailed this one.
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    jimb0d1jimb0d1 Member Posts: 660
    I start as soon as stacks start to level out sub 40bb and try to get a handle on the players who are next to me on the table.
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