Bet sizing and effective stack size are some of the most significant concepts in poker. The fact is that if you don’t comprehend these fundamentals, you can’t be a great poker player. SPR, short for the stack to pot ratio, is another key concept that all pros understand. It is a basic calculation that tells us how much you are ready to risk to win a hand. If you want to make your post-flop decisions easier when playing poker cash games, you need to be familiar with SPR and how to use it in order to boost your poker win rate.
What is SPR poker?
Stack to pot ratio or SPR poker is the ratio of how big your stack is relative to the size of the pot. For instance, if the pot size poker is 10BB and the effective stack size left is 40BB, the SPR will be 4 (4:1). The easy way to calculate the stack to pot ratio is:
SPR = Effective stack size/ Pot size
Use of SPR as part of your poker strategy
Deep stack to pot ratio poker
When anytime SPR poker goes above 10, you can consider it to be deep. Such kinds of stack to pot ratios are generally found in single raised pots in the initial round of tourneys or cash games. Playing high SPR indicates that the flop, turn, and river street have a lot of action left. So, you would prefer to play in position as well as with hands where you can make straights and flushes. Deep SPRs are ideal for open-ended straight draws and flush draws because they let you make multi-street bluffs against one-pair hands.
With deep poker stacks behind, your opponents will frequently be forced to make a tough decision to call off their chips on a dynamic board, which may be tough for them. Thus, there will be an increase in the range of your hands, yet for connectors, suited hands, and small pairs. Usually, in these situations, hands like weak aces or off-suit broadways lose a great amount of value.
Medium stack to pot ratio poker
In tournament poker, situations with a medium SPR are common. These positions can be challenging to play since the line between playing conservative and getting aggressive is often thin. Stack to pot ratio between 3 and 10 belong to this group. So this means that there is a wide range of spots that can occur. You need to be more aggressive on the flops and turns if your SPR is low. Although, a marginally deeper SPR must be considered with caution. You will likely be looking at a hand such as the top pair or flush draw, medium kicker on the flop street. In such a situation, it is better to come down to getting the money in or simply calling a bet.
Short stack to pot ratio poker
Short SPR spots usually appear in late-stage tourneys, as well as in cash games and earlier tournaments when multiple raises are made in the preflop round. A short SPR situation can occur in the late tournament stages with a single late position raise and a BB call. However, in a cash game, this is generally a 4 or 5-bet. In any situation, if you have played your poker hand in such a manner that you got yourself to the flop with SPR below 3, you should try to win money if you have a solid draw or flop a pair. The reason is that there is not that much room for error, and you don’t want to bluff your hand once you are already committed to a pot.
Usually, short SPRs are the simplest to play since there are fewer opportunities to take creative lines. As there is little space for any bluff, you will have to play the cards you are given the majority of times. Hands containing high cards like any broadways or medium aces are feasible possibilities, as a high pair will usually be good enough to play for all the chips.
You may also read about: Pro poker tips
SPR poker summary
The SPR is a basic math calculation that can be used on the flop to decide how willing you are to take a chance to risk your stack in order to win the poker hand. You must try and develop a habit to know the stack to pot ratio for every hand you play. This is because if you face aggression after the preflop, you will learn how to proceed in the game. As a result, your post-flop decision-making process will be more clear. Now that you understand the SPR poker strategy well, why not put it to practice before playing for real money? You can practice the game on the Gamentio portal for free at any hour of the day. Download the free 3D poker app for free and have unlimited fun from the comfort of your home.