live 100 - button steals - bad play or bad luck

[iblucky4u2]

Live 100 MTT - myself and the two players on my left had large stacks. Once the blinds reached the 300/600 level I went into steal mode. About every 2-3 orbits when folded to me on the button, I would put in a standard 3x raise with K8s+ type hands. Every time the blinds came over the top all in and I was forced to fold. It was a fairly friendly table and every time they showed me AK, QQ+. By time the blinds reached the 500/1000/100 level, most of my chips were eaten up with this strategy. Is this a leak or just bad luck.

[BlueEcho]

I guess it would be nice to know what your "large" stack was but raising late in a tourney in an unopened pot from the button is pretty standard. Maybe you could make the pf raise 2.5bbs instead of 3.

[iblucky4u2]

When we started the 300/600 level stack sizes were 18k, 20k (me) and 22k - average stack was about 10k.

[AhabCaptain]

I would prefer stealing from MP when everyone folded. I don't need a hand, actually I do it with rag to not to get into trouble postflop. A little bigger bet is necessary, but you represent more strength. Hopefully the two big stacks fold and players with medium stacks in the blinds are probably folding too.

Stealing this way is very effective when a big stack is to your left. It is important not to overdo it, cause the bigstacks will catch up on it and resteal. Don't do it more than 1-2 times every 2 orbit. Doing it not only raises the chances of a successful steal but you will also get paid off better on your strong hands if called.

[kenny7]

You're not saying if the table is playing tight,how many are left,how far from the money etc....that's very important here.

I play alot of live tourneys in this buyin range,so I'll assume that(like most live mtt's) it's fairly tight and that with these blinds you are a bit aways from the money.

Nothing wrong with stealing,altho K8s+ from the button hardly qualifies as a steal in my book....suffice it to say that my range is a lot wider.....

I'd actually say that you are way too tight if you only open from the button w a marginal hand. Ahab is right when he says try it from MP.Especially live you will get a lot more respect if you open in EP/MP. I've gotten somewhat paranoid about straight steals from the button.Even your average nitty live guy might play back at you w nothing.

Ahab is totally wrong tho when he says raise bigger.Infact,3x is too much,at this stage 2,5x is enough. It is such a big part of effective stacksizes that if they are going to call,they'll call (almost) no matter what your raise is,so you are basically trying to risk as little as possible,just in case they play back at you.

In this situation,you just had bad luck that you ran into big hands,that happens.However,if you only open once every 2-3 orbits you are playing wayyyyy to tight.

[tomek322]

With your stack I would be trying to find spots to re-steal. Other than that, you can't be too upset if you fold, and people show you top five hands.

[AhabCaptain]

Thanks for correcting me there on the size of the preflop steal-bet. I do find committed myself at times - I will try it with the smaller ones next time.