Bet sizing during blind steals
When stealing blinds on PokerStar.com, you should vary the amount you bet. Bet randomly. Do not be the cookie cutter player who always bets 4 times blinds on steal attempts. Having a set or standard amount gives your opposing players a bit of familiarity. Eventually, they will begin feeling in their gut that you are on a steal. Your opposition will begin making your life miserable. Be random in your steal raises. If the blinds are 50-100, bet 320 as opposed to 300. If the blinds are 150-300, raise 1110 instead of 1000. By varying the size of your raise, you are presenting yourself as a random, thoughtful, tricky poker player. Additionally, the random odd amounts will visually appear larger in size than it truly is on many poker rooms such as PokerStars and Carbon Poker because they will be stacked and displayed differently than whole hundred bets.
Undue Risk on Steals
Do not take on unnecessary risk when stealing. Do not push 1100 chips into a 25/50 pot. It is not worth the risk because nearly any hand that calls you will be ahead. Additionally, many players tend to interpret all-in bets as a weaker showing than they do a smaller bet. Remember, many players not only fear losing the chips they are investing, but they also fear the chips they could lose after investing. That being said, sizing many steal raises to leave chips behind will give the blind player something additional to think about after the call. If they know they will lose only a certain amount of chips if they lose the hand, they will likely invest that amount more often than they will if they risk the likelihood of losing that entire amount. An all-in move is appropriate if you do not have a substantial amount of chips earmarked to “knock your opposition off a hand” on the flop.
By varying the size of your free poker bets, you will maintain the illusion that you are a tricky and dangerous poker player. Additionally, you will not give off the telltale signals that you only bet x times the blinds when you are trying to steal, or only y times the blinds when you have a great hand. Varying the amount you bet, in both relation to the blinds, and in terms of randomness will help you steal blinds successfully and maintain your dangerous image at the poker table.