In 20+ years of playing in low limit cash games, I have observed something interesting.

Good players almost never stack their chips in little stacks of $50 (of $5 chips), and bad players almost never stack them higher.

I wonder why this is.

It's certainly a valuable piece of information that you can't get online.

Related:

I play LHE, which involves using a lot of small denomination chips. When I unrack my chips, I leave them in stacks of 20, which makes perfect sense to me. Other people immediately convert theirs to stacks of 25. I can't imagine why.

I once read that how someone stacks their chips will often parallel how they play. Sloppy stacks = sloppy loose. Neat and tidy = tight and disciplined.

I dunno if that's true. I tend to keep my stacks pretty orderly, just so I'm not constantly trying to figure out how much I have in my stack, nor are my opponents. I don't think anyone would describe me as nitty.

It drives me up the wall when opponents stack their chips in odd ways that make it hard to quickly determine how much they have. I see a lot of good but younger players making overly tall chip towers, and I want to knock them over, just to teach them a lesson about basic game etiquette.

I have noticed that short-stack players, who are often bad players, will often use half-stack sizes, 10 chips instead of 20. I think there may be some psychological need to find a way to make their stack look bigger by spreading it out over more area.

But it could also just be that they prefer counting in increments of 10 chips, or that it makes the stacks harder to knock over, or perhaps it has something to do with their preferred betting size.

Don't even get me started on the guys who lay their stacks over like a loaf of sliced bread falling out of the bag. Effing weirdos.

I also pay attention to what chip denominations people use when they bet, to see if I can spot patterns / tells. Some weaker players seem hesitant to use larger chip denominations with weaker hands. Like, pushing out a 10-chip stack of $5 chips is likely to mean a weaker hand than just tossing in two $25 chips. They also seem more likely to call when facing a 15-chip stack of $5 chips than three $25 chips.

The psychology seems to be that bigger denomination chips are actually worth more, perhaps because there are typically fewer of them on the table.

I prefer to use the larger chips, simply because they make it easier to see what's in the pot, and take less time to stack.

I think there is something to the sloppy/loose and neat/disciplined thing. Also something to losing players not stacking them high because, one, they aren't used to having deep stacks, and, two, aren't used to holding on to them when they do. High or elaborate stacks are kind of a territorial thing and foster a different image. Bad player not into that. They don't have a territory.