Stack Sizes
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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. |
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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. |
