Poker Article

Buying in to a cash game

Cash games require different skills than poker tournaments. In this poker article we will teach you some of the required skills for cash games.

When you are sitting down at a cash table, the first question you are presented with is 'How much should I buy-in for?'. There are several factors you should keep in mind when deciding your buy-in amount : What are the blinds on this table? How is your skill compared to the other players at the table? How big are the other stacks at the table? Usually you will want to buy-in for an amount of around 100 big blinds. So on a $1/$2 table, you generally buy-in for $200. If there is a very big stack at the table, you may want to consider buying in for more. You will need to have the same amount of chips as the other stack has if you want to be able to win them all in 1 big pot. If you do so, please remember you are not only able to win a bigger pot, you can also lose a bigger pot! Of course, the bigger your stack, the stronger your hand should be before you try to get all the chips in the middle. The only reason you should buy-in for less than 100 big blinds is if you think the other players are better than you. But if this is the case, I really suggest you look for another table to sit down at. For a beginning player it is not a bad idea to buy-in for less (IE: 40 or 50 big blinds will ensure you don't have to make too many hard decisions). Reloading, rebuying or getting up from the table Whenever your stack goes below 50 big blinds you should reload to 100 big blinds. You don't want to be in a situation where you finally have a huge hand but you can't win a lot because you don't have enough chips. When you lose your whole stack on a table, you should consider whether you are at the right table for you. Do you think you have an edge over the players are the table, or are they running over you? Now might be a good time to look for another table! Of course if you just got it all in pre flop with AA and you opponent called with 88, it's probably a good game and you should think about rebuying for a larger amount, so you can cover this weak player.