Re-Stealing

Everyone knows a successful sit-and-go player has to steal blinds. As the blinds go up, players know they need to make moves to survive.

Though most players know how essential stealing is, few actually take it a step further and re-steal with any sort of regularity.

The concept is simple. If people are stealing, they are raising with less-than-stellar holdings. These people will often fold to a reraise, forfeiting their original raise. This wins you not only the raise but also the blinds.

Re-stealing at opportune moments can sometimes make the difference between being blinded out of the money and going on to win the proverbial bracelet.

Though re-stealing seems like a simple concept, it's actually fairly complex. It requires the perfect mix of the right timing, the right opponent, the right table image, and the right hand.

The Ideal Opponent

The ideal opponent for a re-steal is an aggressive blind-stealer. Ideally, you would rather re-steal against a good player than a bad one.

Ideally, you'd rather re-steal against a good player, like PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein, than a bad one.

Good players frequently steal from late position but do not want to risk their chips in marginal situations. Bad players, however, still know how to steal, but do not have that same risk aversion.

A bad player will be more likely to raise a hand like QhJs, then call off 10 BBs more because they feel they are "pot-committed." A good player will not do this. A good player will realize she's been caught, and will just muck her hand and move on.

Watch the table flow. It should be fairly obvious who the winning players are. If they are often raising from the button and cut-off, you can likely infer that these players are decent sit-and-go players.

If you play sit-and-gos a lot you should take notes on players who go deep frequently. Keeping track of the regs is just as important as keeping track of the fish.

There are plenty of regulars who grasp the concept of stealing but fail to realize that they are often getting re-stolen from.

Your Table Image

Table image is a crucial factor in all facets of poker. It is especially important in sit-and-gos.

Watch your table image: If you've been restealing regularly, someone's bound to catch on.

If you've been raising regularly, a few times an orbit, and re-stealing against late-position raisers, players are bound to catch on. They are going to view you as a maniac and they are going to want to bust you.

It is inevitable that if you do not change speeds, eventually some player is going to look you up. So be cognizant of how you are perceived at the table - some players love standing up to the table bully, whereas others are more than happy to wait and hope another player takes him on.

Try and identify which player is which, then avoid the former and punish the latter. That way you can maximize how often your opponents fold and minimize the chances they will call.

Your Hand

The nature of the re-steal is that you are doing it with a less-than-awesome hand. If you were reraising with AA, it wouldn't be a steal, would it? No; it would be for value.

So the idea is you do it with an average hand. You know your opponent is raising light and you are banking on him folding, so your hand value isn't as important.

That being said, it's seldom a good idea to just re-shove any two. There is always a chance you will be called, so when you do re-shove, you want to be able to have some type of hand to fall back on.

For example, Th9h does a lot better versus KdKc than 3s8h does. You are relying on fold equity, but you need to have some hand value as a backup plan.

A Li'l Somethin' on Fold Equity

Since you are relying on fold equity, it doesn't make much sense re-stealing without fold equity, does it?

Add up your reraise, his raise and the blinds. If his call is laying him 2-1 or better, fold and wait for a better spot.

No it doesn't. But people attempt to do it all the time. If you are reraising without fold equity, it had better be for value. The re-steal is an attempt to steal the pot. If your opponent is pot-committed, he is not going to fold.

So add up your reraise, his raise and the blinds, and if his call is laying him 2-1 or better do not re-steal. Fold and wait for a better spot.

Fold equity is the single determining factor in choosing whether to steal or re-steal. If you have a good reason to believe that the original raiser is going to fold, you can absolutely shove very light on him.

It is a move that, when added to your repertoire, will start winning you pots you had no business being in in the first place. It is a move that feels great when you pull it off and makes you feel like an idiot those times you do get called.