Stack Sizes

One way to speed up your development as a poker player is by observing your opponents.  One observation that is quick and easy to make is checking out the size of your opponents chip stack. Some generalizations that can be made about the size of a players chip stack are that weaker players have smaller chip stacks.  That is because weaker players lose a lot of hands.  That is why they are weak poker players! Good players have larger chip stacks.  They tend to win more hands and win more money.  That is why they are good poker players! Poor poker players tend to play way to many hands.  They also tend to play at limits that are too high for their bankroll or their skill level.  That is a recipe for disaster and sure enough this contributes to their losing money. Good players will play better hands and put themselves in a good position to win more chips. Now the size of a players chip stack isn't always correct in determining whether they are a good or poor poker player.  That is because good players do go on losing streaks and even bad players can get a bit of luck and go on a winning streak.  But it is usually a pretty good indicator of skill level.

The size of your opponents chip stack when you first sit down at the table will be the first bit of information that you gather about them.  This is only one piece of the puzzle but an important one.  As the game goes on you will look to pick up other information on the players at the table.

You will often find that a player with a small chip stack is a player that plays a lot of hands, which is probably why his stack is so low or a player that just moved up from a lower limit game.  This player probably is playing very tight since he is scared of losing a lot of money.  With either type of player, you can use this information to your advantage.  Play aggressively against the scared player and don't try to bluff the loose player.

But when this type of players stack becomes so low that they will go broke with just a few more bets they usually tighten up and are hoping for a huge hand. This is the perfect time to be aggressive against them pre-flop and post flop.  You can also have good success stealing blinds on them.

On the flop, try to be the aggressor and then back off if your opponent either bets first or raises.  Since your opponent is playing for their poker life they are probably not bluffing and most likely have a good hand. Playing aggressively is usually very profitable against opponents with small stacks and since there is not much risk to you, you can back off if your opponent shows any signs of strength.

For you to play effectively, you need to play with a chip stack large enough to play your hands.  The last thing that you ever want to happen is to run out of chips when you have a monster hand and can not bet or raise your opponents.  If you are faced with a small chip stack you should buy more chips to add to it or move down a level or two in blinds until you can build your chip stack back up.

You want to make sure that at the very least your chip stack is at least 10 times the big bet although I really think it needs to be higher.  I think it should be 30 times the big bet.  That would mean if you are playing in a $5-$10 game of hold 'em, you need at least $100 in your stack before any given hand.  And that is at the bare minimum of what I recommend.  Ideally, it should be about $300. This way if I feel I have the best hand and am up against an opponent who keeps raising and re-raising me I can play the hand how I want to and not worry about running out of chips.

Remember, the size of your opponents chip stack can reveal a lot about them.  Use that along with other observations such as what hands they like to play and how they like to play them and you can use this information against them very effectively.