JV'S KILLER POKER: STEALERS

BY: John Vorhaus

The thing about habitual blind-stealers is that they assume that you have a random hand, and then use their own random hand, plus position, to give themselves a consistent advantage, and a consistent opportunity to push you around. Because they're right - they do have an edge in this circumstance - we need to develop counter-measures to put inveterate blind-thieves in their place. Here's one I call "Around Town."

First divide your possible starting hands into three categories, called Downtown, Midtown and Uptown. Downtown hands are crummy cards - little poison, jackthree, etc. Midtown cards are semi-playable, for example weak aces or middle pairs. Uptown cards are premium holdings: big tickets and big pairs. Having identified a certain foe as someone who will raise with nothing, someone capable of the pure steal, you then make your response according to your holding: surrender downtown, reraise uptown holdings and flat-call midtown.

Downtown: If you have just purely dreadful cards, you're just giving away your money when you call. You know he's on a steal, but people rarely steal with nothing, so his cards are likely to be better than (certainly no worse than) the two random bad cards you caught. You also know that blind-stealers are not likely to be frightened by reraises from the big blind, so don't make that move. You can be pretty sure that he'll call your raise, and he does have position after all. So if you bluff-raise in this circumstance, you're launching a bluff you'll have a lot of difficulty driving through.

Discretion being as it is the better part of valor, surrender this blind, and wait for one that you can play more effectively against him. Notice that surrendering this blind actually encourages him to try the move again, when the circumstances might be much more favorable to you.

Midtown: If you have middling cards, play a modified version of hit-to-win. Since his steal-raise means he's on anything-or-nothing, any flop that even partly hits your hand figures to put you ahead. With cards of medium strength, you're no worse than equal to any random hand, and you're getting pot odds to call (three bets already in the pot; one more due from you). If the flop is scary (coordinated high cards) you can release your hand in the face of significant heat. Again, to come out betting is problematic because he won't credit you with big cards (or else where was your reraise preflop?)

If the flop hits your hand or seems not to hit his, you can check-call the flop and check-raise the turn, intending either to drive him off the hand or be able to show down a little something. Frequently against a blind-thief, even a little something is more than enough against the total nothing that he was too proud or stubborn to fold when you raised.

Uptown: If you have big cards, you'll simply reraise preflop and bet any flop that could conceivably have hit a hand worth a preflop reraise from the blind. For instance, you might reraise with A-Q, and then bet when a naked king hits the board. Your opponent's steal-raise tells you that he's on a random hand, but you reraise tells him that you're not on one. Your reraise, then, gives you control not just of any flop that contains court cards or ace, but really of any flop at all. Don't slow down unless you encounter resistance. You want not just to win the pot but also to send the message, through aggressive counter-measures, to leave your blind alone!

These are the basic guidelines for Around Town. You can, of course, vary your play. For instance, if you've had to surrender several blinds in a row, go ahead and reraise the next time to make your opponent think you've finally caught a blind hand worth aggressively defending. Conversely, if you know that your foe will bet any flop when he has you one-on-one, then flat-call your monster hands and see what trap opportunities the flop may bring.

By playing a strategy like Around Town, you're doing three useful things. First, you're giving yourself the benefit of pre-planning. Second, you're giving yourself new confidence in playing your blinds, turning what was previously an area of vulnerability and weakness into a new area of opportunity and strength. Third, and most important, you're getting into the habit of thinking ahead. This is a habit that will pay dividends in all facets of your game, not just in the play of blinds.