Jayson745
Enthusiast
Silver Level
In limit it doesn't really matter as long as you have enough that you dont run out mid hand with the nuts. Just bring more than enough.
NL I used to like coming in short then building up so I wasn't risking much. Then I realized how much it sucks to have a monster hand getting action, and not have enough money to get paid in full. So I come in pretty deep to those too now.
NL I used to like coming in short then building up so I wasn't risking much. Then I realized how much it sucks to have a monster hand getting action, and not have enough money to get paid in full. So I come in pretty deep to those too now.
Jillychemung
Stacks & Stacks
Loyaler
What he said and then you will probably want to have another 3X your buyin as backup in case you get cooler'd. Also top-up whenever you run $20 below your buyin.
shinedown.45
Legend
Silver Level
Deltafrost
Rock Star
Silver Level
c9h13no3
Is drawing with AK
Silver Level
Limit - you should have enough money to cap each street. So for hold'em, there's 4 betting rounds, so you'd need to sit down with at least 12 big bets. I usually sit down with 50 big bets, just so I don't ever have to reload my stack.
No Limit, just buy in for the table max, unless you have some reason not to (lots of LAGs playing deepstacked, you may wanna buy-in short, ect.)
Sardonix
Rock Star
Silver Level
only sit in games that you can sit deepstacked. for instance you could sit ok 1-2 with 200 dollars 100x the bb but you dont have the freedom to do things that you could do with a deepstack. I don't play limit i play nl so if i take a 100 dollar hit on a big hand but im deepstacked i can come back from it easier also if theres another deepstack and i get a monster and he feels like gambling then i could be up to 6-800 dollars instead of 2-400 dollars because i sat with only 200. If you can sit within in your means deepstacked then do it because you have the chips to make moves on pots and most the shortstacks are playing so tight that they will only call or raise you with really solid hands. So you can just scoop pot after pot of course this is reffering to nl. limit is a whole other animal. gl
Steveg1976
...
Silver Level
This is not true, there are many reasons to play only 100bb deep or if you like to 50bb deep. Just be aware that the way you play hands changes based on the stacks. Besides sitting 200bb deep does no good if everyone at the table has 75bb as you can only play to the amount of the smallest stacks in the hand anyway.
R
Ranger390
Rock Star
Silver Level
Much of the advice given above applies primarily to No Limit. In a $1/$2 Limit game, $100 is more than enough to start with. If you play tight, your $100 should last all day. I play $2/$4 Limit at my local casino and never sit down with more than $100. I have only had to reload once during a session in the last year. If the cards are running so bad that I loose the $100, I'm heading home.
califantasy
Rock Star
Silver Level
I usually won't sit in a limit cash game with less than 10 big bets. Buying in for $400 to a 4-8 limit game is crazy. I usually buy in for 80-100, and that seems to be the norm in most rooms I have played in. 1-2, you could probably buy-in for $20-40 and be fine. Make sure that you have enough to reload if necessary.
If you are new to the game, ask the floor manager what the normal buy-in is, he will tell you.
Very. They usually have a maximum buy-in at most NL tables. I try to sit down with the maximum, since it presents the opportunity to win a bigger pot. If I have the nuts, and my opponent has $100 and I only have $40 on the table, I could be leaving $60 behind that he could have paid me.
EvilGenius
Enthusiast
Silver Level
i always sit down with 85 bb. that way, i still get paid off on a monster hand, but can somewhat limit the damage of losses during losing streaks. i would say that anywhere between 70-100 bb would be optimal.
keep in mind, i say this as primarily a SnG player who ventures to cash games only once in a while and has yet to find a groove in cash games. i think that the ammount you bring to the table should be whatever you are comfortable losing until you get accustomed to the play at the limits that you choose.
keep in mind, i say this as primarily a SnG player who ventures to cash games only once in a while and has yet to find a groove in cash games. i think that the ammount you bring to the table should be whatever you are comfortable losing until you get accustomed to the play at the limits that you choose.
AlBundy24
Enthusiast
Silver Level
I personally sit for about 50xthe blinds. That is plenty to let you sit around for some hands. $1/$2NL that would add up to $150 ((1+2)*50). I don't think I've ever seen anyone else claim this, so I guess I can say I invented it 
jk. Anywho, $150 at these stakes, if you folded every hand, and were 9 handed the whole time, you would see 450 preflop hands. Now, obviously, you're not going to fold 450 consecutive times. You will, however, have more than enough opportunities to play selectively enough that you will get strong hands to play with. That's just a personal number though. What you should do before deciding an amount is to look at what everyone at the table currently has. If the biggest stack at the table is $80, you wouldn't want to sit down for $400 (might be too tempting to bully, which could put you in some bad situations like raising with marginal hands to steal a pot and get called with a slightly better than marginal hand). Plus it would be pointless because the most you could profit in an all in situation wouldn't be your $400, it'd be that guy's $80. I'd say sit down anywhere near the big stack.
jk. Anywho, $150 at these stakes, if you folded every hand, and were 9 handed the whole time, you would see 450 preflop hands. Now, obviously, you're not going to fold 450 consecutive times. You will, however, have more than enough opportunities to play selectively enough that you will get strong hands to play with. That's just a personal number though. What you should do before deciding an amount is to look at what everyone at the table currently has. If the biggest stack at the table is $80, you wouldn't want to sit down for $400 (might be too tempting to bully, which could put you in some bad situations like raising with marginal hands to steal a pot and get called with a slightly better than marginal hand). Plus it would be pointless because the most you could profit in an all in situation wouldn't be your $400, it'd be that guy's $80. I'd say sit down anywhere near the big stack.