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Stakes and buy-ins in cash games

A cash game is named by its blinds. At $0.10/$0.20 the small blind is ten cents and the big blind is twenty cents, and every other number at the table is easiest to read in big blinds.

The blinds

The two players to the left of the button put in the small and the big blind before the cards are dealt, and the button moves one seat every hand. Over one round each player pays both blinds once. Some tables add an ante, a small amount every player puts in: WePlay's tables carried one at every stake we saw, from $0.01 at $0.01/$0.02 to $0.48 at $1/$2.

The buy-in

You choose how much to sit down with, between the table's minimum and maximum. Both rooms count it in big blinds:

• At WePlay you buy in for 30 to 100 big blinds: $6 to $20 at $0.10/$0.20.
• At Basepoker you buy in for 25 to 100 big blinds: $5 to $25 at $0.10/$0.25.

Many players sit with the full 100 big blinds. A full stack lets you play every street without being forced all in early, and it wins the most when you hold the best hand. A short stack costs less, but it leaves you fewer choices after the flop.

How the stakes climb

A step up usually doubles or more than doubles the money in play. Move up when your bankroll covers the new stake with room to spare, which A bankroll for cash games works out.

Leaving the table

In a cash game you can stand up after any hand and take your chips with you. That is the biggest difference from a tournament, and it is why a cash session should end on a plan rather than on a feeling.

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