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A lot of people who have never sat down at a brick and mortar poker room ask me how much money they should come to the table with. This is an important decision, so here is my advice on the issue.
In general, I say buy-in for less money than more money . Here's why. If you have less chips in front of you, then psychologically you will be less inclined to play questionable starting hands. This is extremely important for beginning poker players, because at the low-limits you are tempted to see a lot of flops.
Don't get me wrong – at the low limits, the idea is to see a lot of flops -- but to see them cheaply. By starting with less chips, you may be more selective with your pre-flop card selection, especially in early positions. At low-limit tables you will need all the help you can get tightening up your game because the temptation is so strong to play garbage hands. After all, you will frequently see your opponents win with trash starting hands. By having less chips in front of you, I think most players are more conservative.
Many poker professionals recommend sitting down at a table with roughly enough money for 25 to 30 big bets. So, using this logic, if you were playing 3/6 holdem, you would want to sit down with $150 to $180 ($6 x 25bets and $6 x 30bets respectively). However, from my experience playing in card rooms in Las Vegas, this is too much money for a low limit game. At a 3/6 game, there are very few people that will sit down with $150 or more. The average buy-in at a 3/6 game is “one rack”, or $100. I think at a 3/6 table this is the appropriate amount of money to sit down with.
A lot of people who play 2/4 texas holdem also buy-in for $100, and in my opinion this is a little on the high side. When I play 2/4, I typically buy-in for $80. When I play 1-3, I typically buy-in for $60. By limiting my starting bankroll, I am less likely to play trash starting hands, and I'm also less likely to call bets for which I know I don't have the proper odds.
By contrast, I also see a lot of people sit down at a 4/8 table with only $100, and in my opinion this is not enough. At a 4/8 game, I usually sit down with at least $150. As I play higher limits, I am also more likely to buy-in closer to 25 to 30 bets. This is because at higher limit games, I am already playing a tight game, and I don't need the psychological advantage of having fewer chips in front of me to remind me to tighten up
my play.
Also, remember that in Vegas, you can always pull more cash out of your pocket. Of course, you can't pull out more cash when you're in a hand – but if you see your chip stack dwindling down, then go ahead an pull out some cash when you're not in a hand, and set the cash under your chips.
Poker rooms have different rules for cash at the tables, and some poker rooms such as the Mirage only allow $100 bills to play (so, you couldn't pull out only $20 at the Mirage), but most Las Vegas card rooms are more forgiving, and will allow you to pull almost any cash out of your wallet and play with it.
Final conclusion: Err on the conservative side when buying-in. Less chips will encourage you to play less hands. This psychology will improve your game.
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