Deep Stacked In Cash Games?

How do you play big cards when you're deep stacked?


I don't play well when I get very deep stacked, my win rate drops off dramatically. Shorter stacks can take marginal situations but if you get mixed up in a pot with another very deep stack you need more than a one pair hand and often the big pots are won by a flush or straight. The value of suited connectors that can flop big hands goes way up and the value of big cards goes way down, that's simple enough but what do you do when you're dealt big cards?

When I'm up at say 300 BB's and I'm dealt AA, KK or AK, I've got no idea what to do if there's someone else with a similar stack.

You obviously raise pre-flop, so you're called in one or two places and the flop hits some random looking cards (assume no A when you hold kings and that when you hold AK you hit top pair top kicker).

Obviously you bet the flop, as these are all strong hands that need to be protected but you get called by such a wide range by another deep stack. They should call you with any draw.
Half of the cards in the deck become scare cards. You have to lead out and bet again (even if you're in position here, it's probably checked to you so you've got to do the betting, if someone does bet into you it's usually an easy fold), you can't check because if you did that you may as well just wave a white flag.
So the situation is that you're making a big bet into a dangerous board (just about any board is dangerous here, even if only for the threat of two pair). I seem to fall into this trap fairly often and end up commiting so many chips to this one pair hand and end up either having to fold it or call a raise with aces and lose to rags that made two pair or better.


The sollution is obviously to either play a small pot, or not let anyone see too many cards. Playing a small pot means playing a multiway pot though (the pre-flop raise, if it's big enough to thin the field makes the pot get very big very fast) and not letting anyone see cards means overbetting pre-flop and if you do that, you really have to put in a large enough portion of your stack to take away the implied odds for people to try and draw out on you which means getting very little value for your cards.

Or maybe it's best to just play them normally and hope to take down the pot on the flop/turn?
Which would probably be okay... except for how easily you can be pushed out of the pot here by a raise from someone betting a draw or just bluffing.

You adjust the stack to pot ratio to fit your liking, or you limit the size of the pot you're willing to play.

3-bet & 4-bet more, pot control more with 1 pair hands that have little shot of improving, and don't call really gigantic bets on late streets.

I hear your point. Look up stack to pot ratio.

I'd suggest raising much larger than the average. If the average is 3x, bet 7x. If the average is 7x, bet 15x. You should get at least 1 (stupid) caller. Takes a lot of guesswork out of it.

If these stakes are low, don't give the players credit to understand what you are doing just because you are skilled enough to understand.

Realize that if you don't raise very big, you will have the same issue that you are currently having.

Lastly, get rid of the thought that you are ENTITLED to a big hand because you have a big pair. They usually win small pots because a big hand is only HALF the equation to a big pot. The other half of the equation is for the villan to have a good hand (or at least a drawing one).

Just my $0.02.

When I get big hands late and am fortunate enough to have a handsome stack to compliment may AA, KK, (don't really like AK) and I'm going against another big stack, I bet out respectably but don't put your tournment life at risk with KK. I had a girl call me this a.m. with 10, 6 suited and flopped 2 pair. It cost me half my stack. When deep in tourney with chips you need to see flops to hit the nuts, up to $20 buy-ins they don't fold second pair and freerolls forget it, 33 calls his whole stack with a J, and 10 on the deck to a preflop raiser who happens to be the tightest player at the table. Lesson; late in tourney, "Small Pot Poker" unless you have the "NUTZ". You may not always win but you should be in the money more often than not.

Tomcat2u said:

When I get big hands late and am fortunate enough to have a handsome stack to compliment may AA, KK, (don't really like AK) and I'm going against another big stack, I bet out respectably but don't put your tournment life at risk with KK. I had a girl call me this a.m. with 10, 6 suited and flopped 2 pair. It cost me half my stack. When deep in tourney with chips you need to see flops to hit the nuts, up to $20 buy-ins they don't fold second pair and freerolls forget it, 33 calls his whole stack with a J, and 10 on the deck to a preflop raiser who happens to be the tightest player at the table. Lesson; late in tourney, "Small Pot Poker" unless you have the "NUTZ". You may not always win but you should be in the money more often than not.

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This is a thread about cash games

thepokerkid123 said:

You obviously raise pre-flop, so you're called in one or two places and the flop hits some random looking cards (assume no A when you hold kings and that when you hold AK you hit top pair top kicker).

Obviously you bet the flop, as these are all strong hands that need to be protected but you get called by such a wide range by another deep stack. They should call you with any draw.

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Both of these are not obvious at all when 300bb+ deep. They are VERY dependent table dynamic, player tenancies, history and position.

Doing one, both or neither can be acceptable given the right circumstances.

never go broke with 1 pair. ever.

holypendant said:

Hi pokerstudent, if by betting so big, would it be a big disadvantage in terms of pot odds n stuff? the numbers juz dun tally n make sense.. might as well play higher stakes or change tables...

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You have to believe that when you are putting in these big raises that you are getting the best of it. You always want to put money in when you have the best of it. And if some idiot wants to come along for the ride, and you have the best of it, why don't you want to put it in?

You don't want to play like that against everyone. Most will be smart enough to know what you are doing. But if you get some donk who ALWAYS calls with ANY TWO CARDS, choose your hands and get him to pay you off.