Stack Size is Important

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Stack Size Introduction
As you should already be aware, the size of your stack at any given time will play a vital role in your decision making in poker. If affects what type of plays you can make, if you should call a bet on a draw and also has various psychological effects on your opponent. Whether you have actively thought about the importance of the size of chip stacks or not, it is likely that you have made decisions based on this principle.

Stack Size in Tournaments
The first thing we want to take you through is the importance of chip stacks in tournaments. The decisions you make in these will be different to that of cash games because people can just rebuy with more money. One of the fundamental things you have to learn in tournaments is to be aware of the chip stacks around you.

If you have an average amount of chips you don’t want to get caught up with short stack all in or being caught out against a big stack. It is common sense that if you are playing a big stack that you don’t try and make a move on them because they are much more likely to call you down than another player at the table with more chips.

If you are a short stack you should be aware that your game strategy should change dramatically. If you only have 40 big blinds or less you should be looking to pick spots to shove your chips in the middle. Your play becomes limited because you can’t afford to lose a pot. I can’t reiterate that point enough. You can’t afford to lose a pot. This pretty much means if you are involved in a pot you don’t want to fold to a bet. Get your chips in the middle in the best spot that you can so you can double up. Don’t continue to let your chips dwindle away by calling and then folding on a flop. Play strong and go for glory.

When you are a big stack, as you may or may not have noticed, people become far too liberal and end up throwing their chips away. The thing to remember when you are a big stack is that you don’t have to be involved in every pot, but you can still pick your spots to use your stack as a weapon. The thing to remember when you are a big stack is that it is the players with an average to better than average stack that will hurt you. Don’t be too concerned over the other big stack(s) because they are easy to avoid and they will be trying to steer clear of you as well. The middle stacks are where the damage can be done. If you double a couple of these guys up it can bring you spiralling back towards the rest of the field. These players will also target you when they have strong hands as well because they know you have the chips to play with and can pay them off.

On the other hand you can use your chip stack to your advantage. You can get players off their draws by over betting and making it impossible for them to call you without the odds severely stacked against them. They can also give up their chips when they simply ‘don’t believe’ you because you are the big stack. Depending on your table image and the types of players you are against you can continue to get paid off and take lots of pots down if you play sensibly. Bet aggressively but try not to overplay mediocre hands.

Stack Size in Cash Games
The last thing we want to take you through is the importance of stack sizes in cash games. This is where you really begin to use your stack as a weapon. By observing the types of players around you and their stack sizes you can have massive sessions and win copious amounts of money. If you have a big stack you can get the tighter players off their hands. The ones that think about the money and not the hand are the ones that you can exploit. If they don’t have the nuts or close to it you can take advantage of them by putting them in doubt. On almost all occasions they will give up the hand, allowing you to take down the pot.

If the player you are against is pretty loose and is likely to call you down, this is where the big money comes in. You can play ultra aggressive and over bet the pot to be paid off. You might take some beats by doing this, but the money you will make from people missing their draws will far outweigh this.

When you are a short to medium stack in cash games the principles are relatively similar to that of tournaments. If you are a short stack you should be looking to pick a spot and take pots down or double up. You cannot afford to lose a pot so get your money in good and hope for the best. If you have an average stack you should be playing your natural game. Take into account the table dynamics around you. Think about the stack sizes and how they are playing. Use this information to your advantage to make the best decisions.

General Guideline
When we talk about the stack sizes being short, average or big we are referring to the amount of big blinds that that player has. Below we have listed a general guideline for judging the category your chip stack comes into:

Small: 40 Big Blinds or less
Medium: 41 – 100 Big Blinds
Big: 101 - 200 Big Blinds or more
Deep: 201+ Big Blinds

Summary
In summary, you really have to take into account the table dynamics. The stack sizes will heavily influence the way people play and you have to take this into consideration when you are making your own decisions. Not only that, your own stack size will be a major component in your decision making process. Observe the players and their chip stacks around you to get the best possible information. This information will prove vital to your success as a poker player. If you want to extend on this concept and develop your understanding we highly recommend the book ‘Kill Everyone’ written by Lee ‘Final Table’ Nelson. This book is outstanding in quality and well worth the money.

Tags: How To Play Poker, Stack Size

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Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under How to Play Poker

Omaha High-Low Advice

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I can’t tell you how many times I have been playing in a juicy game of Omaha High-Low and after the pot gets pushed to someone (hopefully me), another player who was in the hand starts complaining. “What the hell? I had a flush! There’s a bug in the software! This site is rigged!”

Of course, that person either didn’t know or forgot that in Omaha High-Low you can only use two hole cards; he probably had three of a suit and two more hit the board. The moral of the story: remember the rules of the game. I have played Omaha High-Low for years and still make that mistake once every few months.

Also, and this is something I also have happen to me every so often, make sure you know if your table is a High-Low table or a regular Omaha table. I once went two orbits on a regular Omaha table, actually winning a couple pots, all the while trying to hit low hands. I got lucky in that session; it is a terrible feeling to think you just hit the nut low only to see the entire pot shipped across the table.

Look for the Big Score
One the biggest leaks I have seen in the Omaha High-Low game of both beginning and intermediate players is the obsession with playing for the low hand. It is understandable why people play this way, though. It is very easy to identify a nut low draw if you have it and there are many more ways to make that nut low than there are to make the nut high hand. After all, if you start with A-2, you just need three unpaired low cards 3 through 8 to show themselves. If you have K-Q, however, you will need specific three-card combinations involving 9, T, J, and A to make your straight.

The problem with focusing too much on the low hand is that you tend to ignore the high hand. Winning half the pot is not going to make you money in the long run. Typically, all you will do is break about even in the hand. Sure, there may be some dead money in the pot, but in a cash game, the rake will offset some of it. Rarely will you make a good profit on a hand if you only take half of the chips. Your goal should be to scoop the entire pot, grabbing the chips of everyone who was going for a high hand, a low hand, or both.

And you won’t always be guaranteed to win half the pot if you hit the low hand. Because most players will see a flop as long as they have A-2 in the hole, there is a reasonable chance that you will chop the low with somebody else. If several players see a flop, expect another A-2 to show up.

What you want to do is play hands that have a chance to be both the winning high and low hands. Of course, starting hands that contain A-2 are good. But you want to combine those two cards with others that could help you with a high hand. Pairs, suited Aces, high or low connectors, all can be solid holdings. A-A-2-3 with the Aces sharing the suits of the other two cards is the best starting hand, as it gives you two nut flush possibilities, a pair of Aces, multiple nut-low options, and three connectors. Something like A-2-Q-Q is pretty good, as is A-2-K-Q. “Suitedness” makes these starting hands even better. If I can match the Ace’s suit to another card in my hand, I’m more than happy to play A-3 if the other two cards give me something with which to work.

And don’t forget about playing a “high only” hand, like K-K-Q-J. There is always a high hand possible, but if the board does not offer three unpaired low cards, nobody is going to win the low half of the pot. Thus, if you can make yourself a great high hand, you will have a decent shot at scooping the pot.

All Hands are Vulnerable
Omaha High-Low is a game of draws. As such, even the best starting hands are extremely vulnerable. Because everyone starts with four cards, the nuts (both high and low) are constantly in a state of flux. Pocket Aces have a great chance to make it all the way to showdown as the best hand in a game of Texas Hold’em, but in an Omaha Hold’em contest, I never feel over-confident, even with A-A-2-3 double-suited. Even if you flop a set, two pair, or a good draw, someone else likely has a good draw of their own.

Limping is OK
Continuing on the last paragraph, because you shouldn’t get married to your hole cards as much as you might in Texas Hold’em, you don’t want to be committing all of your chips pre-flop too often. Way too much can change from the flop to the turn to river. It is so easy to get counterfeited or drawn out on because of the multitude of hand options four starting cards can bring. Thus, I like to see the flop as cheaply as possible. I will raise pre-flop on occasion, but not nearly as much as I will in Texas Hold’em. Plus, in intermediate and beginner games, players love to play any four cards, so raises won’t necessarily thin the herd and reduce the number of draws that opponents will hold.

After the flop is when I’ll start tossing chips around, as even though the turn and river can still wreak havoc in Omaha High-Low, my hand will still be much better defined than it is pre-flop. Now is the time I want to make people pay to try to draw out on me.

Don’t Get Fancy
One thing I have learned from playing at the lower stakes in Omaha High-Low is that someone almost always has the nuts. If I’m not the one with it, someone else has it. It is for this reason that I tend to be a “nut peddler.” People play such a wide variety of starting hands in Omaha High-Low that even some of the most unlikely of holdings tend to present themselves at showdown. That’s not to say that I will never bet, call, or raise without the nuts, but I try not to go too crazy unless I know I have the best hand.

Tags: How To Play Poker, Omaha High, Omaha Low

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Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under How to Play Poker

Official Poker Hand Rankings

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The following is a list of 5-card poker hands, from the worst to the absolute best. This list assumes no jokers or wild cards are being used.

	Any hand not in the below-mentioned hands. Our example shows the best possible high-card hand.
	Any two cards of the same rank. Our example shows the best possible one-pair hand.
	Any two cards of the same rank together with another two cards of the same rank. Our example shows the best possible two-pair, Aces and Kings. The highest pair of the two determines the rank of the two-pair.
	Any three cards of the same rank. Our example shows three-of-a-kind Aces, with a King and a Queen as side cards - the best possible three of a kind.
	Any five consecutive cards of different suits. Aces can count as either a high or a low card. Our example shows a five-high straight, which is the lowest possible straight.
	Any five cards of the same suit (not consecutive). The highest card of the five determines the rank of the flush. Our example shows an Ace-high flush, which is the highest possible.
	Any three cards of the same rank together with any two cards of the same rank. Our example shows “Aces full of Kings” and it is a bigger full house than “Kings full of Aces.”
	Any four cards of the same rank. If two players share the same Four of a Kind, the bigger fifth card (known as the kicker) decides who wins the pot.
	Any straight with all five cards of the same suit.
	A straight from a ten to an ace with all five cards of the same suit. In poker, no suit is ranked higher than another and pots are split between equally strong hands.