Does buy in cost effect your play style?

I don't believe it should but it sure seems like it. What do you think?

It really does I THINK. The higher the buy-in the more you have to lose. It should not be looked at that way and a person should just play as they normally do but I WOULD have to say that it does weigh on the mind especially when it comes to all in's

It shouldn't, but unfortunately it does.

It shouldn't affect your play style if you have proper bankroll management.

It might affect my play, depending on the payout structure and whether I'm at the high end of my buy-in range. I tend to play single night tournaments with buy-ins between $100 and $500. In the last tournament I played with a $100 buy-in, the min cash was $250. During the bubble, I didn't really tighten up at all. I stayed aggressive because I wasn't so concerned with risking a $150 profit. Now, let's say it was the $500 buy-in and the min cash was $1250. I might consider tightening up my play around the bubble because the $750 profit could pay for up to 7 of my next tournaments. So, I think it's definitely reasonable to take the buy-in into consideration. Of course, you should never be playing at a level where you are scared to lose your buy-in/stack. That would prevent you from taking the necessary risks to play the game correctly.

I wish i could play the same at every stake but unfortunately the higher the buyin the more cautious i play. I think its one of my biggest flaws.

It affects everybody. Just in different ways. Me I look at it as I can still play aggressive but with higher buy in tourneys the field plays a little tighter as opposed to a lower buy in $20-$90 where the field is completely mixed of everything but have a higher rate of having people that call more/play wider ranges. In my opinion at least $200+ tourneys I don't run into a mess of people who will call 50 bb with a pair of 2s

for me this is not a doubt. we can not play his A game if we play on buy-in that we can not afford to lose. We must always follow the rules of management of banckroll to hope to achieve good results.

It's just human nature to take a $20 buy-in more seriously than a 1$,,,,,

when playing for little to nothing any hand is a possible keeper, however the more i pay to play the tighter my play becomes and only good hands are held.

Probably does more times than not when you playing something out of your buyin range, but I can see people probably not even noticing it sometimes, almost an unconscious nittyness (myself included lol).

It should not, if you approach the game like a professional. If you do not play the same if the buy-in is bigger, you are probably playing underrolled, so you should not play those tournaments in the first place.

If you have a good BRM, it won't effect your play.
But since I don't have a good BRM, it does effect my play alot

Iam interested in what a pro really thinks about this, but here is my rec with hopes of becoming a reg player thinks. The below is regarding online play.

IF Pro plays a microstakes game they are likely making major adjustments to their game to allow for the poor play and continued Donk like play that you get in microstakes. The only constant is that a pro does not play their cards, but the players at the table (that is my perception anyway).

A pro I would think is playing well above the microstake level, and consequently the player pool is different and likely to make major adjustments to how they play because now they are playing with a player pool that is more knowledgeable about the game on average. And I imagine this is true to varying degrees as you move up the buyin amounts say a $100 vs a $1500 and in between.

For myself a freeroller to a microstakes player. I will take more chances in a number of spots, so I can practice various strategies and if I blow my stack, I lose nothing financially in a freeroll. However, this has also helped me increase my overall play, since I do this less and less at the microstakes.

At least my bankroll has increased. I realize its likely I am not as good as I think and variance has not yet caught up with me and might just be running good, if so hopefully it will last .


The thing for me that makes me treat games differently now is bankroll management. If I am playing outside the confines of a 60+ buyin BR for a tourney I have no business in that game. So naturally as many of us I tend to tighten up and wait for spots more so than I do if I am playing a $3 tourney and have another 60+ buyins Consequently, I rarely put myself in those situations as I find most of the pro's I follow, stress BR is extremely important.

Anyway, I think the more important question is are you a rec player or a reg with aspirations of learning the game. If so lower stake games and freerolls can give you a lot of experience in identifying player types and working out strategies without impacting your BR. On the other hand each level up will come with its own set of challenges requiring you to become more and more adaptable to the players you face.

At least that is my opinion - look forward to reading other responses

It affects very much. I play a small buy ins to a lot quieter than the big ones. On the big buy ins when you QQ you think about it, whether to throw an all in, but in this small 100% ALL Institute

kowrip said:

It might affect my play, depending on the payout structure and whether I'm at the high end of my buy-in range. I tend to play single night tournaments with buy-ins between $100 and $500. In the last tournament I played with a $100 buy-in, the min cash was $250. During the bubble, I didn't really tighten up at all. I stayed aggressive because I wasn't so concerned with risking a $150 profit. Now, let's say it was the $500 buy-in and the min cash was $1250. I might consider tightening up my play around the bubble because the $750 profit could pay for up to 7 of my next tournaments. So, I think it's definitely reasonable to take the buy-in into consideration. Of course, you should never be playing at a level where you are scared to lose your buy-in/stack. That would prevent you from taking the necessary risks to play the game correctly.

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Good answer

influences me - surprisingly I play more loose and aggressive - in expensive tournaments than usual, I don’t know why

FrothyGoodness said:

It affects everybody. Just in different ways. Me I look at it as I can still play aggressive but with higher buy in tourneys the field plays a little tighter as opposed to a lower buy in $20-$90 where the field is completely mixed of everything but have a higher rate of having people that call more/play wider ranges. In my opinion at least $200+ tourneys I don't run into a mess of people who will call 50 bb with a pair of 2s

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I Totally Agree and it seems most people here agree that there is a definite difference in play style from Micros to Mid and High stake games...

People it seems tighten up when they move up in buy in costs...

"Scared Money" a term I've only just heard since joining CardsChat hmmm does that have any thing to do with Buy in costs too?

I think the best advice to do with this difference was from Daniel Negreanu when he talked about not thinking about your chips as having spending value out side of the tournament...

If you keep thinking "awww these chips I'm betting now could buy me this out side of the tournament" Then you will continue to bet Scared or not bet at all when you should be going all in against a raise...

I'm going to Pay a $109 party poker tournament this weekend and see for my self how tight I'm going to play... Wish me luck...

I dont let the size of the buy-in effect me one way or the other thats why I like tournament poker over cash.Once I pay my buy-in its gone so I dont worry about it and just play its all a game after that.

Definetely ..

The main thing, and maybe the main rule of poker is to play on bankroll, when you play on bankroll, you play your limit and you will not have difficulties and problems playing playing more expensive tournaments!

As others have said, I wish it didn't but it does. If I'm spending a larger percentage of my bankroll than usual on a tournament, chances are I'm not gonna wanna take risks and I'll be more afraid to bluff, which typically results in me losing before the money.

I do believe that the cost of the buy in affects the gameplay. Most expensive buy in seems more professionals. Cheaper buy ins tend to be all-in frenzy.

Not anymore. When I first started playing poker, I played more tightly in expensive games. Now for me there is no difference how much the entrance costs, I have the same style of play for micro/high event.

I think the higher the buy-in the bigger the win. But it should be borne in mind that on average, even the weak players for every 5-7 games have one prize.Therefore, when you play games with high buy-ins you at least do not lose anything..Naturally when you lose you lose everything.But then play there is no sense.