Attempt To Steal Poker

4/12/2022

The big stack, Jorryt van Hoof, opened the betting with $1.1 million in an attempt to steal the $250,000/$500,000 (with a $50,000 ante) blinds with 8s-7h. Newhouse woke up with a pocket pair of.
The best full ring poker strategy is to play tight, make good hands and value bet them relentlessly. But you also need to steal a lot of pots against the other tight players by bluffing them in the right spots both preflop and postflop. Online full ring poker is great for multi-tabling and earning a lot of rakeback.

In poker, a steal is a kind of bluff. It is a raise in a round of poker on an inferior hand, with the purpose of showing strength and coercing players with superior hands to fold. Steals are most appropriate late in a hand when a number of players have already folded, or when there are only a few players in the game. ATSB: Attempt to steal blinds Number of times the player opened the pot with a raise, sitting in steal position (cut-off or button). FSBS: Folded small blind to steal Number of times the player folded the small blind to a raise in steal position (cut-off or button), divided by the total number of steal attempts sitting in small blind position. Attempts to steal blinds - How often you attempted to steal the blinds when given the opportunity. The previous statistic showed protection of blinds, this is the attacking side of it. The best 9-max players on OPT average 27%, because blind stealing is not as common in PLO as it is in Holdem.

Heads up poker is the purest form of the game and is one of the most profitable game types for skilled players.

Heads up poker format means that you will have to play the blind every hand and hence will have to play LOTS of hands - in some cases 100% of the hands you are dealt.

It's a high-pressure environment, that's for sure.

For a proficient player, this gives the opportunity to impost their skill set onto weaker opponents every single hand and can mean higher win-rates when compared to 6-max and full-ring games.

The key skill in heads up poker is the ability to adjust to your opponent and exploit them - that is what we will be covering in this article as we try to adjust to another professional player and target his leaks and weaknesses.

Adjusting Your Heads Up Strategy

A winning player's heads up poker strategy consists of a malleable game plan ready to go from the onset. Solid ranges they’ve developed that they look to adjust as new information is learned about their opponent.

Playing against a past challenger allows you pick-up where you left off in your previous encounter. Looking for ways to get an edge. Exactly what I was doing in a recent heads-up poker SNG tournament battle where I was pitted against a coach from Japanese poker site, www.pokertrainingjp.com.

I had won 2-1 in the previous bout of HU SNG’s, but Akinori issued a new challenge. He was keen for revenge since the games would be recorded for content on the Japanese poker training site.

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The key to defeating Akinori again was all in the adjustments. His style was ‘TAGish’ which leaves you particularly vulnerable in short-handed and heads-up games.

My plan was an aggressive blitz. Constant aggression allowing me to win the majority of the pots. Chipping away at him until eventually, I’d finish off his dwindling stack.

This is also a very common scenario when heads-up in an MTT.

MTT poker players often lack a heads up poker skill set and are easily exploited since they aren’t used to playing the wide ranges necessary to be competitive heads-up.

Check out the video of the match and then we will discuss the strategy involved:

Heads Up Poker Strategy: Preflop Starting Ranges

I planned to open around 5% wider than I would against a tough opponent. In hindsight, I think opening 100% of hands would have been a reasonable strategy. This would allow me to exploit his tendencies to over-fold preflop, and 3bet at a low frequency. A style which was confirmed in the replay as he made some questionable folds.

Conversely, against his open raises, I didn’t plan on folding much at all.

Versus his 2.5x open raise I was calling more than 5% wider than I would against a tougher player. The pot odds would be 2.3:1 to call. Around 30% ‘straight-up‘ equity required. When considering the all important equity realization, with some of the weakest calls in my range like 63o, I’d need to realize equity as follows;

Equity realization required = pot odds / equity = 0.3 / 0. 334 = 90%.

I was fairly confident I’d be in this vicinity given Akinori’s tendency to be a little passive post flop, especially on the later streets. This is common for a lot of ‘TAGish’ players when they get to heads-up.

They know a good strategy is to open a lot of hands preflop, but this translates to them being out of their comfort-zone on later streets when they’re frequently left with much more marginal holdings then they are used to. Typically resulting in a lot of turn and river checking.

This passivity on later streets would allow me to realize a reasonable share of my equity OOP. Again evident in the replay as some of my weaker out of position floats did get to the river where I was able to steal some nice pots (Q2, J9, etc).

Defending The Blinds Heads Up: 3betting

Part of the HU strategy to defend frequently from the big blind included 3 betting a lot.

A typical strategy might include a mix of:

weaker suited hands,
premium hands,
and a mix of suited connectors mostly for board coverage protection.

All at a frequency.

Equating to around a 15-20% sort of range spread. I planned on pushing this a bit further to 20%+ by including a mix of high-low holdings (as we saw with Q2s, J4o), and some weaker combinations at a low frequency. Aiming to profit from my opponent's over folding ways.

Key Strategies To Beating Heads Up Poker

Overall the adjustments pointed out are not huge. However, they help set the tone of the match, as well as lay the foundation for post-flop play. Increased opens, more defending from the big blind including a lot of 3 betting.

This style makes it really tough for a 'TAGish' type of opponent to get into a rhythm as it keeps them constantly under pressure. Their likely response is to attempt to steal less, which has the profitable result of allowing for more walks from the big blind.

This tough preflop play is then backed up postflop with frequent cbets and barrels, as well as a good mix of raises and floats. Which will be the topic of next article as we continue this heads-up series!

What About VS Loose Heads Up Opponents?

Each type of opponent presents different challenges to overcome. Loose opponents allow you to me more patient with your offense. Reducing your bluffs whilst increasing your value bets - Since your opponent will be doing more calling.

You can 3 bet wider for value if they aren't folding to reraises preflop. Proceed post-flop by cbetting less, but look for 'thinner' value. Especially on the later streets when you have more accurately identified your opponents range.

Floating out of position which works well against tighter opponents, should be used carefully. When calling a flop cbet with a marginal hand, along with some hope of improving to the best hand, the chance to steal the pot on a later street often makes this play profitable. However loose opponents often call the river with a wide range. So bluffing in a lot of spots can be a futile play. Stick to solid holdings and contest the pot more aggressively in position.

Positional advantage offers you the opportunity to take more free cards, value bet confidently, and fire small ball bluffs. Remembers a loose opponents range will often be wide, so timely bluffs should be an important part of your strategy. Attack when their range consists of numerous weak holdings, and the board heavily favors your range. Don't push the aggression but rather look for boards that develop favorably when firing multiple bullet bluffs. Moves like this can be quite risky against a loose opponent!

Summary: Strategical adjustments made this match

Having played against my opponent previously, I'd gained a good feel for the way Akinori was playing. Overall a little too tight, in, and out of position. This provided me with an opportunity to make some adjustments to gain an edge in the match.

Starting with preflop. Raising more on the button and defending more aggressively from the big blind. Setting the tempo of the match, I kept my opponent under pressure and was clearly winning the majority of the pots. By adjusting and gaining an edge in the game, I was again able to claim a 2-1 victory in this heads up poker match.

Make sure you check out the video below for some more heads up poker strategies:

Get Access to Lesson 5.8 From the Road to Success Course which is a 45 minute video covering important heads up strategies.

Want more videos like the ones in this blog post? Check out the PokerNerve Road to Success Course where we have almost 100 videos like this to help take your game to the next level.

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Table Name	Number of Players	Typical Blinds	Game Level Description	Setting Description
Going Fishing	9 or 6	1/2	This is your typical home game with poor, loose players.	A new casino just opened by the beach and the tourists have all come out to play. Why fish in the ocean when you can haul up pots by the netload at the poker table?
California Dreamin	9 or 6	2/5	This game is typical of what you would find from tourists who don't play much poker.	You'll be safe and warm at this table. The players are loose and the pots are large. Even better, there's not a pro, or even a savvy recreational player, in sight. Hang tight and you'll ride the wave to big profits!
Western Roundup	9 or 6	5/10	Another vacation crowd, this one slightly more serious, but still with a number of weaker players.	You sneak away from your Dude Ranch vacation to hit the tables at the local casino. Instead of a room full of fish, you find that the play is a bit tougher than you expected. Nothing you can't handle if you lasso your 'A' game. Enjoy matching wits with the local regulars.
Vegas Grinder	9 or 6	10/20	Players here know what they are doing mostly, although you would probably call most of them intermediate players.	On a Christmas visit to Vegas, you travel Downtown to check out Fremont Street and the old-time casinos. You walk into the Golden Nugget, expecting to play a soft holiday crowd. However, you find yourself in a room filled with tough regulars and pros. You're going to need to grind to survive.
Thieves Lockup	9 or 6	20/40	An aggressive game, with many solid players, some maniacs also.	While traveling in Eastern Europe, one of your business associates invites you to a 'friendly' poker game. The next thing you know, you find yourself in the dungeon of a crumbling castle matching wits with former Iron Curtain apparatchiks and descendants of Hungarian royalty. These guys are flush with cash and really know the game. You'll be lucky to escape the dungeon with anything but an empty wallet.

Who are the different opponents I may face? ^{^}Top

Here are pictures of some of the opponents you may face, from weakest to strongest. Mouse over their pictures to see their name, click on them for a biography and a full description of their playing style.

Larry 'Loose Larry' Stevens
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Larry is new to Omaha and has never seen a starting hand he didn't like.
Loose, Passive Beginner
Sally 'Sweet Sally' Jones
Louisville, KY
Sally likes to see the flop. And the turn. And the river. She only bets when she has the nuts, but will call you all the way down.
Loose, Passive Beginner
Norman 'The Novice' James
San Francisco, CA, USA
Norm hasn't been playing Omaha very long. It'll take him 5 minutes to figure out what he's got, and keeps forgetting he can only use three cards on the board.
Loose, Passive Beginner
Alex 'Wild Man' Simpson
Sunnyvale, CA
Alex just likes to bet. And bet. And bet. If you make it to the river, you may find all your chips in the pot. But Alex may also be sitting on a busted flush draw.
Loose, Aggressive Beginner
Tim 'Timid Tim' Anderson
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Tim folds 95% of his starting hands. And unless he flops the nuts, he'll fold to any bet. If Tim is still in on the river, your are in a world of trouble.
Loose, Passive Beginner
Freddie 'All In Freddie' Johnson
Edmonton, Ontario
Got his nickname from his Hold'em play, but if Freddie hits anything in Omaha, he's betting pot. And he'll keep it up until all of his money is in the middle.
Loose, Aggressive Beginner
Jasmine 'Jumpin' Jasmine' Chin
Paris, France
Jasmine is a novice and picks her hands carefully. But when she hits, she's the first to jump in the pot.
Tight, Aggressive Beginner
Jerry 'The Youngster' Lee
Oak Brook, IL
Jerry is barely legal playing age but thinks he knows more than the 20 year Omaha veterans. The way he tells it, he never loses a hand because of his poor play.
Loose, Aggressive Beginner
John 'What?' Williams
Pascagoula, MS, USA
John is having some trouble figuring out the game. He can't figure out how to calculate pot, so he tries to stay out of the fray.
Tight, Passive Beginner
Tom 'Hot Shot' Brown
Lubbock, TX
Tom is a hot shot hold 'em player who has only been playing Omaha for a couple of months. He hasn't quite figured out yet that two pair is almost never the nuts.
Loose, Passive Beginner
Sharon 'Simple Sharon' Bond
London, UK
Sharon likes to keep it simple. If she's got it, she bets. If she doesn't... she'll pay to see if she's got it on the next card.
Loose, Passive Average
Ken 'Tightwad' Mathers
Manchester, MO
Ken likes to keep his money safe in his stack. He knows how to read a board, and he can see every draw you might have.
Tight, Passive Average
Stan 'Stan the Man' Marsden
New York City, NY, USA
Stan is a senior who hops in any Omaha game he can find. He wants to play as long as he can, so he hates to say goodbye to a chip.
Tight, Passive Average
Charles 'Chipstack Charlie' Chi
SanAngelo, TX
Charlie tends to limit his starting hands, but when he chooses to play, his favorite word is 'Pot!'
Tight, Aggressive Average
Jason 'Move-in Miller' Miller
Joliet, IL, USA
Jason plays all of the hands. And he raises them too!
Loose, Aggressive Average
Fiona 'Foldin' Fiona' Simpson
Clinton, OK
Fiona likes to see a flop. But if she doesn't hit her hand hard out of the gate she is quick to fold.
Tight, Aggressive Average
Cal 'Calling Cal' Andrews
San Antonio, TX
Cal picks his starting hands carefully. Even when he has the nuts, he's more likely to call than raise.
Tight, Passive Average
Ralph 'Raisin' Ralph' Rummler
Winter Haven, FL
Ralph likes all the hands. If he doesn't hit, he can see all his backdoor draws. He will raise, raise, raise on every street.
Loose, Aggressive Average
Allen 'Average Allen' Larson
Las Vegas, NV
Allen is of average average height, weight, and playing ability.
Tight, Aggressive Average
Ron 'Hyper' Rodriquez
Paris, France
Ron likes Omaha because of all the action, yet still has trouble staying in his seat. He calls too much when he gets bored.
Loose, Passive Average
Nick 'Quick' Patterson
Albuquerque, NM, USA
Nick knows when to hold 'em and knows when to fold 'em, and make decisions fast. If he's in the hand, you're likely in trouble.
Tight, Aggressive Good
Steve 'Steamin' Norton
Rue de la Rulles, Belgium
Steve's an expert in Hold 'Em. He's relatively new to this Omaha thing, but he knows his way around a pot.
Tight, Aggressive Good
Sonny 'Sunshine' Garcia
Atlantic City, NJ, USA
Sonny wants action, but he also likes to win. He's going to see a lot of pots, and do his best to bet you off your draws.
Loose, Aggressive Good
Betty 'Bad Beat' Jorgenson
Andalucia, Spain
Betty is a solid player, but every hand she loses she considers a bad beat, and let's everyone know.
Tight, Aggressive Good
Stuart 'The Regular' Little
Newark, NY, USA
Stuart plays Omaha almost every day. As a result, he's learned all the tricks and you won't get much past him.
Loose, Aggressive Good
Joe 'Know-It-All' Martin
Miami, FL
Joe always knows his pot odds. And if you are at a table with him, you will too.
Tight, Aggressive Good
Dennis 'Dennis the Menace' Reed
Atlanta, GA, USA
Dennis likes to play loose, and he's too passive as well. But others at his table don't like how often he gets there on the river.
Loose, Passive Good
Dominick 'The Don' Esposito
Split, Croatia
Dominick likes to play the table captain. Woe to those who challenge him.
Loose, Aggressive Good
Arlene 'Agile Arlene' Amundsen
Saginaw, MI, USA
Arlene likes to play a lot of hands, but she knows when to get out of the pot.
Loose, Aggressive Good
George 'Grandpa' Cameron
Yuba City, CA
George is so old that you're not sure how he got to the table. And he's so passive that you might not notice he's there
Tight, Passive Good
Jack 'Juke Box' Jones
Roanoke, VA, USA
Jim likes to belt out old lyrics while playing a lot of hands. By the end of a session you'll be begging him to stop betting and singing.
Loose, Aggressive Expert
Paul 'The Player' Patterson
Angleton, TX
Paul knows when to fold pre-flop, but builds big pots when he has the nuts. Get deep in a hand with him and you'll have little to show for it.
Tight, Aggressive Expert
Tony 'Tricky Tony' Thomas
Houston, TX, USA
Tony plays all the right hands and has great board vision. If you're not sure why he bet, get out of the way.
Tight, Aggressive Expert
Sarah 'Sneaky Sarah' Smith
Flint, MI
Sarah is quiet and unassuming. You won't even realize she's in the pot until all your chips are in her hands.
Loose, Aggressive Expert
Ben 'The Teacher' Bellows
Cape Town, South Africa
Ben loves to see a new player at the table. He will teach them everything he knows, whether they like it or not.
Tight, Aggressive Expert
Stan 'Solid Stan' Li
Roanoke, VA
Stan has a reputation for solid play. Secretly, he's an expert who is very careful not to show it.
Tight, Aggressive Expert
Alex 'Action Alex' Santiago
Accra, Ghana
Alex likes his action. But he also knows when to get out or the hand.
Loose, Aggressive Expert
Jennifer 'The Beauty' Brady
Alcala, Spain
Jennifer's striking looks disarm her opponents. When she scoops the pot, you won't see it coming.
Loose, Aggressive Expert
Antoine 'Action' Jackson
Hai Phong, Vietnam
Antoine knows what he's doing. When you're playing with him, you won't know what hit you.
Tight, Aggressive Expert
Liam 'Little Liam' McDonnel
Barbers Point, HI
Liam looks so young you'll want to send him back to junior high. But if you don't watch out, he'll be schooling you.
Loose, Aggressive Expert
George 'HORSE' McLaren
Tampa, FL, USA
George gets his nickname not from his looks, but from his favorite game. No surprise, he has a complete game.
Loose, Aggressive Pro
Tatiana 'The Pro' Timovich
Quaker Gap, NC
Tatiana went pro a decade ago. And when you sit down with her, you'll see why.
Tight, Aggressive Pro
Mateo 'Magic' Sebastian
Kansas City, MO, USA
Mateo has some tricks up his sleeve.
Solid, Balanced Game
Ivan 'Ivan the Great' Popov
Wichita, KS
He may not be a Tsar, but he'll expand his territory like one.
Intimidating, relentless
Qui 'The Enforcer' Wei
Gothenburg, Sweden
Qui runs the table like the pro he is. Seizing control from him is no easy task.
Deep Thinking, Loose Aggressive
Sam 'Slammin' Sam' Steinback
Los Angeles, CA
Sam generally leaves the table a winner. But when he doesn't, he's gonna slam his chair on the way out.
Disciplined, crafty pro
Carol 'The Empress' O'Leary
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Carol is always dressed to the nines. Her bankroll is always well appointed too.
World-class pro
Terrell 'Talented Terrell' Thompson
Savannah, GA
Terrell knows his way around the table. His instincts are unmatched.
Instinctive, deceptive pro
Jimmy 'The Kid' James
Ames, IA, USA
Jimmy went pro at 18. Omaha has been his specialty from the beginning.
Brilliant, complex strategy
Harold 'Elder Statesman' Simpson
Serbia
Harold is rumored to have played in the first Omaha game in the 80s. If you sit down with him, you'll believe the rumors are true.
Successful, tricky player

What do my statistics mean? ^{^}Top

On some pages, such as the 'My Hands Played' and 'Session Report' pages, you may find your statistics listed. If you've never looked at poker statistics before, the names may be unfamiliar to you. The statistics calculated and stored are as follows:

VPIP - Voluntarily Put $ In Pot (%) - This is the percentage of hands where you either called or made a raise preflop. A check from the big blind or fold from the small blind does not count, because the bet was mandatory. This statistic determines whether you are a loose or tight player. Good players have a wide range of VPIP figures - within the range of 14-28% in a 9 player game.

PFR - Pre-Flop Raise (%) - The percent of hands in which you raised preflop (to call another player's raise does not count). This characteristic often divides players into passive/aggressive. A good rule of thumb is that this value should be 1/2 of your VPIP figure or more. Raises from passive players should be respected, whereas raises from maniacs with high PFR can be counteracted with aggressive play back.

AF - Aggression Factor - This is calculated as the total number of bets and raises you made after the flop, divided by your number of calls. It compares how often you bet and raise, versus how often you just call. The higher the number, the more aggressive you are. The average factor of aggression for winning players in a 9 player game is 2.7 (with a range of 2 to 3.4).

WTS - Went to Showdown (%) - The percent of times you went to the showdown after seeing the flop. Average figure is 24%, with a range of 19-27%. This statistic helps define tight/loose play after the flop. It also is good for determining the effectiveness of a bluff against a player. A player with high WTS is often a “calling station”. A player with a lower value is afraid to lose, on dangerous flops they might fold any cards except for the nuts. Against these tight players, a bluff is an effective play.

W$S - Won $ at Showdown (%) - The percent of times you won money at the showdown, out of those times you went to the showdown. For example, if you went to the showdown 10 times, and you won 8 of those, this number would be 80%. This number tells you how often you are showing down the best hand, and you certainly want it to be at least 50%. Note: 'Winning money at the showdown' is defined as ending the hand with more chips than you started it with. Sometimes in split pots and all-in situations, you might win some chips at the showdown, but lose money overall.

CBET - Continuation Bet (%) - This is calculated as a measure of aggressiveness on the flop when you were the pre-flop aggressor. It is calculated as the percentage of times you bet on the flop when it was checked to you and you had also raised pre-flop. Your desire to CBET is strongly affected by board texture. Some flops are so favorable to the pre-flop raiser's range that you might choose to CBET nearly every time. On un-favorable boards, you might be cbetting as little as 25% of the time.

Did not fold BB to steal - this is the percent of hands when you were in the big blind and you defended against someone attempting to steal the blinds (an attempt to steal is defined as any raise from the Cutoff, Button, or Small Blind if no other player has entered the hand first). The best 9-max players on OPT average about 30%. This gives you a good idea about how tight someone plays from the blinds, and is often used as a guide for whether to attempt a steal. Note that at lower stakes games, this statistic is rarely meaningful because it is rare to have no one in the pot by the cutoff when the game is loose. However, if you find your percent falling to a low range, you can be sure other players will notice and try to take advantage of your tight play.

Attempts to steal blinds - How often you attempted to steal the blinds when given the opportunity. The previous statistic showed protection of blinds, this is the attacking side of it. The best 9-max players on OPT average 27%, because blind stealing is not as common in PLO as it is in Holdem. The higher this number is, the more it is necessary to protect against such a player more actively, because he can attack with hands much worse than yours. This is not as important in a low stakes game, again because opportunities are not as common.

BB/100 - The average number of big blinds won (or lost) per hundred hands. This is often used as a measure of the success of a player at a given level. It is important to note that there are huge amounts of variance in this number, and even large numbers of hands cannot accurately tell you your precise win rate. For example, even after 20,000 hands, your true long term BB/100 might be only 1/2 as much, or on the other hand it might be double. It really takes a long time to get an accurate assessment of this one.

Chips/100 - The average number of chips won (or lost) per hundred hands. This is the same as BB/100, only it is measured in total chips, not big blinds.

Do you have a suggestion for a statistic that would be great to store? If so, just contact us and we'll respond to your suggestion.

How do I view my statistics? ^{^}Top

Statistics are saved for all registered users, but they can only be viewed by full members. If you are not a full member, you can sign up for a membership package.

If you are a member, your statistics can always be viewed on your My Hands Played and My Sessions Played pages. However, the My Reports page is the best ways to track your progress!