Re: PNL Study Group Day 2: Stack Sizes
 

I don't have much experience in cash NL, since I have mostly played tourneys, but it seems there's a tradeoff. I think a medium or big stack is good to have in case you get in a pot with a well financed donk. On the other hand, you have to play more cautiously against good players, so you might end up giving them good odds on draws because you dont' want make large bets with a hand that might not be best.

As to your comment on getting more action with the set, I had that situation last night. I might have had my turn reraise called if my stack had been shorter, but when I think about it, I wonder if that situation comes up often enough that it should influence the buy-in.

Re: PNL Study Group Day 2: Stack Sizes
 

Hello,

I have been reading (and re-reading) the book and am finding it very helpful. I am also trying to make the switch from Tourney to Cash. I have been a winning (albeit small winning) player and am looking to expand. Currently, I am playing the Micro levels to try to see if I can get a handle on this (0.05-0.10) with an eye toward moving up soon. I have been playing 50BB and have found this to be a fair compromise on the short vs large stack, but wanted opinions on an issue I have been seeing over and over again.

I tend to play a fairly TA game, but will loosen up slightly with position. With an image of being "a donk with the smaller stack", at least at this level, I have been able to generate a slight disconnect between my ability (at least based on my previous experience) and my stack size.

This leads me to the discussion on the Cbet getting people into trouble which seems to be very correct. I have been looking at it from the other side of the coin, however. I have found that when players raise into me for a standard raise (often when I have a ~20%+ hand) I am often able to use position with the strong hand against players who not only are playing too loose, but also don't seem to know when to stop firing bullets...resulting in winning larger pots, or, since I am below the committment threshhold, the ability to bow out quietly with minimal losses if the board looks "bad."

A couple of questions on this?

1) My sample size is VERY small...am I seeing variance or is this close to real at the very low levels? (with the obvious assumption that I have a decent read on the player being LAG or close to it).

2) Is there a blind level where this noticably changes? (i.e. opponents learn to put on the brakes or begin to play in a more tricky manner where I might get into more trouble).

3) Is this a large leak in a cash game? (I have done this in tourney poker, especially when the blinds get bigger as people tend to think they are "pot committed" well before they are in certain tournaments allowing me to stack them)

Any thoughts on this would be helpful. I understand that there are real advantages to playing 100BB, and I am considering this, but one thing struck me...the place where we lose out is when we have the nuts....this doesn't happen very often, and even when it does, we often don't get our whole stack in as the board sometimes gives our hand away.

Is it better to give up some equity for the few times we have the nuts AND are able to stack our opponents, vs the many multiple times playing with a somewhat shorter stack will make overall decisions easier?

Thanks in advance.

Fammy

Re: PNL Study Group Day 2: Stack Sizes
 

Hi Fammy,

Thanks for the post. I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, but it sounds like you're asking two different things. One, "is playing a 50bb stack acceptable or effective in certain situations?" Of course it is. Particularly if you're new to cash games, as you mentioned you are. Your mistakes are limited, and you can get a "feel" for the game without being uncomfortable.

Secondly, it sounds like you're asking "is it okay to flat call preflop with strong hands rather than reraise?" Of course it is. Particularly with a 50bb stack, this often works well with strong top pair hands. If your opponents will fold weaker portions of their range to a rr, and in addition, they'll keep firing at you postflop when you let them have initiative, why not trap more?

Thanks,

Sunny