Playing with chips in BB

rastapapolos · Jun 4, 2022

Yeah I think it's a must to display your chips in BB especially for mtts, at least you have to keep track of the amount of your stack in BB in your head. I do display the chips in BB because it's much easier than doing the math, it's very helpful. In a trice you can recognize the smallest stacks and the big dog at your table. It can help also at the late stage of the tournament when ICM is envolved where one 1 BB makes the difference.

0546474 · Jun 4, 2022

At the beginning of the game, my chips are displayed in regular numbers, but then I switch to bb !!!

Rob Hobson · Jun 4, 2022

najisami said:
Hey guys,
Any of you tried playing with the amount of chips displayed in BBs ?
I did lately and found it very interesting. Betting, calling or raising using amounts of BBs actually made me look at the game from a different perspective.
If you have tried it, I'd like some insight about it. Thank you.

Good thread. Checking the answers out.
The blinds, opponents stacks...make me, instinctively, to play keeping an eye on at blind amount with my stacks.

takinitSLEAZEE · Jun 4, 2022

I look at the blinds in relation to the clock. I look at my chip stack in relation to my bankroll. Do they go hand-in-hand? Of course but only in relation to tourneys/sngs. In a ring-game blinds are just predetermined bets to induce action, imo.

najisami · Jun 4, 2022

EmptyHouse said:
In the past, showing a stack in BB seemed strange to me. But once I tried it a few times, there was no going back. It makes no difference in cash games, but in tournaments it is essential. This is how professional players play in online tournaments. It's just faster and easier for you to see what your situation is at the table.

I totally agree with you, especially on the part I haven't mentioned. In fact, if the chip display in BBs doesn't play an important role in crash games, it makes things a lot smoother in tournaments. That's why it's used by most pros like you said. And it's precisely after watching one of D. Negreanu's streams that I've decided to try it.

IADaveMark · Jun 4, 2022

dreamer13 said:
BB defense is said when a player fights with a late position (cut-off, button) or with a small blind. ...

That's not even remotely what OP or this thread is talking about...

najisami · Jun 4, 2022

Rob Hobson said:
Good thread. Checking the answers out.
The blinds, opponents stacks...make me, instinctively, to play keeping an eye on at blind amount with my stacks.

Yeah exactly, "keeping an eye" on everyone's stack. And that becomes easier and quicker with the amounts displayed in BBs instead of having to compare and calculate.

IADaveMark · Jun 4, 2022

The main issue that I have is when I am playing live (which is often... particularly at wsop over the next 2 months), nothing is doing the math for me. I have to not only figure my own stack in BB, I have to figure the pots, my bets, other people's stacks, etc. So when I'm playing on ACR, I will occasionally click over to the BB display just to check something and then switch it back. Keeps me in the habit of doing the math myself. (It helps that my PokerTracker4 HUD has the player's stack BB in it by default.)

But that said, it is a little disturbing to realize that your stack size has shrunk considerably in terms of BB even though you need an abacus to count your chips. (And I keep my stacks like a freakin' cash drawer so it's easy to count.) I have had many a point where I have thought, "I'm in great shape! I still have well over 125,000 chips... wait, crap. That's only 16bb?!?" It's all relative to the current blind level, so we need to be able to constantly shift our perspective as the game changes.

YenRodriguez · Jun 4, 2022

I tried but I didn't feel comfortable with that setting

najisami · Jun 4, 2022

rastapapolos said:
Yeah I think it's a must to display your chips in BB especially for mtts, at least you have to keep track of the amount of your stack in BB in your head. I do display the chips in BB because it's much easier than doing the math, it's very helpful. In a trice you can recognize the smallest stacks and the big dog at your table. It can help also at the late stage of the tournament when ICM is envolved where one 1 BB makes the difference.

Thank you for the insight. I couldn't have said that any better.

najisami · Jun 4, 2022

YenRodriguez said:
I tried but I didn't feel comfortable with that setting

It messed me up and confused me too at first, but I got used to it real quick.

iwont20 · Jun 4, 2022

I always have my stacks displayed in BBs. Even before all rooms started to offer the option, I had this feature in HUD. It's vital for a game to know your own and other players stack sizes in blinds (prior it used to be an M number for tournaments). I don't know how you can play without this info. Maybe some people like to count the whole table's stack sizes before every hand and during every hand themselves, but it's sort of impossible in online poker while you're multitabling. It might be a good training and preparation for offline poker though.

The only time I switch back to chips is when it's a final table, and stacks are so shallow, there is no point in looking at BBs anymore. For example, if everyone is under 10 blinds.

najisami · Jun 4, 2022

IADaveMark said:
The main issue that I have is when I am playing live (which is often... particularly at WSOP over the next 2 months), nothing is doing the math for me. I have to not only figure my own stack in BB, I have to figure the pots, my bets, other people's stacks, etc. So when I'm playing on ACR, I will occasionally click over to the BB display just to check something and then switch it back. Keeps me in the habit of doing the math myself. (It helps that my PokerTracker4 HUD has the player's stack BB in it by default.)

But that said, it is a little disturbing to realize that your stack size has shrunk considerably in terms of BB even though you need an abacus to count your chips. (And I keep my stacks like a freakin' cash drawer so it's easy to count.) I have had many a point where I have thought, "I'm in great shape! I still have well over 125,000 chips... wait, crap. That's only 16bb?!?" It's all relative to the current blind level, so we need to be able to constantly shift our perspective as the game changes.

View attachment 305454

Hey Dave,
I love that last phrase of yours. It kind of recapitulates the whole poker thing. In fact, the ability of adaptation (shifting one's perspective) is a must in regards to every aspect of this game, not just the topic in hand.
Plus the funny part too 😅🤣 : I would be sitting there with thousands of chips, feeling great and all comfy till I realize that I'm way below average, WT.. ?
Unfortunately, the whole science (options, statistics.....) created/provided by online poker sites cannot extend all its advantages to the live game though the latter is and always will be the real thing (at least for me).

danydidi · Jun 4, 2022

No I didn't tried it but after I saw the post I will try it tonight .thanks

venycyos · Jun 4, 2022

Like some who posted above, in the first levels I prefer to play in chips, but towards the end in bb, however I think I should get used to always playing in bb,

77ecos · Jun 5, 2022

when you have the chips in bb, the bets are less impressive, it is what happens to me, even so I have not gotten used to playing like that

GIB · Jun 5, 2022

All my calculations are made for a stack in the big blind. Therefore, during the game it is more convenient for me to see not the number of chips, but the equivalent in the BB. This is important if I play several tables at the same time and do not waste time calculating, for example, pot odds.

LeonardBuda · Jun 5, 2022

I tried it but it didn't work out so nicely. It created the illusion of being short-stacked and hence stuffed up my game. I guess it will take a bit of getting used to. I can definitely see it's advantages, it shows a true reflection of your situation...

melbru88888 · Jun 5, 2022

najisami said:
Hey guys,
Any of you tried playing with the amount of chips displayed in BBs ?
I did lately and found it very interesting. Betting, calling or raising using amounts of BBs actually made me look at the game from a different perspective.
If you have tried it, I'd like some insight about it. Thank you.

its easyer to calcolate in bb for me so i have more time to think about the hand of my opponent

Alexey Shley · Jun 5, 2022

For example, I like to play with the BB, only occasionally switching stacks to chips. It is convenient to calculate the bet, it is clear that your blinds are decreasing compared to the increase in the required bet, you can adjust the game.

najisami · Jun 5, 2022

melbru88888 said:
its easyer to calcolate in bb for me so i have more time to think about the hand of my opponent

Yes that's one way to look at it and I even find it to have more advantages. For example, It made it easier for me to call some 3bets or 3bet myself in situations where I couldn't have done it with the amount of chips displayed, it seemed more expensive lol.

vnnby · Jun 5, 2022

I constantly play with the number of chips displayed in the BB.

Gipsystripsy · Jun 7, 2022

najisami said:
Hey guys,
Any of you tried playing with the amount of chips displayed in BBs ?
I did lately and found it very interesting. Betting, calling or raising using amounts of BBs actually made me look at the game from a different perspective.
If you have tried it, I'd like some insight about it. Thank you.

That's exactly what I experienced! I couldn't imagine before why you would play better with these big blinds than in normal mode. But now I only play with BBs. I could imagine that bigger numbers influence our decisions and we are more impressed because of the high number and make wrong decisions more often. But Iam not sure about that.

najisami · Jun 7, 2022

Hey guys,
I just want to thank you all for participating in this thread. Your opinion and insight helped me make a decision I was not too sure about. I'm definitely keeping the BBs display, especially that I can always look at my chip stack in digits just by hovering over my avatar (On PS at least). So, I got noting to lose anyway....Thank you again..

najisami · Jun 7, 2022

danydidi said:
No I didn't tried it but after I saw the post I will try it tonight .thanks

HI dany,
How did it work out for you ? I'd like to know what you think about it anyway, and I surely hope you did good.

Playing with chips in BB

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