Deep Stack Poker
A lot of people ask me about playing 'deep-stacked' poker. You know, 200 big blinds, 300 big blinds or even deeper.
- Deep Stack Poker This guide is designed to give us some basic pointers when playing NLHE with a stack considerably above the starting BSS of 100bbs. To Play Deep or Not to Play Deep? The first question we should ask is whether we actually want to play deep in the first place. 200bb poker is almost like a different game to 100bb poker.
- DeepStack Showdown Poker Tournament March 1–28, 2021. More than $3.1 Million in guaranteed prize pools.
Coverage of the poker series 2020 DeepStack Extravaganza V, including results, chip counts, poker videos, and photos.
These are the kind of stacks with which you live poker players will be familiar. Deeper stacks also tend to happen often in 'fast-fold' style online poker games as well such as Zoom on PokerStars.
The truth is, yes, playing deep-stacked does change things in poker. In fact it changes everything.
For one thing, you simply cannot afford to be getting 200 BB, 300 BB or more in the middle with the same range you would with 100 BB or 50 BB. 'Stack off' ranges instead narrow considerably when the stacks get ultra-deep like this because losing a pot of this size is devastating for your win rate.
For example, most smart regulars will never get K-K or Q-Q all in preflop when they are 200-300 BB deep against another smart and competent regular. This is because they know that a good player is often only going to stick this many big blinds in the middle preflop with A-A.
Of course, I need to mention that (as usual) when you are playing against recreational poker players, you can just throw everything I just said out the window. Recreational players do not think about stack off ranges based on stack size. In fact, most of the time they aren't even thinking about what you can have at all!
So I do want to be very clear that this discussion of deep-stacked poker and stack off ranges is concerning competent regulars only.
Here's a 'micro stakes' hand played online illustrating how playing deep-stacked should affect the decision whether or not to commit your entire stack:
In this poker hand, we flat preflop from the big blind with 6-6 with 300-plus BB effective starting stacks. Our opponent is a TAG (tight and aggressive) regular.
We nail the flop nearly as well as you possibly can with a full house. As I always suggest at these stakes in particular, our sole aim at this point should be to figure out how to get as much money in the middle as possible. Often when you are out of position as the preflop caller, the best way to do this is with a check-raise.
We do in fact check-raise the flop here, and our opponent goes ahead and makes the call as he rightly should with a wide range in this situation.
When the turn comes with a blank, I like the decision to simply bet out. That said, versus a really aggressive player another check/raise can be okay here sometimes as well. When our opponent calls again on the turn, I think we need to narrow his range considerably to mid-pocket pairs, trips, and overpairs.
Now to the river which is the real fun part of the hand. We bet out (as we should), and our opponent shoves close to 300 big blinds over the top. What now?
Well, like I mentioned off the top, our stack off range needs to be tighter when the stacks get this deep and we have the sixth nuts in this spot. We are also up against what appears to be a completely normal micro stakes regular and therefore the chances of him going crazy here with a bluff are slim-to-none.
I also do not expect a player like this to play a hand like trips this way. That's what a rec player would do instead. So this leaves monster hands like K-K, J-J and K-J only. From my millions of hands of experience at these stakes, I believe that if we call here, he is going to flip over one of these hands a large majority of the time.
So I actually agree with the decision to fold in this hand. This shows a strong understanding of deep-stacked poker.
I want to know what you think, though. How do you play deep-stacked poker? Would you make the call in this hand or would you make the tough lay down? Let me know in the comments below!
Deep Stack Poker Venetian
Links mentioned in the video:
Nathan 'BlackRain79' Williams is the author of the popular micro stakes strategy books Crushing the Microstakes, Modern Small Stakes, and The Microstakes Playbook. He also blogs regularly about all things related to the micros over at www.blackrain79.com.
The Stars Group owns a majority share in iBus Media.
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Full Tilt
Deep stack tournaments allow for the most actual play of all forms of poker, with the exception of no blind increase events. The entire premise of a deep stack tournament is for players to really let their skills do the talking and to eliminate as much luck as possible. Wiping out all luck is an impossible task when it comes to poker tournaments, but deep stack players are able to capitalize on the skill factor much more than regular tournament players.
With this advantage comes a noticeable tradeoff. Deep stack tournaments take a lot longer to complete than any other game. As a result of this increase in playing time, player stamina will be of the utmost importance. Stamina is always something that matters in poker, but it never matters more than when in an enduro tournament. This is one of the facets of play that a lot of players tend to completely discount. No one, even poker players, really considers poker to be a game where physical performance or condition actually matters.
The truth is, however, that it can be the difference between a solid play and a big slip up. There is a reason that savvy poker players try to target the guys who have been playing all night in a brick and mortar casino. The more tired you are, the more likely it is that you will donate some or all of your chips.
Deep stack play is all about picking your spots and taking your time. You are given a lot of chips so that you can pass up on your weak hands and get in the middle when you have something to actually work with. Luckily for you, this is a foreign concept to a lot of players. There will always be those players who think that a deep stack tournament is just like every other event, but the truth is that deep stacks are very different.
Try to spot the players who are playing way too fast and are clearly not in it for the long haul. Unless you are truly prepared for what’s in store, deep stack evens can be incredibly grueling and even quite boring.
Again, this is where endurance comes into play. If you can mentally outlast the players who don’t have the patience to play with restraint, you will find that a lot of pots fall right into your lap. Deep stack play is not about creating opportunities, but instead allowing the opportunities to fall into your lap. This is the exact opposite advice of what you would expect, but it is the absolute truth. The later stages of a deep stack tournament will call for more decisive action, but you won’t need to worry about that for awhile after the first hand is dealt.
Profiting from Passiveness
You just read about how a passive approach is the road to riches in deep stack tournament poker. So, how are you going to profit from the passiveness of other players? When the other players stay in slow mode, it will be your chance to crank up the aggression. The pitfall that many players fall into is misidentifying exactly when that stage of the game has arrived. You won’t be working with a short stack and big blinds for a long time, so don’t even worry about changing gears for at least a few hours (depending on the size of the field).
Eventually, though, you will start to run out of chips and it will be time to make moves. You can profit from this by putting the pressure on before your opponents have even considered possible adjustments to their strategy.
Small Edges and Consistent Play
Deep Stack Poker Tournaments
Even the final tables of deep stacks will allow for a moderate amount of post flop play. Unless you have a fair amount of experience with this type of event, it will be awkward to try and play post flop poker with just a few players left. The natural inclination for a tournament player is to pick up the pace and push/fold when the final table is assembled. This will be necessary eventually , but it will be a detrimental strategy if you implement it too early.
The end goal in a deep stack is the same as in any type of tournament. You need to be able to make constant changes that will put you in a position to win. These changes will be much more mild in their implementation in a deep stack tournament, but they will exist nonetheless. You need to be able to do what everyone else is doing, but slightly better. This is why skills are so valuable and the entire basis of all success in deep stack play.
The last bunch of players will probably be very good at what they do, so your edge is not going to be significant. It is unusual for tournaments, but a deep stack is going to allow skill to prevail all the way to the end. If you don’t think you have the patience to sit and remain focused for hours on end, you will probably be better suited in a tournament with regular stack sizes. Deep stack tournaments are profitable, but only for a certain breed of players.