Definition of a buy-in
The buy-in is the amount money required by a player to sit down
in a particular poker game. All real money games at PartyPoker.com
have a minimum buy-in required before a player may join a table.
Minimum and maximum buy-ins
Limit poker
In limit games, the minimum buy-in is equal to 10 times the big
blind. There is no maximum buy-in.
Example: In a $5/10 limit game, the big blind value is $5, so the
minimum buy-in is equivalent to 10x5, or $50.
Pot and No-Limit poker
Pot-limit (PL) and no-limit (NL) games as played at
PartyPoker.com both have a minimum and a maximum buy-in.
The maximum amount a player may bring to the table in an NL/PL
game corresponds to the name of the game. For example, in a $100 NL
game, the maximum buy-in would be $100.
The minimum amount a player can bring to the table is 20% of the
maximum. For example, in a $100 NL game, the minimum buy-in would be
$20.
Table stakes
At PartyPoker.com, all games and tournaments comply with the
following table stakes protocols:
No chips may be added to a player's stack during a hand.
In a real money game, players can only add to their stack between
hands. While some tournaments offer rebuys and add-ons, these may
only be executed after a hand is over and before the next hand
starts. Players may, however, add chips or rebuy and add-on during
the play of a hand if they are not involved in that hand.
Players may not remove chips from the table.
In a real money game, a player cannot remove any chips from the
table during play until he or she leaves the game. This rule applies
regardless of how many chips a player has brought to the table.
Note: The table stakes protocols are designed to protect the
game. Otherwise, if a player is allowed to put a few chips into his
pocket every time he or she is ahead, then the number of chips
available for play will be reduced and the action at the table will
suffer.
If you have any more questions about table stakes, buy-ins or
side pots,
