So I finally got around to reading PNL, mainly due to all the talk about SPR that I’ve seen in the BC. On the whole this book makes a lot of sense and is well worth the read, but I cannot for the life of me get my head around manipulating SPR.

I know what SPR is, I know how to calculate it, I know why certain SPR’s are bad for certain hands. That’s all clear as crystal. What I don’t get is how you go about achieving your ‘target’ SPR in the first place.

The book says SPR is the effective stack divided by the total size of the pot pre-flop. So in a common online scenario of 100BB E.S. with a 4xBB pfr going HU would be between 10.1 and 12 SPR (depending on dead blind money). Apparently this is a bad SPR for top pair/ overpair type hands. So how do we manipulate it? The book didn’t explicitly say, so we’re left to guess.

1/ Buy in for less – no, that’s stupid. Suppose you buy in for 50bbs with the intention of hitting your target SPR with a TP/OP type hand, and the first hand you’re dealt is a PP that flops a set. The book says that a good target SPR for a PP is close to 13 – in other words, you should have bought in full.
2/ Dump the hand until you get a favourable SPR – yeah right. I’m dumping AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ until I have enough people in or out of the pot to make a favourable SPR. That’ll be long term profitable.
3/ Change your pre-flop bet sizing – This is the only other option that I can think of, and it’s asking for trouble. Buy in for 100BBs and raise to 6.5 to 8BBs with KQo, just to hit your target SPR for a ‘top pair hand’? The only callers you’d get are setminers or hands that have you crushed. Or raise 3xBB with SC to create a favourable SPR and get 3bet off the hand, fantastic.

There are some people on this forum who really like this whole SPR thing so it must be good. Somebody please tell me how you aim for a ‘target’ SPR pre-flop? Surely I’ve missed something ldo obvious? Please make me look stupid, it’s the only way I’ll learn