The TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) Executive Summary:
MPH - Marcelo's Poker House - MPH - Martina Roncaglioni MPH - Motivation Plaisirs Habitudes - MPH - Photographies MPH - RPM - MPH - Servicios integrales para el Hogar. Poker Spr It is a promotional strategy by free casinos to attract new members to try out their gaming facilities. However, there is no assurance that you would be able to withdraw your winnings from no deposit bonus games. Examples of using the stack to pot ratio Alright, let's look at a few different examples of using stack to pot ratio in poker. Hopefully this will give you a better understanding of how to use SPR at the tables yourself. Low SPR example Button (Hero) 100BB vs BB (villain) 26BB We hold A ♠ K ♣ Flop 4 ♠ 8 ♦ A ♥ Pot is 6.5BB, SPR is 4. 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. If you’re ready to crush your opponents by outplaying them on the flop, you’re going to need a working knowledge of poker fundamentals. One of these is an incredibly important metric known as stack-to-pot ratio, or SPR. By figuring out our SPR and our opponent’s SPR, we can make better decisions and decide just how com.
Calculating the stack-to-pot ratio, or SPR, in a poker hand can be a powerful tool to help you determine if and when you are pot committed. Like its name suggests, SPR is calculated by dividing your effective stack size by the current size of the pot. The smaller the SPR, the more you should feel pot committed with weaker holdings. For instance, if the SPR is three or less, you are often pot committed when you hold at least one pair. If your SPR is four or larger, however, you should *not* feel pot committed unless you have greater than 50% equity (e.g., two pair or greater type hands).
Introduction to SPR and Pot Commitment:
Do you want to make your postflop decisions easier in cash games? If so, you need to learn how to calculate your SPR, or Stack-to-Pot Ratio.
Ed Miller and his co-authors coined this “SPR” term a few years ago in Professional No Limit Hold’em: Volume I, which, in my opinion, is a must-read book for intermediate players looking to move up. Among all the other good stuff in the book is the concept of SPR:
SPR = Size of the Effective Stack divided by the Pot Size
Generally speaking, the lower the SPR, the more “pot committed” (1) you should feel about getting all your money into the middle with weaker holdings. Your hand may not have much equity, but the risk-to-reward ratio of your stack to the current pot size makes getting your money into the middle a plus EV play. In this article, we’ll look at the numerical guidelines to use when evaluating SPR and pot commitment, but first, we need to learn how to calculate SPR.
How to Calculate SPR:
Let’s say you raise in early position to $8 in a $1/$2 NL cash game, where everyone started with $250 stacks. Only one player calls, and both blinds fold. What’s the SPR on the flop? (To keep this example simple, we’ll ignore the effect of rake.)
To calculate SPR, we need to know two things: a) the pot size going to the flop; and, b) the effective stack size.
The pot size, after all the preflop betting action takes place, and before any action on the flop takes place, is: $8 + $8 + $1 + $2 = $19.
The stack size on the flop is the original stack size, minus the amount that was put into the pot: $250 – $8 = $242.
The stack-to-pot ratio is then calculated exactly as you’d expect: we simply divide the stack by the size of the pot. In this example, the SPR would, therefore, be: $242 divided by $19 = 12.7.
Note that when calculating SPR, you must use the effective stack size, which is simply the smaller of yours and your active opponent’s stack. If you had $750 to start this hand example, and the opponent who called had $250, the effective stack size would be the size of the smaller stack. In this case, the effective stack size the villain’s stack of $250. (For a more detailed explanation of effective stack sizes click here.)
Also, note that SPR can be calculated and used at any time during the course of a poker hand to determine your pot commitment (2). Analyzing pot commitment via SPR can and should be performed on all the streets of action in a poker hand (e.g., flop, turn, and river). It is not a flop-only tool.
SPR is Simply a Measure of Risk versus Reward:
SPR is nothing more than a measure of how much risk you are undertaking (i.e., the possible loss of your entire stack) versus the immediate reward for taking that risk (i.e., winning the current pot).
The higher the SPR, the less you should feel pot committed with non-premium strength cards; high SPRs mean, literally, that the risk is high relative to the potential reward. Conversely, low SPRs mean decisions are easier because the relative risk is lower. In other words, low SPRs means you can be mathematically pot committed with weaker cards than with larger SPRs.
Low SPR situations are often very simple to play; getting your money into the middle and going to a showdown is often the correct play. I.e., calling a shove is frequently correct with hands as weak as just middle pair.
Note however that low SPRs mean you’re not going to be able to do things like float the flop and check-raise all-in on the turn as a bluff. Your opponent will also be pot committed by that point (because it’s the effective stack size that matters, which you both share), and he will (rightfully) feel he needs to call with equally weak holdings, despite the strength you might be representing.
Further, implied odds are lower with low SPRs; there simply isn’t much money left behind to vie for. For this reason, low SPRs mean that weak draws and speculative holdings are not nearly as playable, but big face cards and pairs are (3).
If you have a low enough SPR and a one pair hand on a coordinated flop, getting it all in is usually the right play. High SPRs, on the other hand, mean you are not pot committed (if, for example, a villain shoves all in). There is simply too much risk for the given reward.
High SPRs offer the ability to get creative post-flop with things like floats and check-raises. High SPRs also mean that implied odds are better, allowing you to play cards like weak suited aces, set-mining with small pairs, and seeing flops with connectors and gappers. It also, unfortunately, means that one pair-only hands should often be folded prior to showdown if you’re getting strong action from an opponent.
Large SPRs are why suited connectors, gappers, and other “small ball” hands that experts like Daniel Negreanu play are so profitable for them—they’re deep stacking with “bust-em” hands; both players are in high-risk situations, and the better player can typically apply tremendous pressure to the lesser player. Bluffing and drawing hands make up a big part of their ranges, so it’s difficult and dangerous to tangle with them unless you know what you’re doing. Further, guys like Negreanu are also masters of dumping big one- (and even two-) pair hands on deep-stacked coordinated boards and/or when they read that their opponents’ ranges hit the board.
Stack-Off SPR Guidelines:
Okay, now that we understand that low SPRs mean higher levels of pot commitment, we need to have some actual hard guidelines to use. Unfortunately, this is another area in which there remains a lot of bad advice floating around from otherwise knowledgeable poker experts. Myths, lore, and incorrect SPR guidelines (4) continue today. Let’s set the record straight, once and for all.
As I’ve written before, sound decision-making is the key to winning at poker. And at the heart of every decision is its intrinsic expected value, or EV. Every decision is either +EV, -EV, or neutral. This is true for all situations, including when we’re considering stacking-off with a weak holding because we feel pot committed; i.e., we should ultimately base our decision on the expected value of the situation—and not just some chart we’ve read on the internet somewhere that says to do X when our SPR is Y.
To illustrate this, let’s look at a simple example in which an opponent shoves all-in and we must decide whether we should call or not. The expected value of calling is easily calculated via the standard EV equation:
EV = (%W x $W) - (%L x $L)
In this equation, %W is probability we win the hand (i.e., our pot equity); $W is the amount we stand to win (i.e., the current pot size); %L is the probability we’ll lose (i.e., 100% - Pot Equity); and $L is the amount we stand to lose (i.e., our remaining effective stack).
If we know the current pot size (including the villain’s shove), our own stack size, and our hand’s pot equity, we can easily calculate the EV of calling. If the number is greater than zero, we should call. If it’s less than zero we should fold.
Now, we can rearrange some terms in the EV equation and essentially calculate expected value as a function of SPR and equity. Further, we can plot the calculated EV in a grid format, with SPR on the vertical Y-axis and Pot Equity along the horizontal X-axis:
As you can see, the expected value of calling when you’re on the left side of the grid is negative, and on the right side of the grid is positive. This means if your current situation finds you on the left-side of the chart, you should fold. And if you’re on the right side, you should call a shove.
We can be more accurate with this left-vs.-right analysis by literally drawing a line through all the zero EV values to see exactly where the transition from negative to positive takes place:
The interesting thing about this curve is that there is a definitive “knee” in the curve that occurs at SPRs of around ~3.5-4:
For SPRs greater than four, the transition from negative to positive EV becomes a nearly vertical line (5) at pot equities between 45-50%; in other words, if your SPR is greater than four, you need at least 50% pot equity, or more, to make calling correct. This in turn means that you need relatively strong hands that are going to win at least half the time against the range you put the villain on. Said yet another way: you need to hold cards that are stronger than just draws and one pair in most of these situations.
In contrast, for SPRs less than four, the transition rapidly decreases in terms of required pot equity; i.e., you need less and less pot equity the lower the SPR value. This means it’s often correct to get all the money in with relatively weak holdings like weak 1-pair hands and weak draws when the SPR is less than three. Why? Because you don’t need much pot equity to stay on the right side of the zero curve.
Some Basic SPR Guidelines:
While you need to always make reads and evaluate your pot equity as accurately as you can to make the correct pot-commitment decision, here are some additional general guidelines to keep in mind:
Low SPR: 0-3. Good hands for shallow stacks include any pair, straight or flush draws, and over-cards to the board. With SPRs this low, we don’t mind getting it all-in on the flop, even if we know we don’t have the best hand. Remember, this is a game based entirely on math, EV, and the long-run. Positive expected value is positive expected value, period.
Transition SPR: 3-4. Good cards for SPRs in this transition range often include hands like top- and over-pairs, strong (nutt-ish) drawing hands, and made weak flushes and straights. But again, you have to put your opponent on a range to make all this work; i.e., you need 40-50% pot equity or more to make a call in this situation, and that depends entirely on the range you put your opponent on.
High SPR: 4+. Good hands for high SPRs are two pairs, sets, big combo nut drawing hands, and big made flushes and straights. Hands like these have greater than 50% equity and are better suited to deep stack play.
A Simple Example of SPR in Action:
Let’s look at a simple hand situation to see how this works in practice:
Imagine that you’re in a $2/$4 NL Texas Hold’em cash game. You’re relatively new to the table and only recognize one player. You pick up Q♠Q♥ on the button. Player A limps UTG, Player B (whom you know as a tricky player) raises in middle position to $12 and the action is on you. You re-raise to $36. The blinds fold, Player A folds, but Player B calls. Going to the flop, there is $82 in the pot.
How committed are you to going with your hand? Well, that depends on a number of factors, including what the flop cards are and what range you put the villain on (i.e., how hard does his range hit that flop). But it also depends on stack sizes. I.e., what is the SPR?
Per our guidelines, above, we should be more willing to get our money in on a wide range of flops if our SPR is less than or equal to three. This means if the effective stack size is (3 x $82) = $246, or less, we should feel OK about getting our money in if we think we have at least ~40% equity.
The lower the effective stack size, the less equity we’ll need. If for example, the effective stacks are only ~$100, our SPR will be ($100/$82) = 1.2. At this low of an SPR, we’ll only need around 33% equity. In other words, we are mathematically correct to get our money in even if we know the villain probably has us beaten.
On the other hand, if the effective stack size is greater than (4 x $82) = $328, we should be less and less willing to feel committed to our hand. For example, if the board comes out 8♦-7♦-4♦ and our opponent shoves we should probably just fold. Even if we know him to be a tricky player who can make big bluffs, our equity isn’t likely to be strong enough to go with the hand.
Our decisions in these situations always come down to a combination of SPR and reads. Based on the range we put the villain on, we are either to the right or the left of the zero EV line in the chart.
Some Additional SPR Factors to Consider:
Here are a few additional things to keep in mind as you begin to take SPR into battle with you at the poker table:
Post Flop Play Strategy
SPR is NOT a Flop-Only Tool. As we noted earlier, a key thing to note is that SPR as a pot-commitment tool is valid to use on all betting streets in a hand of poker. Nowhere in our analysis did we need to know whether we were on the flop, turn, or river; i.e., SPR is strictly a function of stack size, pot size, and your current pot equity. It is not a function of betting streets. Feel free to use SPR as a pot commitment tool on the flop, turn, and river.
It’s All About The Equities. To correctly determine pot commitment, you cannot simply calculate SPR, look at your hand in isolation, and make a call. You must first and always put your opponent on a range. Then you have to estimate your own hand equity against that range. Expected Value is still the ultimate decider of your decisions in poker; SPR is just another tool to help evaluate EV, and, in the end, validate a call or a fold. SPR is nothing more, and nothing less, than an alternative way of looking at EV, which in turn depend on equities.
Offense versus Defense. In the example above, we only looked at “defensive” situations; i.e., you’re considering a call when facing a shove. If, however, you’re the person considering shoving on your opponent, you must also factor in SPR into that decisions. I.e., given the current stack sizes, will your opponent feel “pot committed” or not? Remember, SPR uses effective stacks, so—by definition—you are both using the same stack-to-pot ratio. The only difference is your individual equities. Further, the shallower the stack sizes, the lower the shoving player’s situational fold equity. Yes, there will always be an advantage that the offensive (betting) player has in poker, but the shallower the stacks, the lower this advantage. Shallow stacks mean low fold equity and higher levels of commitment for both hero and villain.
The Sunk Cost Fallacy. Finally, SPR should never be confused with sunk costs. The money you’ve previously put into the pot no longer belongs to you—and in no way should be factored into your pot commitment decision. That money doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to the pot, period. (Click here for more on the sunk cost fallacy in poker.)
The Bottom Line:
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SPR is a powerful tool, but it’s also not some magical solution to poker. It ultimately depends on how good you are at estimating equities, which of course points back to the importance of hand reading. You cannot simply look at the stack-to-pot ratio and blithely decide that your middle pair is good for a shove or an all-in call; you must consider your hand’s pot equity, too. Many, many short-stackers (i.e., players who purposely buy-in with ~30bb or so, and then wait for 1-pair hands to shove preflop) have ultimately gone busto because they forgot this important rule. Like all aspects of poker, you must first R-is-for-Read and E-is-for-Evaluate before you can D-is-for-Decide with SPR-is-for-Stack-to-Pot-Ratios.
Poker Spring
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(1) Pot commitment means that folding to a bet or raise would be incorrect. I.e., both the pot is sufficiently large and your hand is sufficiently strong that getting all of your money into the middle is mathematically correct, even if you expect to lose the hand the majority of the time.
Poker Sprinkles
(2) This is an often misunderstood aspect of SPR. Many otherwise expert poker players will tell you that SPR should only be calculated—and used—on the flop. This is outdated and incorrect advice, as SPR is simply a measure of risk vs. reward, and in fact is a function only of expected value and equity. SPR has nothing to do with which betting street you’re currently on in the hand. SPR can be used on the flop, turn, and river with equal effectiveness.
(3) This is the reason professional short stackers primarily only play pairs and big Aces. With their small stacks, they only get involved with the types of hands that work well with low SPRs. For them and these types of hands, getting it all in preflop is often the correct mathematical play.
(4) Unfortunately, I see this mistake all the time. Otherwise reputable poker advice blogs and websites frequently get this wrong, sometimes WAY wrong. This also includes the original advice in Miller’s otherwise excellent book.
(5) Note that the line is not perfectly vertical, and in fact keeps increasing with a very steep slope.
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