fundoopoker.com

28/09/2011

Stack sizes play an important role in making decisions in both tournaments and no-limit cash games. The size of a player's stack tells you what kind of actions you can expect that player to make, how much money you can win from that player and how much that other player can hurt you.

From there, stack sizes can be used to help decide what types of hands you should play before the flop and how you should play those hands after the flop. In every decision you make, stack sizes should be considered. Rarely are there times when stack sizes have no bearing on the play of a poker hand.

Stacks Sizes and Implied Odds

The easiest way to explain implied odds is to use an example. Let's say you have a flush draw in a $100 pot and your opponent bets $100. According to poker mathematics, you do not have the correct pot odds to call that bet and chase your draw.

However, you can sometimes justify making that call anyways if the implied odds are there. For example, let's say you and your opponent both have $2,000 stacks and you know that your opponent will pay off big time if you catch your flush. In that case, the implied odds would tell you to make the call.

Implied odds can also be used to help you decide whether or not to play certain hands. Small drawing hands such as pocket pairs can be played against players who have deep stacks, but not against short stacked players. The reason is that the big stacked player offers the possibility of you winning a big pot. Against the short stacked player, your potential winnings are limited and it is therefore not profitable to play small drawing hands.

In the next section we will discuss stack sizes separately for cash games and tournaments. Within each section, we will discuss playing against three different stack sizes. We cannot cover every possible scenario, but we will give you a few things to think about when it comes to stack sizes in poker.

Playing Against Various Stack Sizes

One of the first things you learn as a tournament or cash game player is to make note of the stack sizes as the table. Many of your decisions are based on stack sizes. For example, many tournament strategy articles will tell you to avoid tangling with big stacks unless you have the nuts. Why? Because a big stack can end the tournament for you and he knows it.

Small Stacks (20 big blinds or less)

When it comes to poker tournaments, small stacks are both good and bad to play against. The good thing about small stacks is that they cannot knock you out of the tournament. The bad news is that they can still hurt you and they can be quite unpredictable. Players with small stacks know that they need to make a move quick, and that move is usually an all-in play of some sort.

Small stacks are bad targets for blind stealing. These players know they are in trouble and will get it all-in with a wide range of hands. On the other hand, small stacks are good for calling. If a small stack goes all-in and you have a decent hand, you may want to consider calling. This is especially true near the end of a tournament in which you move up in the prize pool every time a player is knocked out.

In cash games, small stacks are annoying because they like to make a bunch of awkward all-in moves into small pots. It is difficult to play an optimal game against other normal stack players when small stacks are randomly throwing themselves all-in into small pots. The best strategy against small stacks is to play a tight, straightforward game. Look for big card hands and bet those hands hard.

Medium Stacks (20-80 big blinds)

Medium stacks are the best targets for blind stealing late in a tournament. These players are not yet desperate enough to make random all-in moves, but they know they have to be careful not to bleed chips. Most medium stack players are comfortable where they are, and therefore more predictable.

Medium stacks usually pretty easy to play against in cash games. These players usually try to play a normal poker game but just with fewer chips. They are often poor players who are either scared to buy in for the full amount or have almost run out of money.

The implied odds are not there with medium stacks so you have to play a fairly straightforward game with them as well. Look for strong hands, big cards and easy value bets. Bluffing often works well against these players because they know they do not have enough chips to waste on hunches.

Big Stacks (80 big blinds or more)

Big stacks are both good and bad to have at the table. The bad thing about big stacks is that they are not scared of you and can easily put a lot of pressure on you and make it difficult to accumulate chips. The good thing about big stacks is that they have a lot of chips for the taking.

If you have a big stack, you have to be careful when messing with other big stacks. These players can easily destroy your chances in a tournament or make you take a big loss in a cash game. The key to playing profitably against big stacks is to be cautious but not overly tight. You do not want to get all-in with them lightly, but you also do not want to become predictable.

One tactic I like to use against big stacks is to make it look like I'm going to war against them without actually going to war. There are times when you can place bets that threaten an all-in situation but do not commit you to it. For example, a large (but not all-in) raise on the turn makes it look like you are ready to go to war.

You don't actually have to commit unless you have the true nuts. Pull a few big moves off every once in a while and you just might make the big stack slip up. With a little bit of luck, the big stack will tire of your antics and try to make a stand the one time you actually do have a monster.