The Poker Penguin says - Never buy in for less than the maximum in a NL game. Here's why:

In the multi-way gun battle that is a No-Limit cash game, chips are like ammunition. The motto of the successful player should be "peace through superior firepower". There is no excuse for ever having less money than the minimum buy in. That's just crazy talk.

Why am I so adamant about this?

Well, picture this. It's a juicy $25 NL ring game. I get dealt QQ in early position and raise it to $2. It's small enough to keep four of the suckers in. Flop comes Q72 rainbow. I'm even ahead of the mighty 72o here, so I bet out another $2 trying to entice as many as possible to call me down. Two people call, and the button throws a $10 re-raise out there.

OK, so I sit up and take notice. I've got top set, there's no draw that doesn't require runner runner. He's trying to put a Vegas move on me. Well, I decide that he's probably going to have scared out the two guys in the middle. I also want to make people think twice about re-raising me. So I push all my remaining $25 into the middle. He calls for the $13 more he has left.


Turn 4h, River 9h. He flips over KJ Hearts! There's the flush - boom! So I'm sitting there with $12 and change in front of me, feeling a little bit incredulous that this guy wants to give me his money that badly. The very next hand, I get a pair of lesbians again.

The guy in front of me bets out $2 so I call. He's new so I don't have a read on him. A couple or three callers including the Runner Runner Man. Flop Q45 rainbow. Check, I check, wanting to throw a check raise out there. Unfortunately, it's checked round. Turn is a Q, and I got me sweet quads. Sweet sweet quads. UTG bets out a couple and I smooth call feeling like a freaking ninja. I am invulnerable. There is NO hand in the whole world that beats me. One caller, and then Runner Runner man raises to $4. Whoo - we got a great big convoy!

UTG re-raises to $6. What are you playing at dude? That's not a move, it's a weak ass fish play. If you want money in the pot, you call, if you want to scare people out, you pump it hard. I show him the way to do it by pushing all in. For about $10! Whoops. Some genius (that would be me) forgot to reload. They both call, I show down my quads to beat a set of 4s (UTG) and A5 (go Runner Runner man go, you had outs to come second at least). I manage to cost myself another $13 or $26 through inattention.

Imagine if Clint Eastwood was that stupid.

Dirty Harry - "I know what you're thinking, punk. You're thinking did he fire six shots, or just five? Well, you gotta ask yourself, do I feel lucky... well do ya? Punk?"

The punk stands there and thinks for a second. He then casually pulls out his gun. Dirty Harry pulls the trigger on his magnum and it goes click!

Dirty Harry - "I'm a dirty rat! After the shootout at the old hotel, I only put three bullets back in my gun!"

So, always make sure you're bringing the biggest pile of ammunition you are allowed to. In limit, the problem is less severe. However, it's still stupid to go all-in in a cash game. If you don't have the money for a full on gutter brawl, you should be in a lower limit (where possible).

But doesn't a short buy-in mean you can play more drawing hands?
Nope. Chips are like ammunition, or hot blonde girls in a hot tub, the more the merrier.

For example, a .25/.50 NL Holdem game. You decide to call a $3 pre-flop raise with 76s. You're either going to hit the flop and stay in, miss and make a move, or miss and fold.

So what could happen:

Short buy-in ($10) hits (say 543s) - the most he can exploit over the next three betting rounds is $7 * number of callers.

Short buy-in misses and considers making a move. The only muscle he's got is $7 into a pot that is at the absolute least $6, and probably $9 or $12. It's not just convincing, and the opponents will be correct to call with a lot of hands.

Full buy-in hits - he can exploit up to $22 * number of callers. He also has the option to make a scary move allin, or to call a medium bet, and still make a good sized move in on the turn.

But, I hear you say, what about the free draws that mister short buy-in gets? Repeat after me kiddo - Pot Odds. Once you're allin, you're only competing for one slice of the pie. If you're full stacked and you have the odds, you can chase, and then punish your opponent when you do hit.

I think that the only time you will benefit from a short buy-in is if you are the worst player at the table. It means you have less money to lose on any given hand and can sometimes get lucky and take a piece of a pot you shouldn't have been in. But really, if you're the worst player in a game - leave, run away as fast as you can and find a game you can beat.

I'm very much in favor of full buy-ins. Unless you're a gambler who just wants to win as many showdowns as possible.

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