Poker stakes: learn about buy-ins and table stakes in poker

Before you sit down to your first cash game, there are certain basics you need to know, including:

• What we mean by a buy-in
  
• How much will it cost?
  
• How table stakes work
  

The buy-in is the money you need to join any given poker game, which gives you your seat and a certain number of chips. At partypoker, most of our cash games have a minimum buy-in, which you’ll need to factor in when budgeting for your play. Some games have a maximum buy-in too, which puts a ceiling on how many chips players can bring to the game.

In limit games, the minimum buy-in is 10 times the big blind. So, in a $1/$2 limit game, you’ll need at least $20 to get started.

Now you’ve got your chips, here’s how they work once you’re at the table:

If rebuys and add-ons are on offer, you need to wait until the hand is over before topping up your stack. Unless you’re not in the hand, in which case you can help yourself any time until the start of the next hand.