Bay 101 6/12 Blind Stealing Question
 

Attacking the blinds with marginal hands has been a normal part of my game, but this summer (due to a summer job) I've had the opportunity to play a lot at Bay 101 and the rake structure has made me more reluctant to steal blinds. Is this a mistake? The way the rake works is if there is no flop there is a $1 drop and if there is a flop there is a $4 drop (assuming the game isn't short handed). At the 6/12 game, the small blind is $2 and the big blind is $6, so there is $8 in blind money to steal. Assuming the blinds just surrender, I win $7 for my $12 raise. Assuming the big blind defends (and doesn't three bet), then there is 12 + 12 + 2 - 4 = 22 in the pot. So essentially the house gets the SB and a dollar from me and the BB.

How much should the higher price for attacking the blinds deter me from making marginal plays against the blinds? In general, the $4 drop has been deterring me a lot from going after small pots, and I'm not sure if that's a mistake or not.

Here's a similar situation. Let's assume I am in the BB, there is one limper, the SB completes, and I check. After the drop, there is $14 in the pot. The flop completely misses me and it gets checked around. Now, if I want to stab on the turn I am investing $12 to win $14, so with nothing I am inclined to pass on the steal more often than not. Is this too passive? Against sufficiently passive opponents, is it better to just stab at the flop in order to get a better price for my steal attempt (and if the stab fails, to build a bigger pot to take down on a later street)?

Should I just play more 8/16? Thoughts?

Re: Bay 101 6/12 Blind Stealing Question
 

Yeah, I think you should steal a little less, dropping the bottom end of your range. But at 6/12 and 8/16 there, I'm asking for a table change if a lot of stealing opportunities come up . [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Bay 101 6/12 Blind Stealing Question
 

You're looking at this exactly the right way. The rake/tip equation make blind stealing counterproductive at the lower limits. It is generally better to muck a large range of hands with which you'd normally open raise because the rake/tips eat into your odds so much.

You have to steal a lot less. You need a legitimate hand to come in late when you know that there may only be one or two others seeing the flop.

Many opponents never consider this, and they'll typically call with any two out of the BB before mucking to a bad flop. This costs you a ton.

Due to the effect of the rake/tips the 8/16 is generally a better choice than 6/12.