Chip Stacks
In online poker, learning how your opponents play the game is an important part of being successful, and to get a complete mental picture of how they play, you need to pick up as many details as you can. A detail as seemingly insignificant as how an opponent stacks his chips can give an observant player a hint about how that poker opponent plays. An organized stack is usually the sign of an organized mind. A player who has a well-organized chip stack is usually calculating the odds and playing tight poker. An organized stack is often a sign of someone who likes to be in control of a situation and feels most comfortable playing a hand with only premium hole cards. Inversely, I’ve noticed that players whose chip stacks were messes are much looser players. The majority of the reckless players that I’ve been up against have had disorganized stacks, to the point where one opponent had his chips in a big pile in front of him, much to the rest of the table’s annoyance. I’ve found that it’s a pretty accurate way to judge a player, but it’s not a perfect science by any means. There are players who don’t fall into these generalizations, so try to confirm your assumptions before you make any huge chip commitments.
