Bug's Poker Tip #29

Sometimes waiting is better than shoving.

Got this one from the (surprisingly) informative Little Blue Book by Phil Gordon. When you're on a short stack and the blinds are about to increase in an MTT, it's sometimes more profitable to wait for a spot to steal than to take a shot now. Why? Because the blinds are going up and you can potentially win more money if your steal is successful, that's why. The example Gordon gives is when he once held 97s on the button with eight big blinds left in a big MTT. He thought about raise-stealing when it folded to him, but realized instead that the blinds were going up on the very next hand (and there wasn't going to be any antes). In other words, he could wait for a higher equity hand to steal with, and in doing so risk the same amount, but for a higher reward. Now, this isn't always going to be the right play, obviously, but in this case it made sense to wait, even though Gordon was already fairly desperate.

All-in for now…

-Bug