A few posts ago, I wrote about the differences between live and online poker, but the one you should pay closest attention to is stack sizes.

Here’s a hand from the first Aussie Millions event:

The blinds were 2,000/4,000 with a 400-chip ante.

Young Aussie sitting to my left near the dealer, with a chip stack of about 50,000, raises to 12,500 on the button. The big blind moves all-in for 20,100.

Can you count these please?

The Aussie leans over the table to look at the big blind, confused. He moves to muck his hand, but realizes its only a little more to call. He calls and turns over 10-6 of diamonds. the big blind has K-10.

The Aussie loses the hand is eliminated shortly after — before the money.

Clearly, the young player was upset that he got caught stealing, but I think he wasn’t paying attention. Had he known that the big blind had just about four bets there and would probably call or shove with any two cards, he would have raised with better holdings — especially considering his own stack size.

Online, you can see everyone’s chip stack and quickly judge their relation to the blinds and antes down to the smallest bet. But live is much different. You have to pay attention to the players that sit down, and watch the chips move across the table.

Chip stack sizes are almost as important as cards in poker. A stack size, to a certain extent, determines the style and hand selection of a player. Good players use their stack size to their advantage throughout a game, bullying smaller stacks.

If you know a player’s stack size, you have a better idea of what they’ll call, raise or fold with.

Before you call or raise in live poker, make sure you know how much each player that could possibly play the hand has, and you won’t get blind-sided like my young Aussie friend.