Types of Plays: Stealing Plays
Contrary to the verbiage, a stealing play in poker isn’t as illegal as it sounds. Actually, it’s really just another way to say bluffing, which is already a common defensive play. However, the term stealing is generally a bluff that’s used as a quick strike to “steal” the ante or the blinds.
Basically, it’s done early in the game, with the intention that any players left in the hand will not have a hand worth pursuing. This type of action will subsequently lead to winning any antes or blinds without further action (free money for you!) Stealing is typically done either in the late position when several people have already folded or the game is short handed players. In other words, if just two people out of eight are left, it’s much easier to knock them both out than if six remained.
Think about it – there’s 8 players. Everyone antes, and you all get cards. Five players before you check or fold, and then you bet huge… the last two have decent hands, but fold because of your big bet - you collect the ante/blind pot.
Steals are a common tactic in tournament play, due to the increased use of ante/blind structure (lots of free money!) While steals usually don’t win much money per hand, they can add up - especially if the other players let the thief (for lack of a better word) get away with it. That’s why it pays to be mindful of using the tactic against more experienced players. Trust us, they’ve seen it all before, and will recognize repeated uses of the steal play. The usual defense is just re-raising their bets (defense play). Hey, someone realizes theft if in the air, and acts accordingly.
According to writer Paul Goodman, it has been said that most of a great poker player’s profit comes from “cunning, fraud, and flight”. While the original quote was meant to discuss draft avoidance from the Vietnam War, the context of the quote can also be applied to adopting good poker strategy. In essence, making the best moves wins the pot more often than the overall best cards do.
So the moral of the story is steal if you think you can get away with it (and let poker plays be the only time that rings true!)
