When playing no limit poker, the stack size of every player at the table is critical. Let’s explore a few examples of how these decisions are affected by stack size. Hopefully, after identifying these situations, you will see the value in noting your opponents stack sizes.
This hand will demonstrate why chip stacks affect correct play. You’re playing $1/$2 NL holdem. No one has played and it’s your turn from the small blind. You have $500 and 4,4. The big blind has a small stack of $25 so an all in play is fine. This will be a winning play in the long run.
Let’s say the big blind has $500. Now, the all in play doesn’t look so good. You will win the $3 a lot, but will get crushed when you are called. You don’t make enough $3 hands to cover the $500 loss when it happens.
Let’s look at it in an exaggerated way. How about having $100,000 all in for the $3. Your opponent calls with AA and nothing else, only a 1/220 chance. So in 220 tries you win three dollars 219 times. When AA hits he wins 80% and you win 20%. So on average you lose over $79,000 for every 220 tries.
If your opponent played the same way with his $25 you’d be very profitable. Even if you never won when you were called, you get $657 for every $26 that you lose.
Now, you get 3,3 and have a $500 stack. The game is still $1/$2 and you just call. THe big blind chooses to raise to $10. His stack makes all the difference in what you will do.
With a $15 stack you could do any of the three choices. It would depend on your read of this opponent. Now, when his stack is $40 this becomes an easy fold.
You will make a set one in eight times and will only make at most five times the amount of the call. If he has $500, you can call for sure, or even raise if you want to represent a stronger hand. There are enough chips to win when you hit the flop to make calling profitable. Reraising will further scare your opponent.
When you have hands like 6,7 suited, you want to be playing with “deep stacks”. This means everyone has a lot of chips. You can call raises because you will get “paid” when you hit with this type of hand. With small stacks, you can’t make enough money to make up for all of the losses you will incur.
The big pocket pairs can cost you a lot of money if the stacks are big. These hands are hard to get rid of. When people hit their hands, you can pay heavily if you can’t let them go.
When stacks are short, you can play these hands all the way. You won’t be risking a huge chipstack with just a pair. Often the preflop bets will get you all in or to a point where you can push after the flop. So, this is an easier situation for playing with big pairs.
These are some simple cases that show the basic reasons why stack size is so important in no limit holdem. With everyone having a different stack size, it can get very complicated deciding what to do. You always need to do your best, as hands play out, to determine how every players chip stack will affect future play.