Short and deep stacks in live cash games: how stack depth changes your play
The same hand can be a clear call with deep stacks and a clear fold with short ones. In live £1/£2 and £2/£5 games stacks vary far more than online: one player buys in short, another has run a stack up to three or four times the buy-in. This lesson explains how to measure stack depth, what changes when stacks are short or deep, and which hands gain or lose value as the stacks change.
Measure the stacks first
Stack depth is measured in big blinds, not pounds. At £1/£2 a £200 stack is 100 big blinds; at £2/£5 the same £200 is only 40.
What matters is the effective stack: the smaller of your stack and your opponent’s. If you have £400 and the only other player in the hand has £100, you can win or lose at most £100, so the hand plays as a 50 big blind hand at £1/£2. In a multiway pot, work it out against each opponent separately.
This lesson uses three rough bands:
- Short: 40 big blinds or fewer.
- Middle: more than 40 and up to 150 big blinds. A full 100 big blind buy-in sits here, and most strategy advice assumes it.
- Deep: more than 150 big blinds.
The bands are a guide, not a rule. What really changes your decisions is how much is left behind compared with the pot, which the next two sections measure.
Try it: how deep is this hand?
Enter the blinds, the effective stack and the raise you are calling. See the depth in big blinds, the set-mining multiple and the stack-to-pot ratio on the flop.
Pot on the flop £19, with £192 behind. Set-mining rule of thumb: at least 15 to 20 times the call.
Assumes both blinds fold, every player who sees the flop has called the same raise, and no rake. Bands: short is 40 big blinds or fewer, deep is more than 150.
Two numbers that change with depth
The set-mining multiple. When you call a raise with a small pair, mainly to flop three of a kind, you flop a set or better 11.8% of the time, odds of about 7.5 to 1 against. The straddle lesson uses a rule of thumb of at least 15 to 20 times the call in the stack behind, because you will not always win a stack when you hit.
The stack-to-pot ratio (SPR). This is the stack left behind divided by the pot on the flop. With an SPR around 4 or less, top pair with a good kicker is often worth all the chips. With an SPR around 10 or more, getting all the money in takes several big bets, and an opponent who puts that much in usually has two pair or better.
At £1/£2, calling an £8 open heads-up with both blinds folded, the pot on the flop is £19:
| Effective stack | Big blinds | Band | Behind after calling | Set-mining multiple | SPR on the flop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £60 | 30 | Short | £52 | 6.5 | 2.7 |
| £120 | 60 | Middle | £112 | 14.0 | 5.9 |
| £200 | 100 | Middle | £192 | 24.0 | 10.1 |
| £400 | 200 | Deep | £392 | 49.0 | 20.6 |
| £600 | 300 | Deep | £592 | 74.0 | 31.2 |
With 30 big blinds the set-mining call is below even the bare 7.5 to 1, and top pair will usually go all in. With 300 big blinds a small pair has more than enough room, and one pair is rarely worth the whole stack.
Playing a short stack
With 40 big blinds or fewer, the game gets simpler. There is little room to bet three streets, so most hands are decided by the first or second bet.
- Favour high cards and pairs. Hands such as ace-queen, ace-jack suited and king-queen make top pair with a good kicker, which is often worth all the chips at a low SPR.
- Drop most speculative hands. Small pairs, suited connectors and weak suited aces need deep stacks to pay off, as the opening ranges lesson says.
- Raise or fold rather than call. Calling an open leaves you out of position with too little behind to use it. A re-raise all in puts the pressure on the opener instead.
The re-raise all in is mostly a value play. At £1/£2 with £60, if a player opens to £8 and you move all in on the button, a pure bluff must win the pot at once 84.5% of the time: you risk £60 to win the £11 already in. The opener calls £52 more into a final pot of £123, so needs only 42.3% equity. Expect to be called by many hands, and choose hands that do well when called.
Playing deep
With more than 150 big blinds, each mistake costs more and each strong hand can win more.
- Speculative hands gain value. Small pairs, suited connectors and suited aces can make sets, straights and flushes, the hands that win the biggest pots. With 200 big blinds the set-mining multiple from the table is 49.
- Offsuit high cards lose value. Hands such as king-jack and queen-ten offsuit often make top pair with a weak kicker, a hand that wins small pots and loses big ones when the stacks are deep.
- Position matters more. Acting last on every street is worth more when there are more streets of big bets left to play.
- 3-bet pots stay deep. In the 3-betting lesson, a 3-bet to £24 against an £8 open leaves an SPR of 3.5 with £200 stacks. With £400 stacks the same pot of £51 has £376 behind, an SPR of about 7.4, and calling £16 to set-mine gives 23.5 times the call instead of 11.
Deep stacks also make the swings bigger, because more money goes in when hands clash. Keep the buy-in inside your bankroll; the bankroll by stake guide sets out the numbers.
When the stacks differ
In live games you will often play against stacks much shorter or much deeper than yours.
- Against a short stack, remember that the effective stack is theirs. Raising a speculative hand into a player with 25 big blinds wins little when you hit. A short stack who moves all in is often strong or committed, so call with hands that are ahead of their range, not just with any hand that has the price.
- Against a deep stack when you are deep too, pots can grow far beyond a normal buy-in. Be slower to put the whole stack in with one pair.
- With several players in the pot, check each stack. A short stack all in and a deep stack still to act make a very different hand from a heads-up pot.
Common mistakes
- Measuring stacks in pounds rather than big blinds, so a £200 stack at £2/£5 is treated like 100 big blinds.
- Using your own stack instead of the effective stack.
- Set-mining with short stacks, where a set cannot win enough to pay for the misses.
- Playing king-jack and queen-ten offsuit for big pots when the stacks are deep.
- Calling opens with a short stack instead of raising or folding.
- Buying in deeper than your bankroll covers because the game looks soft.
Check yourself
At £2/£5 you have £300 and the only other player in the hand has £800. How deep is the hand?
The effective stack is your £300, which is 60 big blinds at £2/£5. That is in the middle band, even though the other player is 160 big blinds deep.
At £1/£2 you call a £10 open with 6♣ 6♦ and £90 behind. Is it a set-mining call?
No. £90 is 9 times the call, below the 15 to 20 times rule of thumb, and only a little above the 7.5 to 1 against flopping a set even if you always won the whole stack.
At £1/£2 an £8 open is called once and you have £600 effective. What is the stack-to-pot ratio on the flop?
The pot is £1 + £2 + £8 + £8 = £19 and £592 is left behind, so the SPR is about 31.2. One pair is rarely worth all of it.
Key takeaways
- Measure the effective stack in big blinds before you decide how to play a hand.
- Short stacks favour high cards and pairs, raise-or-fold play and getting the money in with top pair.
- Deep stacks favour position and hands that make sets, straights and flushes; one pair is rarely worth the whole stack.
Sources and method
Original Overshove writing. The table assumes £1/£2, an £8 open that only you call, both blinds folded and no rake. The set figure is the exact chance that a pocket pair flops three of a kind or better. The bands and hand advice are editorial starting points, not solver output and not a promise of results; adjust them to your notes on the players at your table.
Questions
What is a short stack in poker?
A short stack is a stack that is small compared with the big blind. In this lesson it means 40 big blinds or fewer, for example £80 or less at £1/£2. With a short stack there is little room to bet after the flop, so most hands are decided by the first or second bet.
What is a deep stack in poker?
A deep stack is a stack that is large compared with the big blind. In this lesson it means more than 150 big blinds, for example more than £300 at £1/£2. Deep stacks reward position and hands that can make sets, straights and flushes.
What is the effective stack in poker?
The effective stack is the smaller of your stack and your opponent's, because that is the most either of you can win or lose against the other. With £400 against a player who has £100, the effective stack is £100.
How do you play a short stack in live poker?
Favour high cards and pairs, drop most small pairs and suited connectors, and raise or fold rather than calling opens. With a low stack-to-pot ratio, top pair with a good kicker is often worth all the chips.
What hands are better with deep stacks?
Small pairs, suited connectors and suited aces gain value, because they can make sets, straights and flushes that win big pots. Offsuit high cards such as king-jack lose value, because top pair with a weak kicker loses the biggest pots.