Buy In Amounts

Most low stakes no limit hold 'em games or pot limit omaha games will have a cap on how much you can buy into the game for. This prevents someone from over bullying with a large stack as soon as they sit down. Obviously, if someone is sitting with a large stack, they probably earned it or got lucky. I'll focus on $1/$2 no limit hold 'em as that is my most profitable game. There is a lot of great literature regarding playing a short stack in PLO and playing a large stack.

When I sit down at a poker table, I'm pretty confident in my abilities and feel that I am probably one of the better players at the table. Because of this, I will normally buy in for the maximum (whether that is $200, $300, or $500, etc.). I want to have a lot of chips in front of me so that if I have the opportunity to play a big pot with another big stack, I can win a lot of money. If I'm on short chips, I don't have the opportunity to bust anyone when I flop bottom quads against top boat. Having a lot of chips also lets me see a few extra flops than I would on a short stack. I'm still playing tight aggressive on a big stack, but I'll see a few more flops with suited connectors and such when pot odds warrant.

If you are just starting out, I would recommend buying in for the minimum. This will basically limit your losses on any given hand. You can also buy in for the minimum if you are going to be seated at a table full of deep stacked players. Lets say the maximum buy in is $200 and the other 8 players are all sitting with over $800 each. You may be better off playing a short stack and gambling a little bit on a minimum buy than a full buy. You can also buy in for some amount between the minimum and maximum in similar situations.

One overlooked point about max buy in cash games is that you can always reload up to the maximum buy in at any point in time. Normally, if I buy in for a $200 maximum, I will keep another $100 in green chips in my pocket. If my stack drops below $175, I'll casually drop a green chip on the table and instantly reload. This way, I can be at the maximum when I play a big pot and hopefully double up or bust another player. The other advantage of this is that a lot of players will not notice your newly found green chips and might think you are playing fewer chips than you are actually playing. This is why I prefer to reload with the green $25 chips as opposed to the red $5 chips.

Normally, in $1/$2 no limit hold 'em games, there are only $1 chips and $5 chips in play. Adding a few $25 chips into play may allow you to make a play on an opponent. Some players will envy your green chips and do anything they can to get them. Against these players, I'll only bet the greens when I have the nuts. Other players will fear the green chip, thinking that you don't want to part with them and when you bet a green chip, you have the nuts. I may be more inclined to bluff with the green chips against those players. You just have to feel out your opponents to see how they would react to a green chip.