Stack-to-Pot Ratio (SPR): How Deep the Stacks Really Are
The stack-to-pot ratio (SPR) is the effective stack divided by the pot on the flop. It tells you how many bets it takes to get all‑in: an SPR of 3.5 is exactly three half-pot bets, an SPR of 13 is three pot-size bets. With 100bb stacks the SPR is 17.7 in a raised pot, 4.4 in a 3‑bet pot and 1.8 in a 4‑bet pot, so the same top pair plays very differently in each.
Top pair three-handed at an SPR of 8
On the button with A♠K♦, you opened and both blinds called: 80bb behind, a 10bb pot, an SPR of 8. The flop comes K♠ J♠ 7♥ and it checks to you. Check, bet 25% or bet 70%?
See the answer
At an SPR of 8, two bets of 70% of the pot, called by one player, leave a river shove smaller than the pot: top pair, top kicker can plan to get the stack in by the river, and starting with the bigger bet makes that possible against the draws on this board.
The SPR by type of pot
100bb stacks; the button raises and the big blind plays, the small blind folds its 0.5bb.
| Pot | Preflop action | Stack behind | Flop pot | SPR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| raised | open 2.5bb, call | 97.5bb | 5.5bb | 17.7 |
| 3‑bet | open 2.5bb, 3‑bet to 10bb, call | 90bb | 20.5bb | 4.4 |
| 4‑bet | 3‑bet to 10bb, 4‑bet to 22bb, call | 78bb | 44.5bb | 1.8 |
| raised, 50bb stacks | open 2.5bb, call | 47.5bb | 5.5bb | 8.6 |
How many bets get you all‑in
Each called bet makes the pot grow, so the stack runs out faster than it seems. The SPR that a series of bets, all called by one opponent, puts in completely:
| Bet size | One street | Two streets | Three streets |
|---|---|---|---|
| half the pot | 0.5 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| two thirds of the pot | 0.7 | 2.2 | 5.9 |
| the pot | 1 | 4 | 13 |
Read it the other way round: at an SPR of 4.4, two pot-size bets and a small river bet get everything in. At 17.7, even three pot-size bets leave chips behind, so a single pair rarely has to play for the whole stack.
Keep going
- Why a set wants the stacks deep: implied odds.
- When a deep stack costs you instead: reverse implied odds.
- The first bet of the hand: the continuation bet.
- The second one: the double barrel.
- The price of a call: pot odds.
- One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
- When the bet is bigger than the pot: the overbet.
- 3‑bets and 4‑bets one on one: heads-up preflop.
- The SPR left after calling a 3‑bet: facing a 3‑bet out of position.
- The SPR after calling a 3‑bet in position: facing a 3‑bet in position.
- The ratio each preflop option leaves: cold call vs 3‑bet.
- The stack the ratio is computed on: the effective stack.
- The ratio in a pot raised twice: how to play 3‑bet pots.
- The highest SPR, with no preflop raise: limped pots.
- The same ratio with deeper stacks: deep stack strategy.
- The same ratio with shorter stacks: short stack strategy.
Sources
- Every SPR on this page is effective stack ÷ flop pot, and every commitment threshold is the sum of the bets as a share of the starting pot, checked on October 11, 2026.
- The answer to the spot follows rules written by the app's author; it does not come from a solver.