The Re-Steal (aka ‘3 bet’)

As the Pokerstars Macau poker room climbs the ranks as one of the must-see poker destinations in the world, we will see a flock of new players entering the Asian tournament circuit. Amongst these poker players, you will notice the young and aggressive players who 3-bet and 4-bet with a large range of hands and, upon show-down, people are staring at the revealed cards with their jaw-dropping awe.
Tournament poker requires the players to make moves and bluffs in order to survive. Most players will raise with mediocre hands, but few players actually take it another step to re-steal from someone who they believe is trying to steal the pot. Player who raise without the goods will often fold to a re-raise; in turn, you win the original raise and also the blinds. Re-stealing requires the perfect mix of timing, reading skills on your opponent, and your table image.
Timing is everything. You will observe in tournaments where players only look at their hands when it’s their turn to act.  This may help some beginners not to give their hands away with their gestures/expression/tells. Pay attention to players who can’t seem to sit still and eye their stack before their turn.  This is a good indication that they have a strong holding. Be aware of players who think for a while before folding, they may be thinking about re-stealing light next time around.
The ideal opponent is an aggressive late position raiser or someone who has been raising every time they are in late position. Good players are better opponents for re-steals as they will fold a majority of hands pre-flop instead of playing a re-raised pot out of position. The perfect table image to pull off a couple of re-steals is if you have been playing tight. But if you are the player who has been raising frequently then don’t be surprised that players won’t fold to your re-raises.
The best hands to re-steal with are hands that are very average. If you are re-stealing with big pairs, we wouldn’t be calling that a re-steal, but rather raising for value. Keep in mind that it is still a bad idea to shove any two cards such as 27o, 38o, 49o, etc. Just in case the player decides to call and play post flop, you want a hand that will still connect well with the board and are not easily dominated. Most players re-steal with hands like 67s, 89s, 9Ts, etc. The purpose of the re-steal is to get your opponent to fold their hand pre flop. DO NOT re-steal a player who has committed most of their stack into the pot, as there are most likely not folding their hand.
Next time you are in a tournament, pay extra attention to the key concepts outlined. See if you can spot the ideal opponents to re-steal from, the players who are re-stealing from others, and even pull a re-steal yourself! Best luck at the tables, hope to see you there.

Best of luck on the felt,
Celina

Celina Lin is a Team PokerStars Pro and one of the most recognizable faces on the Asian poker scene.  Lin is the first female to win the Macau Poker Cup - Red Dragon event and is annually listed amongst the best on the Asia Player of the Year rankings.