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Getting back to stealing yourself, I usually prefer when stealing antes to have one other low card.
There are two good reasons for this: No.1.By restricting myself to a two-card low, I make my frequency of stealing lower than 100 percent when I have one or two low cards behind me.
If I try to steal every time eventually the other players will realize it and start reraising or calling without a hand, knowing that I don’t have very much.
Restricting myself to a two-card hand is a good way to randomly select those hands that I will steal with. Secondly, as long as I am not likely to get reraised, I have an extra little out by raising with a two-card hand.
That is, suppose I catch a good one on fourth poker street after being called and my opponent catches a bad one but still decides to call my bet.
Now, since I have started with a two card hand, I will have, in fact, as good hand as my opponent unless I have paired my upcard so that if he does call me I don’t mind that much.
In this same situation, if I was only playing a one-card hand and had, let’s say a K-Q in the hole, I am still in rather bad shape on Fourth Street and now need to catch another good one to his bad one.
When I am reraised on third poker street and have been trying to steal the ante, I will generally fold. In order to call in this particular spot, you usually need about a three-card nine.
This can be adjusted a little depending on the man who reraises and what you think he will reraise with. Also, the cards that are out. A three-card nine specifically, by the way, is usually worth raising on even if there are three low cards behind you.
In most cases, however, trying to steal the ante without a hand is not correct if there are more than two low cards-although a three-card ten has a little value, and in some types of games you might consider trying to steal an ante with a three-card ten when there are three low cards behind you.
I should hope, by the way, that the reader understands that when I talk about three-card nines and three-card tens that that 9 or 10 is in the hole.
In fact, it is critical to understand that in razz poker your board (the cards that are showing) is very important as far as whether you can play a hand.
A three-card eight or a four-card eight or an eight-made is a much weaker hand if the 8 is showing. This applies also to nines and tens.
There are many reasons for this and we will be talking more about it later. For now, just realize that if you have that higher card showing, you have taken away much of your betting power and deception.
To summarize ante-stealing:
1. Only try it if no one else has yet called.
2. Try to have at least a two-card hand with a low card showing (the one exception being if you are the very last low card and only have 10s or higher behind you. Now you should raise regardless of your hole poker cards since you will quite frequently steal the ante and don’t particularly mind if you don’t.)
3. Steal somewhat more in the bigger ante ($30–$60 game) than in the $15–$30 game.
4. Steal if you have only one low card behind you and sometimes if you have two low cards behind you, especially if you have a three-card nine or three-card ten.
5. Steal with three low cards that haven’t acted behind you and sometimes four if you have a three-card nine with the 9 in the hole.
6. Adjust your stealing frequency based on the opponents behind you and how often you expected to get called as well as how often you will get reraised.
7. Throw all three-card jacks or worse away if you are reraised when you try to steal the ante.
8. Steal antes less in a short-handed game.