Stack-to-Pot Ratio (SPR) Calculator
Enter your effective stack and the pot size after the flop.
See your SPR and the commitment threshold that tells you which hands play for stacks.
- Enter the effective stack. The smaller of your stack or your opponent's stack. That's the maximum that can go in.
- Enter the pot size on the flop. The pot total when the first flop card hits — preflop bets + dead money.
- Read the SPR + commitment band. The number tells you which made hands and draws have enough relative strength to play for stacks.
SPR shapes c-bet sizing, raise sizing, and the size of a profitable stack-off threshold.
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What is stack-to-pot ratio?
Stack-to-pot ratio (SPR) is the size of the effective stack divided by the size of the pot at the start of postflop play. It's the single best heuristic for how big a hand you need to commit your stack profitably on a given board.
An SPR of 1 means the stack-to-pot ratio is 1:1 — one pot-sized bet gets stacks in. An SPR of 10 means you'd need to make ten pot-sized commitments before all the chips are in. The same one pair plays very differently at SPR 1 vs SPR 10.
SPR bands and what each one tells you
Different SPR ranges have well-studied implications for which hand classes are profitable to play for stacks. The intuition stays the same whether you're in a 100 BB cash game or a 30 BB tournament — only the relative stack depth changes which SPR you can engineer.
- SPR < 4 (low): You're committed. Any pair plus a draw, any overpair, top pair top kicker — these hands play for stacks. There is no value in playing fancy. Bet, get raised, ship it.
- SPR 4–7 (medium): Top pair becomes a call/raise hand depending on kicker and texture. Sets and two-pair commit. Bare overpair plays cautiously and folds to large raises on coordinated boards.
- SPR 8–13 (high): Top pair is a call/fold most of the time. Only sets, straights, and big draws commit. Overpair plays one bet then evaluates. Implied odds dominate.
- SPR > 13 (very deep): Only made nut hands and the strongest draws (open-ended + flush, two-pair-plus, sets) have implied odds for stack commitment. Even overpairs become call/fold on action.
Engineering SPR before the flop
The best players don't react to SPR — they create it. Open-raise sizing and preflop 3-bet sizing determine the SPR you'll have on the flop, often by design. A small open-raise from the cutoff against a tight blind creates a high-SPR pot where postflop skill matters; a larger 3-bet from out of position creates a low-SPR pot where preflop equity matters most.
Big pairs prefer low SPR (you want stacks in before opponents make hands). Suited connectors and small pairs prefer high SPR (you want room to set-mine or hit big draws). Sizing your preflop bets with this in mind is one of the biggest skill differences between intermediate and advanced players.
Frequently asked questions
What's the SPR most players misplay?
SPR 4-7 is where most recreational players bleed money. Top pair feels strong enough to commit — and at SPR 2 it is — but at SPR 6 the same hand needs much more support before stacks go in. Players who'd never stack off top pair at SPR 12 happily do it at SPR 5, even though the math is closer to the 12 case than the 2 case.
How does SPR change in tournaments?
Tournament play forces SPR shifts every level. Early-tournament SPR resembles cash; mid-tournament SPRs compress as stacks drop; short-stack SPRs are often 1-3 on the flop, which means every flop is a stack-off decision. The framework doesn't change; the SPR bands you live in do.
Does PokerCharts have other free poker tools?
Yes — try our free pot odds calculator for one-bet equity decisions, the ICM calculator for tournament deals, and the tournament payout calculator for prize structure modeling.