i have a game buy-in theory question

facepull · #1 07-30-2007, 07:40 AM

your bankroll is 6000
your game will be 1-2 no-limit
you have a choice between two games
the first game is capped at a 300 buy-in which 6000 is plenty
the second game is uncapped
is it better to take the capped game or to buy-in into the uncapped game?
in either case you would buy in for 100bb.
the thing that bothers me about the uncapped games is that it plays much bigger then the blinds allow for. some will buy-in for 500 to 1000. 6000 bankroll does not support these matching buy-ins
please this is a honest question

deucethree · #2 07-30-2007, 08:13 AM

Doesn't make much of a difference though I'd always walk away from the game if I had an effective stack I was uncomfortable losing. That's more likely to happen in the uncapped game.

facepull · #3 07-30-2007, 08:39 AM

i try to keep within my bankroll. i dont wanna buy in to a 1-2 game with 500 or more. it seems that many players buy in for at least that. because of this im missin g out on the best poker room in biloxi. i keep to the 300 max games.

facepull · #4 07-30-2007, 09:01 AM

these guys make many bully raises of 40 or more. what that does to me is to make me tighten up waitig for the big hands but then thats not poker. a hand like 88 i will play for a 6bb raise but no way am i gonna play for 20bb. thats the inherit problem with uncapped small blind games. im a good tag player but i prefer smaller fluctuations to my bankroll. im wondering what some of you guys do in these non normal situations?

deucethree · #5 07-30-2007, 09:12 AM

[ QUOTE ]
these guys make many bully raises of 40 or more. what that does to me is to make me tighten up waitig for the big hands but then thats not poker. a hand like 88 i will play for a 6bb raise but no way am i gonna play for 20bb. thats the inherit problem with uncapped small blind games. im a good tag player but i prefer smaller fluctuations to my bankroll. im wondering what some of you guys do in these non normal situations?

[/ QUOTE ]

You just described people playing very bad poker. That should increase your expectation. That more than off-sets for any increased variance when you're properly rolled. Again, they can't make you play for more than your effective stack.

Now if you play poorly and make bigger mistakes than their mistakes of course you should avoid that game (or fix that leak). A game where players ignore the math behind poker is a good game to sit in though. I wouldn't let their stacks keep me out of that game. Again, effective stacks are what count. The chips after that might as well be in their bank account as they can't come into play against you. Would you be hesitant to play 1/2 with a $200 cap against Bill Gates if he played poorly?

deucethree · #6 07-30-2007, 09:14 AM

Again, I would stand up if your effective stack ever got large enough to make you unomfortable though.

ev_slave · #7 07-30-2007, 12:18 PM

A key point that hasn't been raised is that your variance will be higher in the uncapped game. This will increase your Risk of Ruin regardless of your bankroll.

It's possible that your EV will increase as well since you can get paid bigger on your big hands, but for someone who's a little bit risk averse it's likely that they'd prefer the capped game. However, there is no right answer to this since it is dependent on each person's tolerance of risk.

deucethree · #8 07-30-2007, 12:29 PM

The variance wouldn't necessarily be higher. In the capped game if people are willing to race for buy-ins in an attempt to double up to a big stack the variance will be higher there.

The un-capped game the way he's describing it should be very low variance. If people are opening for 20BB's just buy in short, pick up a premium hand, push it, be crushing his range.

The only bad thing is when he does double, triple, quadruple up he's going to for sure be covered where he might not be in the capped game. For this reason he should rat-hole if he's worried about that. You should never play w/ a bigger effective stack than you're comfortable losing.

I've never got why people are so afraid to have big stacks sitting at the table. Any money after what you've got on the table isn't really even there. Like I said, if Bill Gates sits in your 1/2 game w/ billions behind what's the big deal?

facepull · #9 07-30-2007, 02:28 PM

i am of course talking about the beau rivage games in biloxi. i have been playing only at the IP which is capped at 300.

ev_slave · #10 07-30-2007, 02:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The un-capped game the way he's describing it should be very low variance. If people are opening for 20BB's just buy in short, pick up a premium hand, push it, be crushing his range.

[/ QUOTE ]

Big wins also increase variance. Anytime you're playing for your stack more often in one game than you are in another, variance goes up.