Stealing by the Rhythm Method
when the blinds get high and everyone only has around 7 or so bb's, there are a lot of times when you have a hand that you could steal with, or you could fold, and it's pretty close either way. for example, Q8s on the button. it's far from a great hand, but you need to pick up a lot of pots to stay alive and build your stack, so you wind up pushing these things. but you can't push them every time, or people will catch on and start to call with you marginal hands like A7, which is horrible for you. so you have to push them sometimes but not others. i find that while i'm stealing i sometimes fall into two kinds of patterns - not as part of a preconceived plan, but it happens.
i'll call the first pattern back-and-forth. here's an example: it's folded to me in the sb. i decide to fold. then on the next hand it's folded to me on the button. well now i figure that i just showed everyone that i'm not pushing any 2 when it's folded to me, so i might as well cash in on my new tight image and steal blinds as long as i have something semi-reasonable. then if it's folded to me again on in the CO, i'm worried that people will remember my button push, and i'll tighten up. it can also go the other way - steal sb, fold button, steal CO. if i get a real stinker like 82 then i'll break the pattern and fold, and of course if i get something that's actually good i'll break the pattern and steal.
the second kind of pattern is on a different rythym - i'll call it the investment plan. here, when there are only about 2 hands left in the blind level, i'll tighten up. of course, i'm not folding good hands, but i'll take a break from stealing with marginal hands. then, once the blinds go up, i'll kick it back into high gear for the first couple hands. the idea is that i want to use the relatively less valuable hands at the end of a level to convince everyone i'm tight - or at least let them forget that i'm stealing more than my share - and then cash in on my newfound image by stealing once there are more chips in the middle.
these two patterns are sort of contradictory - the first means you're stealing every other hand, and in the second you're play tight for ~3 hands in a row and then playing aggro for ~3 hands in a row. but you have to realize that i'm not setting out to do either. it's more that i notice "oh, i'm doing a back-and-forth" as i'm doing it, or i'll say, "i've been stealing a lot a lot lately, let me take this one off and invest in the next level."
when the blinds get high and everyone only has around 7 or so bb's, there are a lot of times when you have a hand that you could steal with, or you could fold, and it's pretty close either way. for example, Q8s on the button. it's far from a great hand, but you need to pick up a lot of pots to stay alive and build your stack, so you wind up pushing these things. but you can't push them every time, or people will catch on and start to call with you marginal hands like A7, which is horrible for you. so you have to push them sometimes but not others. i find that while i'm stealing i sometimes fall into two kinds of patterns - not as part of a preconceived plan, but it happens.
i'll call the first pattern back-and-forth. here's an example: it's folded to me in the sb. i decide to fold. then on the next hand it's folded to me on the button. well now i figure that i just showed everyone that i'm not pushing any 2 when it's folded to me, so i might as well cash in on my new tight image and steal blinds as long as i have something semi-reasonable. then if it's folded to me again on in the CO, i'm worried that people will remember my button push, and i'll tighten up. it can also go the other way - steal sb, fold button, steal CO. if i get a real stinker like 82 then i'll break the pattern and fold, and of course if i get something that's actually good i'll break the pattern and steal.
the second kind of pattern is on a different rythym - i'll call it the investment plan. here, when there are only about 2 hands left in the blind level, i'll tighten up. of course, i'm not folding good hands, but i'll take a break from stealing with marginal hands. then, once the blinds go up, i'll kick it back into high gear for the first couple hands. the idea is that i want to use the relatively less valuable hands at the end of a level to convince everyone i'm tight - or at least let them forget that i'm stealing more than my share - and then cash in on my newfound image by stealing once there are more chips in the middle.
these two patterns are sort of contradictory - the first means you're stealing every other hand, and in the second you're play tight for ~3 hands in a row and then playing aggro for ~3 hands in a row. but you have to realize that i'm not setting out to do either. it's more that i notice "oh, i'm doing a back-and-forth" as i'm doing it, or i'll say, "i've been stealing a lot a lot lately, let me take this one off and invest in the next level."
posted by pokerschwab at 12:57 PM
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