Stack sizes in online poker (no CT or Cheating!)

(Warning: No Conspiracy Theory or Cheating content here) /images/smile.gif


What is the general opinion on stack sizes? If you sit at a 10/20 table, and there are 3 players with smallish (100 to 300) sized stacks, are they tight players who just happen to be losing, and more likely to play tighter? Or weak players who don't replenish their stack?


I've seen players with $100 at a 10/20 table get it up to $500, etc... And also bust out. When they tend to enter a pot, they tend to go all the way. That's advantageous, but then again, they usually wait for a "good" hand to do this with. I've also noticed sometimes they tend to just play too many hands. Of course the 2nd thing is better. /images/smile.gif


What is the general opinion on short stacks? Why don't they replenish? What about at the low limits? Say .50/1... what does having a short stack say about the player?


Should you steal against a short stack? There are obvious ones like when a short stack with say 2 BB left just posts his BB, I normally don't steal without an A.


- Tony


BTW, I saw one relative short stack with around $300 at 10/20 go bust, then buy in again for $197.... probably the rest of her bankroll, since I don't think she was at any other 10/20 table. So that would explain why she didn't buyin for more.

I consider stack size important. I have seen more players step up and get more aggressive with a short stack, maybe trying to buy a couple of pots to get back in the game. A savvy player should be able to take advantage of this. sometimes I see players get reckless and you end up giving the short player a couple free cards by being all in. As far as the tight players, I'm sure many of them fear having to reload, for whatever reason. The "I'm only going to lose this much" and to try and get back what they just lost on a short stack is an act of desperation. I try to keep an ample stack to start with, I think this important for a little respect at the table.


G.


Thanx for a good topic. I do enjoy discussing things that have a chance of making me a better poker player.

I mainly play stud so i'm not keen on the short stack players. They can get in on any sort of draw, and take the pot of you, without having to pay every street to draw. Personally i take between 50 and 100 big bets to the table, usually because thats an easy amount to keep track of, and you can get full value for your hands, except of course against the short stacks.

I see players at the 1/2 level sit with $10, bust out, then sit with another $10 and repeat. This always indicates that they are a very weak, loose player. I don't know what it would mean at the higher limits though. I think often it would just mean that's all the money they had in the tank.


Chris

I've noticed that at Hollywood Park too. Players would sit with $50, lose it all, buy in for another $20, this is at the $3-$6 tables... And yes those are always the weak players. Hoping to hit a run of good cards or win a few hands and get up to $100... gambling, basically.


Another thing, does anyone buyin for say, the default amount, or some round number, like $100? Or does anyone else do what I do, and buy in for say, $39 (at the .50/1 table). This way opponents can't tell if you're "up" or "down".


A lot of times, I'd see players at the .50/1 tables with $96, or $111... It's very likely they bought in with $100, and I can tell how they are doing... Of course, they could have bought in for $50 and ran it up to $96...


- Tony

(Here I mean "odd" as in "unusual", not "odd" as in "opposite of even." It's a pet peeve of mine, so I have to specify. If I hear one more dealer at a cashout say "Toss me another nickle and we can make it $75 even", I'll snap.)


Basically, I always want to look like I have my life savings in front of me when I play, which means I have to pick an amount appropriate for the game - guys who buy in for $1,073 in a $1/$2 Omaha game may be giving something away, and yes I did encounter that, along with another guy with a shade over $900..


It costs no real amount of time and it's a decent little smokescreen, no?


M.