Shorthanded: stealing on the Turn in an unraised hand

This is a basic situation that comes up now and then. Nothing spectacular or special about it, just common stuff.

Yao is in the Big Blind with 9h2c in a 6 handed game.

A loose player limps under the gun (UTG), everyone else folds to the Small Blind (SB) who calls. I check. Three players see the Flop for 3 small bets.

Flop: Js 8s 3h

Flop Action: Everyone checks

Turn: (Js 8s 3h) 8h

Turn Action: The SB checks, I bet, and they both fold. I win a small pot.

Comments: If the SB had bet I would fold. If there was a raise after I bet, I would fold. The chance of me winning the pot seemed high, greater than the 1.5 to 1 odds that the pot was offering me to steal it. This is the perfect spot for this type of steal. The SB has it a little bit tougher because he has two other players yet to act. If you are the late position player, keep in mind that a bet like this from the middle player could mean a steal. So if you have anything in that spot (draw, pair), a raise is worthwhile. However, it is unlikely that a good player would find himself in that situation as the last player to act. A good player likely would not have limped pre-Flop UTG in a shorthanded game, and if he had, he likely would have tried to steal the pot on the Flop. So the advice to raise or re-steal against the Big Blind's likely steal bet is moot for most of the readers of this blog.