If / when you want to steal the blinds, raise to 4BB or whatever your normal raise is.
The min raise will never work for that purpose (or any other that I can think of)

Once he min raise you back, I would call and hope to hit a big flop. I dont like top pair there and would be ready to fold.

I find your problem very interesting.

My first advice is that you shouldn’t steal blinds when you are small blind in a cash game. The big blind has position on you and, my experience is he will call you with very weak holdings (I will call with a weak holding if I think I can outplay you - fancy play syndrome). I rarely raise with less than AJ and 88 in SB as first in.

But when you are on button or near the button I think you can you can raise. But I never raise minimum because again, people will call with trash.
It is very annoying to play against someone who frequently puts in a big raise on button when I’m in the blind. I posted about that in the shorthanded forum.

And there are some opponents whose blinds you don’t want to raise without a premium holding because they will call with any two, and if they get a piece of the flop, they will call you down on all streets (which is obviously good when you have a real hand).

I’m sure there are more to be said about this but this. There was a thread about blind stealing at 2+2 some weeks ago. I’ll put the link to it in “the reading list” section when I find it.

The blinds aren't worth fighting over in that game... the time for stealing in my book starts at 2/4. Stealing a few of those is worth the effort especially if there is a weak limper in tow, In the smaller games I'm not thinking about many bets that aren't trying to get the whole stack in the middle and am playing accordingly to do so, . The stack adds to your hourly rate the blinds are less than a good bar of chocolate.

That said:
Stealing from the cut off or two off the button when opening is more credible that stealing from the button and stealing from the small blind is tough unless the opponent is particularly weak about protecting his blind. Raise it up your normal raise for opening, Minimum raising (fish raising) is asking for trouble and not defining your hand as strong but as Axs KQ AT AJ, and a lot of hands will take a shot at those and might even decide to break the set it or forget it rule with 22-55 if they think you missed, Any thing that I play for a limp I will play for a minimum raise and from the big blind I will often call with less than I would limp with in a no limit game. If they let my 58o in for that cheap and the flop comes T85 467 or 885 it is their own fault for not really stealing.

Often in 1/2 and below I let my blind get robbed with no concern. If losing the blind is bothering me I don't have enough money on the table. However minimum raises I break my just let it slide rule. Think about tournament play, early in the game are you thinking about scooping that whooping $30 or waiting until there is enough worth playing for before raising it up in late? The same principle applies to low stakes, but the blinds are never going up in the cash game.

Here's my default strategy for blind stealing if it helps ya. When I say default I mean the strategy I use against opponents I know very little about. When you are playing you should make watching the players on your left and right (and to a lesser degree 2 too your right and left) a priority as these are the players you will be trying to steal blinds from. You need to notice if someone is a calling station. If they are a calilng station than you steal their blinds less often.

I hardly ever steal from the button, but will always raise with a "real" hand. On the button a real hand is any ace, any pair, any 2 big cards. I generally dont push suited connectors on the button. As I get further away from the button the range of hands I will try a steal with increases. One off the button and I'll raise with suited connectors 8 or higher. 2 off the button and I experiment with raising with anything if I think the opponents will give it up. As you said, everybody knows that a button raise is probably a steal so that is why I dont doo it too often. I will always raise a premium hand on the button, hoping to get played back at and really build the pot when I am ahead.

Also, if I miss or hit the flop I will follow up against on opponent almost 100% of the time and then give up on the turn. Your follow up bet needs to be pot-sized so you can really define your opponents hand if he calls. I see too many people doing a follow up bet a tenth the size of the pot and getting called by back-door draws making it impossible to put your opponent on a hand.

I almost never raise from the small blind unless I have a premium hand. You are going to be out of position for the entire hand so I prefer to raise with the good ones and limp with hands as good as KQ or small pairs. I do this to decrease my variance, not wanting to get involved in a big pot with 910 when all I had invested in the pot was the small blind.

good luck!

Dude

OK. Say you're on the button, everybody folds to you, and you have, say, [8s]. This is a pretty good hand but it does best multi-way. The advice I'm being given is not to raise with it. But I don't think I would want to limp with it either, would I? You hardly want to play that kind of hand heads-up very often. So should you just fold it? Good hand, good position, but can't play it -- how frustrating.

There is only one reason to min raise. That is to masquerade as a bad player.

The same usually goes for pushing all-in pre-flop.