Stack sizes in no Limit Hold Em – Part 1 An overview and what typical sizes are at different poker environments
Different stack sizes
Small stack: 40 big blinds or less
Medium stack: 40 to 80 big blinds
Large stack: 80 to 160 big blinds
Deep stack: 160 big blinds and higher
Some notes on the stack sizes
Minimum buy-in in most online poker games is 20 buy-ins but for our purposes we call a short stack anything from 0 to 40 big blinds, of course there is quite a difference between someone holding 5 big blinds to someone holding 40 big blinds, but by and large the same principles apply. When stack size gets that bit larger we can be said to have a medium sized stack and we have a little bit more freedom to play. For our purpose we will say a stack of anything from 40 to 80 big blinds can be considered to a medium sized stack. 80 to 160 big blinds we consider to be a large stack where you have a lot more freedom to make speculative plays preflop. 160 big blinds or more is getting into what we call true deep stack play.
Home Games
Different environments have a tendency to produce very different types of games and subsequently very different typical buy in amounts. In most home games, people buy in small. A home game with blinds of say $0.10-$0.25 blinds would usually see players buying in for around $5 to $10, that’s only 20 to 40 big blinds. So in other words it’s a small stack game. However what might start out as a small stack sociable home game can by the end of the night turn into a large stack game as players are quite often playing for many hours in these types of games and so frequently rebuy when they lose their initial chips.
Online Games
Most online poker games have a minimum buy-in of 20 big blinds and a maximum of 100 big blinds, while there are a significant percentage of players who buy in short, a lot of players buy in for the full amount. So most players tend to have big stacks from the start. Many poker rooms also now offer games with minimum buy-ins of 50 big blinds and even deep stack games where players can buy-in for 200 big blinds from the start.
Bricks and Mortar Games
Minimum buy-in in casinos can vary quite a bit. Some casinos in Las Vegas now put a cap on the maximum buy-in, but in most European casinos there is still no cap, people with starting stacks of 200 big blinds and even much higher are not uncommon. So in a casino you can have a deep stack game right from it’s very beginning. This one factor more than any other can put online or home game players who are not used to playing deep stacked poker at a significant disadvantage, until such time as they familiarize themselves with the different nuances of the deep stack game.
