When do you start stealing blinds?

hoachec · Sep 3, 2026

I'm curious about how other players approach blind stealing in tournaments.

Do you start opening much wider as the blinds become a significant part of everyone's stack, or do you keep roughly the same opening range throughout the tournament?

For me, position and the players in the blinds are probably the two biggest factors. If the blinds are playing very tight, I feel comfortable putting more pressure on them.

At what stage do you normally start becoming more aggressive with blind steals?

Rmi · Sep 3, 2026

As many times as you can, but better when there are few left to collect

Semprini · Sep 3, 2026

hoachec said:
Do you start opening much wider as the blinds become a significant part of everyone's stack, or do you keep roughly the same opening range throughout the tournament?

That depends on stack sizes. If we have a large stack we can steal whenever the table is weak. Bully bully bully. If our stack is short, we jam our icm range and stealing is good.

ExMoroccan · Sep 4, 2026

Late middle stages for sure, especially once ante kicks in. Early on the pots aren't worth fighting for with weak holdings, but once stacks get around 20-30bb, picking up dead money matters way more. Plus if the BB is playing super tight or multi-tabling, I’m opening light from the late positions all day.

fundiver199 · Sep 4, 2026

hoachec said:
For me, position and the players in the blinds are probably the two biggest factors.

Per definition its only called a steal, if you open from late position, which mean CO, BTN or SB. If you open from any position earlier than this, you are not "stealing" but just opening.

Das991992 · Sep 4, 2026

For me, blind stealing becomes more important once the blinds and antes are a meaningful part of the average stack. I don’t suddenly open super wide though. Position, stack sizes, and especially how tight or aggressive the players in the blinds are determine how much pressure I apply.

TeUnit · Sep 4, 2026

This depends on the villans, your position, and the icm.

fzap1983 · Sep 4, 2026

I don’t usually play with the idea of stealing the blinds. I focus more on the strength of my hand. I could be UTG or on the Button, but I don’t really change my approach just because I have a chance to steal the blinds. I play the hand because I believe I can win it, not just because I want to pick up the blinds