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.

Here is a very simple example of where stack size affects a decision. The game is NL $1/$2. You are in the small blind and everyone has folded. You have $500 and your hand is 44. If the big blind has only $25 in his stack, you could just push all in. You could even bet $8 or $10 planning to play to the end. This would surely be profitable.

Let’s see what happens if we change the big blinds stack to $500. Pushing all in wouldn’t be such a good idea. Even though you would win the blinds often, getting called spells disaster. You will normally lose $500 trying to steal $3.

How about this. Would you put $100k in there for the $3. If the only hand that calls you is A,A (1/220 times), this is what happens. You win three dollars 219 times and then, bam, you go broke.

Having an opponent that only calls with A,A would be nice for your bankroll if you go all in every time. You’d win $657 because he will fold 219 times. Then when he has AA, he would win $26. This makes you extremely profitable.

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.

Against his $15 chip stack you could argue for any option. So, now you go by what you know of this players game, to determine a move. With $40 you can fold pretty easily.

WIth this hand, you need to get that 3rd three to be confident to win and that is only a one out of eight times event. And, you are only going to make five times the $8 if you had called. Given a $500 stack, you can easily call and when you hit your hand, you might make way more than the 8 times you need to for long term profits.

Holding 6,7 suited is a good hand when the table is full of chips. You can make big bucks when this type of hand hits. When everyone is short stacked this hand just can’t get paid enough on the few times it actually hits.

With A,A or K,K you will find yourself in some difficult situations when players have lots of cash. It’s very hard to know if these pairs are still good, so you will find yourself paying off people who hit the flop.

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.

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.