Stealing blinds

I've heard more than a few players say that they probably lose more money from the blind positions than anywhere else on the table.  I'm sure that's the case for me also, but maybe not as much as it is for other players.

I'm not really all that connected to my blinds after I post them.  If you want to steal them, go right ahead.  They don't belong to me anymore, those chips belong to the winner of the hand (and it usually won't be me).

Whenever I hear advice to defend your blinds or (worse) "protect your children", I cringe.  Protect your children?  It's not your children fool, it's a couple of clay chips.

I've lost way more money "defending my blinds" than I ever have letting somebody with garbage steal them.  I've even played games where the same player would raise (or re-raise) whenever I was in the blind position so that I would fold and he would take the blinds.  Go ahead!

But I have to add, if I wake up with a decent hand (say Ace/Queen, or a pair of Jacks or better), I WILL play back.  And I consistently find that when I am up against a thief who is taking my big blind every round, and I am patient enough to wait until I have a playable hand before I try to defend, I end up winning in one hand much more than what I lost surrendering all those other hands!

And ... what's more ... I confess that I'm not the least bit above stealing blinds myself!  If I see that the big blind is really tight, and I am in late position (or sometimes even middle position), I will from time to time toss in a raise with a wide range of hands and try to pick up the pot right there.  If I do, that makes me feel better about letting all my blinds go.