New poker exercises: stack in BB, blind stealing, 3-bet bluffs and set mining

Knowing a formula and recognising when to use it are two different steps. You may know what a big blind, a blind steal or set mining means, yet still hesitate when calculating your risk or the profit a play needs to make sense.

We have added four exercises to Tools of Poker to work on those questions separately: stack in BB, Steal, 3-bet bluff and Set Mining. The aim is to practise the reasoning behind the numbers in situations you can repeat and review before returning to the table.

Stack in BB: understand what your chips represent

A stack of 10,000 chips can be large or small depending on the blinds. Looking only at the chip count leaves you without a reference for interpreting the situation.

The stack in big blinds exercise is designed to make that conversion familiar through practice. It helps you express your stack in a comparable unit across blind levels and gives your preflop study context.

For example, with 4,800 chips and a big blind of 200, you have 24 BB. The exercise uses the displayed stack without subtracting the blind. This calculation describes your stack; to work out how much is at stake against an opponent, you also need to consider the effective stack.

Review the method in the stack in BB tutorial.

Steal: understand why a blind steal can be profitable

When everyone has folded and the action reaches you, there is a pot you can try to win. How much it is worth risking depends on the reward and how often all remaining opponents fold.

The Blind Stealing (Steal) exercise lets you study that relationship from the BTN or SB. It is designed to help you distinguish the current pot from your additional investment, calculate the folds you need and understand how a play’s expected value changes.

For example, from the SB, raising to a total of 3 BB with no antes risks an additional 2.5 BB to win a 1.5 BB pot. In the exercise’s model, all remaining opponents must fold 62.5% of the time for you to break even.

This is a way to study risk and reward: the model assumes you lose the additional investment whenever someone continues, without postflop equity or rake. Follow the steps in the Steal tutorial.

3-bet bluff: put numbers to the pressure of a re-raise

The fact that an opponent might fold to a re-raise is not enough to evaluate a bluff. You also need to know how much you are risking to win the existing pot.

In 3-bet bluff, Hero is in the BB facing an open. The exercise trains the required fold frequency and EV, and helps expose a common mix-up: confusing your total re-raise size with your additional investment.

For example, a 3-bet to 9 BB from the BB risks 8 BB of new money. Against a CO open to 2.5 BB, with the SB folded and no antes, the pot is 4 BB: the model’s break-even threshold is 66.67% folds.

This helps you understand the cost of trying to take down the pot before adding factors such as ranges, position and subsequent play. The model assumes you lose the additional investment if your opponent continues and does not include rake. Read the 3-bet bluff tutorial to explore it further.

Set mining: ask how much you need to win when you hit

Calling with a pocket pair in the hope of flopping a set is tempting. The question worth studying is whether the profit when you hit can compensate for the times you call and miss.

The Set Mining exercise focuses on that relationship. It introduces implied odds and helps you separate the call cost, the current pot and the opponent’s future contributions specified in the question.

For example, an opponent having 100 BB behind does not mean you will win all of it when you hit. Their stack limits the available money, but the amount you expect to receive later is a separate estimate. Similarly, recovering the chips from your own call is not profit.

The exercise uses an 11.76% probability of flopping at least a set, including quads. It simplifies the outcome by assuming you fold when you miss and receive the stated profit when you hit, with no rake. That probability is neither your equity nor a guarantee of winning the hand. The Set Mining tutorial explains the model.

A tool for understanding, practising and reviewing

The four exercises share an aim: to help you identify what you are calculating and why it matters. First understand the question, then practise and, if you get it wrong, review which amount or assumption you mixed up.

Start with the concept you find most uncertain and use its tutorial for support. Open the Tools of Poker exercise catalogue and try the new additions at your own pace.