I will discuss a fairly straightforward tactic of stealing the blinds.

Why steal the blinds?

Why on earth why would you ever raise a trash hand? Well if you knew the remaining opponents would fold why wouldn't you? Stealing the blinds is an easy concept. There's money in the pot before players even know what their cards are. Anyone can grab it, it just depends on how much you're willing to risk.

Pros:

- You can gain chips.

- You can create deception in a later hand.

- You can create deception in your table image.

Cons:

- You can end up losing more than your bargained for.

- You might not even get to see a flop.

- You can hurt your table image.

All of a sudden stealing the blinds got a lot more complicated! It's no longer at the point where it even really even concerns the blinds, rather the flow of the game. For the sake of simplicity assume the situation is that you are on the small blind with the big blind to your left. It's pre-flop and everyone before you folds which leaves you and your target whom we will call BB. There are several factors to take into consideration:

1. BB's style, is he passive or aggressive?

2. Does BB tend to call or re-raise?

3. If BB just calls, is your hand worthy enough for a flop?

4. How often have you stolen the blinds in the past?

5. What are other players expecting you to do?

6. Is BB even paying attention?

7. Is ANYONE paying attention?

In the event that no one really cares about the blinds at the moment, perhaps everyone is sitting tight waiting for the field to narrow or for the blinds to increase, it would be okay to go ahead and take a shot at the pot. In any case, the most important thing is trying to figure out BB's tendencies and how he may react. If he's been pretty quiet you probably have good chances at winning it right there. If he's a wild player he might call, re-raise with a good hand, or even bluff you back! After evaluating the chance of a bad turnout for your steal, weigh it against how much you'll be making.

Let's say out of ten times, BB will successfully defend his blind twice (20%). The blinds are 10/20 and you raise to 80 on the steal. If you win 8 times, you've taken 160 in chips, and two times he defends you lose 160. Boy what a waste, and an unnecessary risk.

However, there are a variety of other implications that blind stealing can create. You may pretend to be stealing when you have pocket Aces! If BB doesn't believe you because it's the fourth time and he's sick of it, no more! then boy, he's in for a surprise. Additionally, you may end up creating a loose image at the table. Conversely, you can develop a tight image at the table, and when the blinds really matter at 100/200 you can start stealing and no one will catch on. From their perspective: You played only few hands and when you did they were premium hands, there's no reason to believe you would start bluffing now! Wrong again!

Since the blind stealing situation is created often enough, it is generally a clue to other players regarding your tendencies. Knowing this you can harness your image, lay traps, or strike fear into the hearts of other players. It all depends on the circumstances of the table, circumstances which you must accurately survey. I personally prefer holding out until the blinds reach a high level until I start attempting to steal. Generally no one believes me early on, I don't what it is. I'm a pretty honest guy. Wouldn't you agree?

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