- What Is Deep Stack Poker
- Deep Stack Poker Strategy Cash Game
- Deep Stack Poker Strategy
- Deep Stack Poker Tournament
- Deep Stack Poker
Playing with deep stacks in a cash game can sometimes lead to big mistakes.
Most often in small stakes cash games — for example, playing online poker at $0.50/$1.00 (100NL) — these mistakes spring from a misunderstanding of one’s own range. In other words, problems arise from a player not being aware from the preceding action what constitutes the top of one's range, what’s on the bottom, and what’s in the middle.
The poker world has fallen passionately in love with deep stacks. As players have become more educated they have demanded deeper stacks in both tournaments and cash games. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that playing deep-stacked is more complex and allows the skill edge between players to become more evident.
What follows is a hand of six-handed 100NL illustrating this very point, one precipitating a great deal of elation and loss from the two players involved.
What is your range?
The player under the gun did the initial raising to $3. The button was the three-bettor, making it $11 to go. Both were deep, with effective stacks of $340 (or 340 big blinds). The UTG player called and the flop came .
The action was pretty standard on the flop — a check, a $12 bet from the button, and a call.
The turn was the . Check again, a bet to $30, then a check-raise to $94.
At this point both players could have the nuts, but the button — the player who has been barreling — should have more straights than the player under the gun. After all the button can three-bet with -offsuit sometimes and -offsuit sometimes, as well as with all eight of the suited combinations of both hands.
But UTG never brings it in with offsuit hands such as those, nor does the UTG player always call a three-bet out of position with those hands. (UTG might four-bet -suited occasionally, and might fold -suited, too.)
These straights, or a set, are what the turn check-raise is representing. After a call there would still be 223 big blinds behind (effectively), so the button has some leeway to call and use position on the river. Unless the button has a very specific read on UTG's tendencies in this type of situation, the button should have no turn three-betting range — just a range to call and one to fold.
Choose to continue wisely
There are two types of hands that the button should continue with in this situation for certain: hands that are nutted, and hands that can improve. We discussed the first category above. The obvious choice for the latter group would be flush draws, especially but not limited to the nut-flush draw or a flush draw that includes the or .
A hand like pocket aces does not find itself in either category. If it improves to a straight it will be a bad straight to have. The ability to block a wheel in this exact situation isn’t that helpful, either, since it also blocks potential bluffs like , , , and . And if the button holds the ace of diamonds, he blocks the key bluffing hand of under the gun — the nut-flush draw.
The third category, non-nutted hands that can’t improve, should continue with a high degree of trepidation and retain the option to fold right now, in particular if the button doesn’t expect bluffs to come or expects under the gun always to fire all in on the river (and is unwilling to call with these hands).
One benefit of calling with one’s strongest hands is to be able to call and then fold later with mediocre hands or hands that could have improved to the nuts but did not on some assortment of runouts.
A brick is a brick is a brick?
The button did call the turn check-raise, and the river was the , making the final board . The UTG player went all in for the aforementioned $223. The button called with .
Such a call was a big mistake regardless of results.
As discussed, the button can have many straights in this situation. If he is going to call down with some pocket aces, the half without the ace of diamonds make the most sense by a large margin.
The difference between your opponent potentially bluffing eight combinations of nut-flush draws here or not being able to hold any of those eight combinations is very large in this situation. Every combination counts in deep-stacked pots that result in an all-in bet, so nine potential bluff combinations (, , , , , , , , and ) is incalculable.
The result though, was very predictable. Under the gun turned up with a strong value hand. One of the strongest in fact — for a turned set and a rivered full house.
Actually, on the flop UTG has a pretty clear check-fold. But on the turn, if button is going to lose his whole stack with aces, the preflop call with eights seems justified.
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cash game strategyonline poker100NLdeep-stacked strategypositionpreflop strategypostflop strategyrange readingpremium handspocket pairsoverpairsset miningno-limit hold’em
If you're a cash game player, then Deepstacks are your ticket to the tournament high life. The deeper starting chip stacks and longer blind levels match cash table play very well. Cash game players usually play with around 100 big blinds, and tournaments usually involve playing with an average of 20 – 50 big blinds. Deepstack Tournaments are somewhat of a mix of cash and tournament poker, allowing for more ways to play.
The big differences in Deepstack tournaments are: (1) players start with a much higher number of chips than usual (typically 5000+), and (2) the blinds go up much slower than normal (15+ minutes). This allows for slower, more deep stack play during the game.
Why Play Deepstack Tournaments at 888poker?
What Is Deep Stack Poker
PROS:
- Less luck and variance with this tournament type because players are more deep-stacked throughout each level of the tournament.
- This is the perfect tournament type for cash game players as play is very similar to what they’re normally used to. You get to use your chips with a lot more aggression.
- If you're looking for a place to try out new plays and develop your poker skills, then this is it. More than enough time to spin that check-raise-all-in bluff!
CONS:
- As the blind levels are quite lengthy, these tournaments take a lot longer to play than other tournaments.
- These tournaments usually need more skill to win, making it very difficult outlast some of the better (and luckier) players.
Deep Stack Poker Strategy Cash Game
Is this Tournament Type for You?
If you usually play cash games, this tournament type is your cup of tea! You’ll be used to the deep-stack play. If you end up doing well in a deep-stack Multi-Table Tournaments (MTT), your payout will be much better than in a typical cash game grind.
If you find that you have a good amount of poker skill and knowledge, Deepstack Tournaments will work in your favour, too. Better post-flop play is needed to come put on top. Chip stacks are deeper, making it easier to mix up your play and really get to know your opponents' weaknesses.
Deep Stack Poker Strategy
If your goal is to get better at poker with the added bonus of a bigger payout from an MTT, add some of these tournaments to your schedule. Just be certain that you have the time and the focus for these extra-long tournaments.
Deepstack Tournament Strategy Tips:
Deep Stack Poker Tournament
Deep Stack Poker
- Be Patient: With slow blind levels and deeper starting stacks, you can afford wait for good hands. You don't have to play like a nit – but try to be a bit picky about your hands.
- Exploit The Nits: Steal their blinds, pressure them to fold their weaker hands. On the flip side, you should fold your borderline hands when they bet strong, or stop betting if they keep calling you.
- Be Aware of the Short Stacks: While most players will be deep-stacked, keep an eye on those players who might go all-in at the drop of a hat. You might be able to pick them off!
- Be Creative: Having so many chips will allow you to make more “interesting” plays on the flop, turn, and river! Use your poker wits and imagination to outsmart the more experienced players.
- Don’t Run Big Bluffs: Deep-stacked play generally means chips change hands in small amounts. It can be dangerous to lose a big portion of your stack by bluffing, and almost impossible to get them back. So be stingy when putting them into the pot.
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