Playing Wtih a Deep Stack
In no limit hold’em, certain occasions arise when there is a big pot to play. These are the most crucial points in a no limit Texas hold’em game. If you know when to build a big pot, when to play a big pot and when to get out of the way, it makes a huge difference in your poker results.
Building a Pot
The benefit of a deep stack is that you can make big bets. But betting
$500 into a $25 pot makes little sense. One of your opponents has to pick
up queens, kings or aces only slightly more than one time out of twenty
for this play to be unprofitable.
If you are making this play with queens, kings or aces, you are wasting a
great hand. On the other hand, betting $500 into a $500 pot makes perfect
sense. This is why you will build the pot with incremental bets over the
early streets.
When a Deep Stack Will Help You
A deep stack helps you when you have a very strong hand and are trying to
win as much as possible, when you are trying to bluff, or when you are
trying to give a draw hand bad odds of calling you, by raising big.
Big Hand
Obviously if you are confident you have a hand that will win at showdown,
you would like to bet as much as you reasonably can on the river. The
bigger the pot, the easier this will be.
Big Bluff
Similarly, it’s easier to run a big bluff at a big pot with a deep
stack. If there is $50 in the pot, a bet of $200 or more is ridiculous and
one much less than that may not scare anybody. If there is already $300 in
the pot, you can make a scary $300 and potentially get someone off a hand.
When in comes to big bluffs in poker internet or
live games, the size of your bet is of utmost importance whether you will
be called down or not.
Facing a Big Draw
Finally, if someone is drawing against you, the bigger the pot is, the
more you can bet and get the opponent to call you with bad odds. If the
pot is $100, it is a mistake for an opponent to call more than $25 with a
flush draw with one card to come. You can probably get an opponent to make
a bad $25 or even $50 call, but it would be nice to charge them more.
If the pot is $500, you can charge them $300. It’s a bad call and high
positive expectation for you, but very difficult for the opponent to
fold.
If you want to see some real great deep stack action moves, take a look at this high stakes episode.