Surviving a drought...

[Notfunny1]

I have been having trouble lately getting to the middle levels, second hour or so,
with a healthy but not huge stack, and then going card dead. My raising range from LP is pretty big, but also pretty small from EP.
I know I have to steal in the right spots, but sometimes I get into sort of a folding rut. Should I...
a.) Pick a couple of specific hands that I would normally muck, say 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] and 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], and always raise with them. Does anyone do this?
b.) Be less specific, always raise 24s and 69s. I would like to only do this with hands that have some value, not like 92 or anything.
c.) Open up my raising range from EP-MP, open-raise like suited connectors, one-gappers, broadway, etc. I actually hate this idea, but its what I most frequently end up doing.

Any advice with this problem would be greatly appreciated.

[Scarmiglio]

C. is better than A. or B. IMHO. Middle suited gappers, like 79s or 8Ts are more likely to hit than 69s or 24s as you can make more staights, and stack people when you do.

[killsadie]

A and B dont make much sense to me. I like B a little better because when you do hit with these hands youre likely to pick up a good amount of chips so you can play some real hands. With C, i would say that you shouldnt do this from EP because the chances of getting reraised are higher.

[Sherman]

Pay attention to your table. Figure out who to steal from and who to resteal from. My guess is that people have figured you as "one to steal from."

[PhatPots]

I like c the best of the choices. Don't commit yourself to specific hands. You need to be raising Axs, any pp, even KTs sometimes. You can't sit back and wait for AA and KK, etc. And steal the blinds more often if you have a tight image.

I think you just need to read the table better. (Eg. if the table is tight, then loosen up and vice versa) Know who to re-steal preflop from, know who to steal from (as one of the other posters already stated)

[Rocco]

The answer to your question is not a), b) or c). Focus on the situation, your stack size, your opponent's stack sizes combined with their style of play. Your cards are less important in this matter. Start off with good hands and when you feel comfortable about stealing, you can do it with any hand.

Also, a more effective way of building a big stack is to learn the concept of re-stealing. While a steal might earn you blinds+antes, a re-steal earns you blinds+antes and, typically, 3 extra BB's. Hence you don't have to pull off a successful re-steal that often to keep afloat. I'm trying to learn this concept and a big help on this topic can be found in the MTT Anthlogy. Scroll down to the header that says "Making moves" and read Anskys post on re-stealing. In my opinion it's one of the best posts that's been written in the MTT forum...

[diebitter]

[ QUOTE ]
Pay attention to your table. Figure out who to steal from and who to resteal from. My guess is that people have figured you as "one to steal from."

[/ QUOTE ]


Exactly. Forget about picking specific junk to steal with. Steal from the tights, and resteal from the laps.

Restealing is more tense, but you have to do it so much less often, and if you're folding absolutely everything else, they almost always put you on a great hand.

Rates to maintain/grow at any given level on a full table: steal 4 out of 3 circuits OR resteal to a x3 raise every 2-3 circuits. Mix them up some.

[Jeff76]

[ QUOTE ]
Pay attention to your table. Figure out who to steal from and who to resteal from. My guess is that people have figured you as "one to steal from."

[/ QUOTE ]