When playing at any US poker site, a lot of the time you are going to be sitting on an average sized stack. Unless you are a great deal better than your opponents or a great deal worse, the size of your stack will probably be fairly standard and knowing how to play in this situation is critical to bringing you up to a point where you can have a better-than-average stack. The difference between a short stack and a deep stack is how you played when you had an average stack, so setting your direction upwards instead of downwards is a good idea.

The first thing to make sure of when you are sitting with an average chip stack in front of you is that you do not make stupid mistakes. Stupid mistakes and bad play is going to ship you down into short stack range and it is much easier to fall down than it is to claw your way back up. This means that you should holster the seven deuce and play tight. You want to make sure that you are winning pots and adding to your chip stack when the opportunity arises and not trying to force yourself into situations where your money is on the table.

Another extremely important thing to make sure you are doing is to try to avoid any deep stacks that may be sitting around you. A deep stack is an inherent advantage and you want to do everything that you can to keep the advantage on your side of the table. If you have an amazing hand you should not be afraid of doubling up, but avoiding confrontation is generally preferable. Instead, you should be focusing on putting pressure on shorter stacks around you and using the relative depth of your stack as an advantage over them. Playing hands with stacks that are about the same size is also perfectly acceptable.

You also need to make sure that you are sustaining growth and not bouncing up and down. According to the latest poker strategy, an average sized stack is a range and not a single size that once you are slightly above or below puts you at a distinct advantage or disadvantage. Continuing to play tight until you are a few standard deviations over average will make sure that you keep solid and sustainable growth in your stack instead of running in a boom and bust cycle.

Making sure that you know how to play with an average sized stack is vital to your success at the poker table. The decisions that you make with an average stack will dictate whether you are going to be deep stacked or short stacked. By playing tight, avoiding unnecessary confrontation, and making sure you understand that an average stack encompasses a range will go a long way to making sure that you are a deep stack more often than a short stack.