re-steeling with any 2 cards?

[luckystraights]

3 handed in a NL sit-n-go, with blinds at 75/150, one player would always raise when in the BB to steel my blind, he did it so frequently I was certain he was steeling.

So next time around, I still don't have any cards, only holding K4o, I come over the top, he goes all-in, I fold.

Was this just plain stupid! normally I wouldn't come over the top, unless I'm sure I have the best hand, but in this case he was steeling my stack away and I didn't have the cards to deffend, obviously he didn't know that so I chose to re-steel. If I called he would have come over me, then I couldn't really re-steel in that position.

Did I just get unlucky and attempt a re-steel when he actually had a hand, or did I wait too long to do a re-steel, would it have looked like a bluff,  folded most of my blinds in this spot in earlier bouts, as didn't have hands I could fight with.

How do you handle this situation, I'm not handling it very well at the moment, I seem  to go either too aggressive or too passive ?

[Martini]

How big are the stacks? If the blinds are not significant, he can have them. If the blinds are eating away your stack then just treat it like it is a heads up match between you two (assuming the third player is already out of the hand) and just get your money in when you feel you are ahead. Try to pick up a tell of when he is weak. And watch out for the time when he just limps or underbets since that could signify a strong hand.

[LuckyDog Poker Art]

I think you were wise to change up your pattern and prevent him from bullying you around. Just unlucky timing, I guess.  Unless he suspected you were going to do that or you provided an unknowing tell.  Question is, did he continue his attempt to steal your blind or did your move halt that?

[NotFadeAway]

It depends on the situation.  Without much information on this hand it's impossible to say whether or not this was a good spot to re-steal, but it might have been a good spot.  Re-stealing can be a great move against a loose player, but you have to make sure that you aren't laying a price when you do it.  This is key, so check the pot size against your stacks before decide to commit here.  Also, I would suggest trying to find spots to re-shove late in sit and gos, instead of making smaller re-raises (although that probably would have meant not to try it here, but I don't really know.)  So, when re-stealing make sure of three main things:
1.  That your opponent's range is wide enough to make a re-steal profitable given your hand (mostly meaning that you have enough fold equity.)
2.  Make sure that your stacks aren't deep enough to cause you to lay a large price, making your attempt unprofitable.)
3.  Make sure that you aren't going halfway with these very often.  If you're going to commit
a large stack of chips to a re-steal, don't fold to a raise.  Either raise more or don't raise at all.  This will keep you from giving away too many pots without showdowns, and will put more pressure on opponents.
Anyway, I hope that this makes sense.  Good luck in trying to master this concept (I'm still trying to improve this part of my game myself, so I know how hard it is to do.)

[LuckyDog Poker Art]

I think re-raising to prevent being bullied is a good thing to do when the timing is right.  This would make sense when the blinds are low enough, the initial raise was relatively low or you have a really decent chip stack and won't be affected by laying your hand down later.  Personally, there are many times I will not defend a blind because I know my patience will usually be rewarded later. But, if I have an absolute gut feeling about a bully raising with crap (and there are no other callers) I will defend it with a re-raise.  Usually works.

[Martini]

I would try a re-steal under the following circumstances:

* Blinds are big enough to worry about.
* I have a hand that has a chance to win anyway like a suited Ace, suited connector, etc.
* I would raise enough to pot commit myself so I can call of the rest of my chips and hope to either get lucky or be ahead if I end up all in.

[luckystraights]

* I have a hand that has a chance to win anyway like a suited Ace, suited connector, etc.

That was my problem here, from memory I had K4o, I was sure he was steeling, or was pretty sure his all-in was still a steel, but no way could I commit my stack with king high, if I had a chance at winning like 98s or A9s then I probably would have called.