Of course these are all generalizations. Good players have bad runs and poor players have good runs. But you can get a quick idea about the type of opponent you are against by looking at their stack size when you first sit down at the table. This is especially true at the higher limits, which require more bankroll to play. Of course, after a few minutes of playing an opponent your impression may change, but at least you have something to go by when you first sit down.

There are generally two different playing styles for players with small stacks. The first type is someone who plays a lot of hands, which is probably why his stack is so low. The other type of player is one who just moved up from a lower limit game. This player probably is playing very tight since he is scared of losing a lot of money. With either type of player, you can use this information to your advantage. Play aggressively against the scared player and don’t try to bluff the loose player.

The one exception to this is when their stacks get so small that they adjust their play. Even the loose player may tighten up waiting for a big hand when he only has a few more chips. In this case, it may be easier to steal their blinds. On the other hand, some players who are generally tight might loosen up and go for broke with a hand like Ax if they only have a few chips left.

Regarding your own stack, avoid playing with a stack so small that you cannot get full value out of a big hand. If you are playing a tight aggressive strategy that I recommend, it is a big mistake to wait patiently for a big hand and then not be able to take full advantage of it by running out of chips. For example, you could easily run out of chips in a $3-$6 game by the end of the hand if you only have $30 sitting in front of you. I recommend playing with a stack at least 10 times the big bet; therefore, in a $3-$6 game you ought to have at least $60 in chips. If your stack drops below this, either buy some more chips or get out of the game and play a lower limit.

You never know when you will hit a monster hand against a maniac who keeps raising you back. Although 10 times the big bet is the minimum I recommend, I prefer to sit down with at least 40 times the big bet so that I don’t need to add chips too often if I get on a bad run.

I used to play a $20-$40 game at a smaller site where a regular player used to always buy-in with $200. The player was an overall winner, but I loved playing against him. He played very tight preflop and almost never bluffed after the flop. It was generally very easy to see where he stood. The great thing about playing against him is that he would often run out of chips with a good hand when I was on a draw. This allowed me to play the hand to the river cheaper than otherwise, which was a great advantage for me. Don’t make this same type of mistake. Always ensure you have enough chips for the limit you are playing; otherwise, you are giving up too much in profit potential.

Someone asked me once if there is an exception to this rule, and I could only think of one. If you are a weak player, playing with a short stack is a great advantage since you will lose less!