What is a Stack-to-Pot ratio?

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Now 3 options with a wedge, I have explained them often in this channel, so won’t do it this time. Usually parabolic shapes break downwards, either a dump or sideways and up a period later. Third option, to prevent a drop, would mean a big pump, for that I would say, think should pump above 58k, to leave the bearish shapes behind it. A stack to pot ratio describes the size of the effective stacks relative to the size of the pot. If the size of the pot is 10bb, and there are 40bb remaining stacks, there is an SPR of 4. (4:1) The simplest way to calculate the SPR is - SPR = Effective Stacks / Pot-size What is the relevance of SPRs? Grandpapa fucking a shy but breasty babe at the Meaningful flaxen-haired is publicize for realize further down than under ones month on tap ones disposal render unnecessary thither realize further down than under ones shrink from patient with win under ones motor coach increased readily obtainable the end of ones tether goes shrink from not on tap all bad for a trip. SPR Explained - Stack-to-Pot Ratio Omaha example of SPR considerations. Let's say you flop the nut straight in pot limit Omaha. It's a bare nut straight. Holdem example of SPR considerations. Or say that you flop bottom two pair in holdem. If there's $20 in the pot and one. Effective stack is.

What is the relevance of SPRs?
Categories of Hands.
Specific SPR estimates.
Formulating strategy with SPRs.

What is a Stack-to-Pot ratio?

A stack to pot ratio describes the size of the effective stacks relative to the size of the pot. If the size of the pot is 10bb, and there are 40bb remaining stacks, there is an SPR of 4. (4:1) The simplest way to calculate the SPR is -
SPR = Effective Stacks / Pot-size

What is the relevance of SPRs?

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Effective stacks are 40bb. Hero is UTG with kk and open raises to 5bb. Everyone folds apart from the BB who flat-calls.
The flop comes j72. (Pot is 10.5bb. Remaining stacks are 35bb. SPR of ~3.33)
The BB checks. Hero bets 8bb into the 10.5bb pot. Villain shoves for 35bb. Hero calls.
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It’s true that villain can have hero beaten in this spot with a hand like JJ,77,AA. Given the stack sizes (and SPR) it’s completely conceivable that villain has a worse hand he is value-shoving like any Jx, QQ, TT. Perhaps sometimes villain even shows up with a semi-bluff like 98, T8, or even a pure bluff. Maybe he shoves a hand like 55 or 66 for protection/bluff even though he doesn’t like the board.

Given that villain can have a worse hand a decent amount of the time, this is an easy call for hero.

Same scenario, bigger stacks:
Now let’s take the same scenario – but this time with effective stacks of 300bb.
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Effective stacks are 300bb. Hero is UTG with kk and open raises to 5bb. Everyone folds apart from the BB who flat-calls.

The flop comes j72. (Pot is 10.5bb. Remaining stacks are 295bb. SPR of ~28.1)
The BB checks. Hero bets 8bb into the 10.5bb pot. Villain shoves for 295bb. Hero folds.
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The hands are the same, the opponents are the same playing from the same positions, but this time hero finds himself in a spot where it is very difficult to call. So what changed? The stack-to-pot ratio.
While it’s completely conceivable villain can be shoving worse hands for value and also bluffing when the SPR is ~3.3, it’s very unlikely he is going to be shoving anything less than a set for 300bb with an SPR of ~28.1.

Categories of Hands

In order to effectively use SPRs you must be capable of efficiently categorising hands into one of two main categories. There is a decent amount of crossover between the two, but they are defined as the following -
1) High value hands that suffer from reverse implied odds.
2) Speculative hands that benefit from implied odds.
The first category includes strong hands that typically make big pairs. Hands like AKo/AQo, AA, KK, QQ, KQo. As we’ve seen in the AA example these hands are usually very easy to play with low SPRs, but once the stack sizes get deeper they potentially run into difficulty. With high SPRs you need to be worried that your 1 pair hand isn’t good against the range villain wants to commit a larger amount of chips with.
The second category includes speculative hands. Hands like 78s, 64s, A3s, 22, 55. One of the most likely hands a suited-connector is going to flop is a draw. With a low SPR a draw is not going to have sufficient implied-odds to continue on the flop or turn. The higher the SPR the better hero’s implied odds and the more profitable his drawing hand will be (assuming he is not drawing to a dominated hand).
Small pockets like 22/55 are slightly different in that they won’t flop a draw much, but instead will flop a very strong hand (set) a small percentage of the time. In terms of set-mining strategy hero is going to need to make a sufficient amount postflop to compensate for all the times he misses. With a low SPR this will not be possible. To an extent, the higher the SPR the more profitable the set-mining opportunity (until the SPR becomes so high that villain is only stacking off with oversets).

What about a hand like QTs however? Is it a speculative hand or a big pair hand? It’s one of the hands that sits in both categories. How you choose to play it will depend on the kind of SPR you can create for postflop play. If you can only create a very low SPR due to the stack sizes you will generally play it as a big-pair hand, while if creating a high SPR is an option you can profitably play it as a speculative hand.

Specific SPR Estimates

The first thing to understand is that preferred SPRs are estimates, not mathematical fact. Against a loose player you will be able to profitably commit postflop with higher SPRs, while against a tight player you may prefer to only commit with a lower SPR. Here are some rough estimates -
Top Pair Good Kicker hands – AK/AQ/AJ/KQ/KJ etc It’s estimated these play best with an SPR of around 4. They will also play ok with an SPR of 20+ assuming you take a pot-control line or flop better than 1 pair. However, these hands play badly with an SPR of 13. An SPR of 13 will allow for exactly 3 potsize bets on the flop/turn/river. Often you may only want to bet 2 streets for value with TPGK hands, depending on your exact hand and the board texture. If this is the case you leave your opponent with a nasty river bullet, especially if he is in position and you check the river to him. You put yourself in an ugly spot where folding is possibly too tight, while calling is too loose. With a lower SPR that river bullet won’t exist, and with a higher SPR your opponent has to fear you coming back over the top. He may also play less aggressively on earlier streets due to the deep stacks which could make it easier for you to take a pot control line with your TPGK hand.

Overpair hands – AA/KK/QQ etc. These play similarly to TPGK hands but will flop stronger in general. As a result they play better with a slightly higher SPR of around 6. Again, they suffer somewhat with an SPR of around 13 but play ok with an SPR of 20+ assuming you take a pot control line.
Speculative connectors – 56s/97s/A2s/K4s. As discussed these hands need a high enough SPR that they have sufficient implied odds to continue with any flopped draws. They also need to make enough money when they do hit to make up for all the times they miss. Ideally you want an SPR of 13 or more, but to an extent the higher the better.
Small pockets – 22/55/77. As discussed these hands need to make enough postflop in order for the setmining opportunity to show a profit in the long run. Ideally you want an SPR of 13 or more, but to an extent the higher the better.

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Formulating Strategy with SPRs

Your general strategy should be the following:

Play as many hands as possible with your preferred SPR, while denying your opponent the opportunity to play at a beneficial SPR for him.
Think of an ancient battlefield. The armies involved played a crucial part, but the terrain chosen might mean that one side had a big advantage regardless of numbers. The cards you bring to the fight are important, but you can create an advantage for youself by choosing the terrain (SPR) for your battle.
It may not always be possible to make preflop play which creates a favourable SPR for you. Simply understanding SPRs is going to confer an advantage however. There are still a huge number of players out there that don’t understand that their preflop/postflop play are linked. They make their “standard” plays preflop and then proceed to continue postflop like it’s an entirely separate game.
A player with a good understanding of SPRs may be able to pre-empt how a hand might play and begin to formulate possible lines even before a flop is ever seen. Such a player is also able to decide whether their hand is a TPGK hand or a speculative hand given the SPR’s involved. Remember, some hands can fall into either category, but how you choose to play them will depend on the SPR.

On other occasions you may find yourself in a situation where you have multiple options, perhaps options that appear to have a similar expected value at first glance. Upon analysis you see that one option sets up a favourable SPR, while the other doesn’t. Choosing the option with the favourable SPR will create an edge in the long run, assuming you understand why one SPR is favourable over another.
Achieving your target SPRs is something that takes a lot of practice and experience.

Note: What follows is an edited excerpt from Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume I: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.

In Professional No-Limit Hold’em, authors Matt Flynn, Sunny Mehta, and Ed Miller introduced the stack-to-pot ratio (SPR), which is simply the ratio of the effective stacks to the current size of the pot. For example, if you have a $1,000 remaining stack and there is $100 in the pot, then your SPR is $1,000/$100 or simply 10. Alternatively, let’s say there’s $100 in the pot, you have a $1,000 stack (for an SPR of 10) and are heads up with an opponent who only has a $300 stack (for an SPR of $300/$100 or 3); in this case, the effective SPR is the SPR of the smaller stack — which is 3 — because the size of the smaller stack is all that you are playing for.

As it happens, the SPR is a quite useful tool for thinking about pot-limit Omaha (PLO). In fact, the SPR is perhaps an even more useful concept for pot-limit Omaha than no limit hold’em due to the bet-size restrictions of pot-limit play, as well as the relatively standard (pot-sized) bet sizing used in PLO; both of these aspects serve to make the application of the SPR more rigid.

What Does SPR Actually Mean?

So what does SPR actually mean to us, and how do we use it?

The first thing you need to know is that an SPR of 1 means that there is one pot-sized bet left; an SPR of 4 means there is enough left for two pot-sized bets heads-up or a pot-sized bet and a pot-sized raise; an SPR of 13 is the equivalent of three pot-sized bets heads-up.

In other words, if there is $100 in the pot on the flop and we have $100 effective stacks, then there is enough money left to make exactly one pot-sized bet. If instead we have $400 stacks, then there is enough to make $100 pot-sized bet and a pot-sized raise to $400; alternatively, if we make a pot-sized bet on the flop and get one caller, then we have enough to make second pot-sized bet ($300) on the turn all-in. Meanwhile, if we have $1,300 stacks, there is enough money left to make a $100 pot-sized bet, a pot-sized raise to $400, and a pot-sized reraise all-in for $1,300 total; this is also enough to bet the pot on the flop and get a single caller, bet the pot on the turn and get called again, and then make one last pot-sized bet on the river all-in.

Note that if the effective SPR is over 13 and only two players contest the pot after the flop, the only way for all the money to go in is if somebody puts in a raise at some point in the hand.

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With that in mind, we’ll categorize an SPR < 1 to be an ultra-low SPR situation, and an SPR < 4 to be a low-SPR situation. We will also categorize an SPR between 4 and 13 as a mid-SPR situation, and an SPR > 13 as a high-SPR situation. The distinction is important, because as we will see, SPR has a dramatic effect on post-flop playing decisions.

PLO Tip: When the effective SPR is over 13 and only two players put money in the pot after the flop, the only way for all the money to go in is if somebody puts in a raise at some point in the hand.

High SPR Situations (SPR > 13): Big Pot Hands vs. Small Pot Hands

When the SPR is greater than 13, there are more than 3 pot-sized bets left to play, and you are in a high SPR situation and are in Big Play (Implied Odds) Territory. And when the stacks are this deep, it is most crucial to distinguish between big-pot and small-pot hands.

In my first book Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy, the main focus was on the hands that are capable of winning the big pots, namely the nut straight with re-draws, the overfull (such as A-A-x-x on a A-K-K flop, or A-K-x-x on a A-A-K flop), top set (especially with re-draws), the nut flush, and dominating draws (such as the 16-card nut wrap on a rainbow flop, top pair and a 13-card nut wrap on a rainbow flop, or any of the above combined with a flush draw). These hands are universally strong in that they tend to do well no matter how deep you are.

In other words, you will be about as comfortable putting four bets in on the flop with these hands as you will one. And so generally speaking, you will ram and jam with these hands in an effort to get the money all-in on the flop against any amount of action.

Big Pot Hands: High SPR/Universal Hands

But what do you do in a high-SPR situation when you aren’t that strong?

Let’s say it’s a $5-$5 game. There are five players and $25 in the pot on the flop, and everybody has $1,000 stacks for an SPR of 40, which equates to four pot-sized bets. You are last to act. The first player leads out with a $25 bet, and everybody folds to you.

As you know from our previous study it would be a disaster to commit your stack on the flop here with hands like the bare nut straight with no re-draws, the underfull (as in A-7-x-x on a A-7-7 flop or 7-7-x-x on a A-A-7 flop), middle set or bottom set, bare top two pair, undertrips (as in 8-7-6-5 on a Q-7-7 board), the second-nut flush, or a sucker wrap or draw. Because with an SPR of 40, it would take four pot-sized bets in order to get all-in heads up on the flop (your opponent bets $25, you make a pot-sized raise to $100, your opponent re-raises the max to $325, and you re-raise the max to $1,000 total).

Now this might seem obvious, but there are only three betting rounds after the flop in Omaha (the flop, the turn, and the river). And so, as noted earlier, the only way a fourth bet can physically go in is if somebody at some point in the hand puts in a raise. In this case, with your opponent leading the betting, it is probably going to have to be you. But sitting this deep, you are going to have trouble finding opponents who are willing to stick four bets in on the flop with a hand worse than yours. And so as a general rule, you should basically never (if ever) raise with any of these small-favorite/big-dog holdings when the SPR > 13; in fact, unless you are on a stone bluff (and can justify it), you should tend to refrain from raising on the flop in this spot at all unless you have a hand with which you actually want to put a fourth bet in of any kind.

Small Pot/Low SPR Hands

PLO Tip: When the SPR > 13 (there are more than three pot-sized bets left to play), you should tend to refrain from raising on the flop unless you have a hand strong enough to justify putting in a fourth bet; this generally means smooth-calling on the flop with small-pot hands when facing a bet.

How To Get Spr

Jeff Hwang is a gaming industry consultant and author of Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy and the three-volume Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha series.