How much should I buy in for when playing 1-2 No Limit Hold'em?

[Emily Trott]

Years ago, before I'd actually played no limit hold'em I remember the experts recommending a buy-in of 100 units. (ie: 100 x $2 unit = $200 buy-in for the 1-2 game) Should I go with that or is there considered to be a more optimal buy-in? Thank you for helping this tournament player with something she really knows very little about.

PS - I should mention that this is for a live game, if that matters.

 

[eetenor]

Years ago, before I'd actually played no limit hold'em I remember the experts recommending a buy-in of 100 units. (ie: 100 x $2 unit = $200 buy-in for the 1-2 game) Should I go with that or is there considered to be a more optimal buy-in? Thank you for helping this tournament player with something she really knows very little about.

PS - I should mention that this is for a live game, if that matters.

Thank you for posting

When we sit in a game for the first time we cannot know we have an edge on the table nor how the table plays as a whole. Under those circumstances we should buy-in short stacked and top up as soon as we know how the table plays. If the min buy-in is 40bb or more then we should buy-in at 60bb as 40bb is to high for true short stack poker strat.
We of course need to know how to play short stack poker. If not 60bb buy-in top up to 100bb if you have position on the weaker players if not stay at 60bb if the better players are on your left.

You want to ask what a min top up is. Some casinos only let us top up once for less than the table min often 40BB is the min buy-in. We do not want our stack to fall below 60bb's for any length of time as it is -EV to have a short stack when that big hand comes along.

The key to live poker is: table selection and then seat selection. Always move to the table that is having fun and always move seats if it gives you better position in relation to skill of villains.

Hope this helps

 

[Emily Trott]

Thank you for posting

When we sit in a game for the first time we cannot know we have an edge on the table nor how the table plays as a whole. Under those circumstances we should buy-in short stacked and top up as soon as we know how the table plays. If the min buy-in is 40bb or more then we should buy-in at 60bb as 40bb is to high for true short stack poker strat.
We of course need to know how to play short stack poker. If not 60bb buy-in top up to 100bb if you have position on the weaker players if not stay at 60bb if the better players are on your left.

You want to ask what a min top up is. Some casinos only let us top up once for less than the table min often 40BB is the min buy-in. We do not want our stack to fall below 60bb's for any length of time as it is -EV to have a short stack when that big hand comes along.

The key to live poker is: table selection and then seat selection. Always move to the table that is having fun and always move seats if it gives you better position in relation to skill of villains.

Hope this helps

It was very helpful...thank you! I especially appreciated the advice to always keep my stack at 60BBs or better. Makes a lot of sense.

 

[Luvepoker]

Personally i have always read its best to buy in for the max amount. I have never been sure about that and admit the post above makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[pcgnome]

Playing a $1-2 game I always start with $200 worth of chips. I try to bring at least an extra $200 just in case there's a bust out. It just makes me feel a little more secure that I won't leave the poker room empty-handed. I'll play until I have won around $100. You know extra beer money.
There's more money playing Omaha because the pots are usually bigger, but that's a harder game to learn.

 

[eetenor]

Playing a $1-2 game I always start with $200 worth of chips. I try to bring at least an extra $200 just in case there's a bust out. It just makes me feel a little more secure that I won't leave the poker room empty-handed. I'll play until I have won around $100. You know extra beer money.
There's more money playing Omaha because the pots are usually bigger, but that's a harder game to learn.

Thank you for posting

Omaha played at the 1-2 level is a very straight forward game we play to make the nuts so if our hand is not the nuts post flop we can fold it and preflop we enter the pot with hands that makes the nuts. AXs JT98 trying to make the straights.

Luuk Botter on you tube has some great videos on low stakes Omaha.

Reach out to me if you want me to answer any questions as I would hate for you to be not playing Omaha when it is more profitable for you.

Hope this helps

 

[abpoker]

I feel more often than not, you should buy in for the maximum allowed. Overall, this will allow you to play optimal poker, and allow you the best chance to get maximum value on your good hands.

 

[pepomjp]

Buy enough to be the chip leader.

 

[Lucky_Shark]

I think 100 is enough. But in online MTT, I use at least 200.

 

[Zirkzee]

In cashgames I would proceed like this:
You always buy in with a full stack (100 big blinds) at a table. 100 big blinds are a buy-in. If you have 25 buy-ins of the next higher limit, you can move up to that limit. If you only have 25 buy-ins of the next lower limit, you have to go back there. The bankroll management you have limit to play buy-in at the table

less than $ 100 NL2 (0.01 / 0.02) $ 2
less than $ 250 NL4 (0.02 / 0.04) $ 4
less than $ 500 NL10 (0.05 / 0.10) $ 10
less than $ 625 NL20 (0.10 / 0.20) $ 20
less than $ 1,250 NL25 (0.10 / 0.25) $ 25
less than $ 2,500 NL50 (0.25 / 0.50) $ 50

 

[Vilgeoforc]

No It is not necessary to play with 100 bb. You can play from 40-60 bb. This is a medium stack (MSS) game. Such a strategy will allow you to reduce risks and try yourself at a limit higher than usual. But this is a completely different approach to the game, which is very different from playing with 100 big blinds.