After responding to a post about when to “re-steal” I got several PMs asking me if I could write a little more about it, so here goes! The re-steal refers to playing back at someone who has raised with a high probability of holding less-than-premium cards. For example, if you are in the small blind and the player in the cutoff has raised your blinds 3 of the last 4 orbits, it is likely that he is simply trying to “steal” your blinds. If you were to come over the top of his raise with a less than premium hand, that would be a “re-steal”. Now that we have an explanation out of the way, we can get on to when the re-steal should be used, and appropriate opponents to use it on.

This might seem obvious, but the ideal situation for a re-steal would be around the bubble of a tournament, against a middle stacked player. The middle stack generally does not want to bust just before the money and still has enough chips to fold, without being crippled. For example, blinds are 400-800 and the average stack is $18,000. You are in the Small Blind with $15,000. The cutoff, who has raised your blinds for the last two orbits, raises again to $2500. I would very likely try a re-steal here by pushing all-in. The cutoff has plenty of chips and has no reason to call here without a monster. My cards almost don’t matter. I'm not pushing here because I want to win a showdown, I'm pushing here because the probability of winning that pot is VERY high. Sure, sometimes the BB will pick up a hand, or the cutoff will happen to have KK, but that’s poker. More often than not, you just win the pot.

You can use it at other times, but the bubble of a tournament is when the most stealing goes on and also when the timing for a re-steal is most easily identifiable. Another good time to try a re-steal is when you have a much larger stack than your opponent. Although it can be used when you both have similar stacks as well, there is a certain “fear” when your opponent knows that you can put him out of the tourney. This often leads to an even tighter calling range for your opponent. In the above example, where you have $15,000 and your opponent has $18,000, I have seen people call the re-steal with AQ and even lower pairs like 44-66. If you have your opponent outchipped, they tend to fold those types of hands, even if they suspect you of a re-steal, because if they are wrong, they are out!

The re-steal is one of the most subjective plays in poker and should not be used by novice players, IMO. The decision of when to use it depends almost exclusively on your read of your opponent. And you really need a solid read, because often you will be making this play with less-than-premium cards, so if you do get called, you're going to be in rough shape. In fact, I try to have something like suited connectors or even something like 10-8 suited, because those are the most likely hands to break the big hands if you happen to get called. Another caution is that the most opportune times to use the re-steal are often when it puts all or most of your chips at risk, so if you're wrong, it can cost you your tournament life. It’s a very effective move, but be careful not to abuse it, or you’ll find yourself on the rail more often than you might like.