Next time you play in your regular game, perform the exercise of selecting a player in the big blind that you're going to victimize. Keep track of every time you raise to steal the blinds. Remember that your success is largely a function of the personality of the victim you've chosen and not necessarily attributable to the cards you hold.
Now here's the twist: Record the percentage of the time that you were successful in your records-under that player's name! Perform this exercise every time you play when you have enough time and opportunity, hopefully with a different player in the "hotseat." Do it long enough, and eventually you'll have a "Blind Stealing" index on most of your regular opponents.
Of all the poker tactics you could learn, stealing the blinds is one that's positively worth your time and effort to master. It's easy to understand, it's easy to pull off, it adds significantly to your hourly rate, it builds your confidence while you're learning other aspects of the game, and it doesn't require any special tools or equipment. But don't tell anyone I told you so.
Incidentally, if you play in a public cardroom and you want to know a player's name without drawing undue attention to yourself or the reason for your curiosity, there are several things you can do. You can introduce yourself to him, and he will usually give you his name in return. You can pay attention to the table talk and see if anyone at the table calls him by name. As a last resort, you can discreetly ask the floorman, who probably got his name before he seated him in the game.
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The difference between raising to take advantage of your late position and raising to steal the blinds is mainly one of intent. Often you'll be in the same position, raising with the same cards, in the same situation. Only you will know if you're taking advantage of your late position (and want someone to call), or trying to steal the blinds (and want no one to call).
There are a few more tips to add to last chapter's list when your intent is to steal the blinds:
1. Do not limp in with Group 1 hands. Usually, one of the best ways to disguise the strength of your hand is just to call when a raise would normally be more appropriate. In this case, your raise works in just the opposite way. Since your opponents expect you to raise in late position anyway, you can disguise the strength of your hand by doing what looks natural for your position. Raise. They will rarely be sure that you're raising because you hold AA, KK, QQ or AKs.
2. When you take a seat in a hold 'em game, closely observe the play of the three players to your left when they are in the big blind. If you happen to know these players and their profiles already, then so much the better. You're going to select a victim here, so you're scouting the turf in much the same way a burglar cases several houses at once to determine which one offers the best chance of his pulling off a successful robbery.
Watch these three players and then determine which one of the three is the least likely to defend (that is, call) when it is raised before the flop and he's in the big blind. Whichever one of the three players folds the most is your new victim. You should wait until this player is in the big blind to try your raise-steal move, because this will give you the best chance of success while you're still learning the game.
3. If your primary intent is to steal the blinds, you can raise with many more hands than you would if your intent were only to take advantage of your late position. Before you read further, can you see why? It's because if you performed the exercise described in the previous paragraph, you have a much higher chance of success than if you tried to steal at random.
You can now raise with pocket pairs of 5s and above, any time you have an ace or a king, regardless of your kicker, and when your hole cards are both 9 or higher.
If your intended victim in the big blind folds, then it doesn't matter what your cards were. If he calls, you're still in a good situation. His hand will be easy to read. Since he called in a spot where he almost never does, it must be very good. You have position on him throughout the hand, though. The combination of your having a read on his hand and position is enough to overcome any weakness in your hand after the flop. In the long run, you'll make a profit on this play.
4. If all three of the players on your left play very loosely, and they almost always defend their big blinds, then you should not try this move very often. Why try a certain tactic if you've already determined in advance that it probably won't show a profit? Game conditions change, though, and sometimes quickly and often. Be alert when players leave one of those three seats and are replaced by new players.
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