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Small Buy-in Strategies U. asked: At the .10-.10 NL tables there are a number of players who buy in for $2. They play many tables and at all hours of the day. Is there some low buy-in system that you know of? Is there any way something like that could work? I can't tell if they are earners but as often as I see them, it seems like they must be. Why keep losing at 2 dollars a pop? Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.
Hi U., Thanks for the question!
The phenomena you refer to is called a 'short buy-in' where players buy-in for less than the maximum. There's no special advantage per say, but you do need to make a few strategic adjustments when you're short, and similar adjustments when your opponents buy-in short.
Your decision has to be made early in the hand
First, a short buy-in favors a playing strategy that focuses on strong pocket cards and a committal of one's chips pre, or on the flop. If you are sitting with a stack only 10x the big blind, you won't have enough chips to make successive bets. Usually, it is ill-advised to bet any more than 1/3 of your stack without going all-in, which means that in this situation, your decision has to be made early in the hand.
As you might guess, the kind of hands you'll want to play with a shorter stack are different than those you play with a deep stack. Speculative hands (eg. small pocket pairs, suited connectors) are often fine to play with a deep stack, but need to be folded in this case. Not having chips to bet on the turn/river means that these speculative hands do not have enough implied value to be played at all. Therefore, hands like two high cards (AK/AQ) and of course high pairs (JJ+) are the kinds of hands you want to play when you have a short stack. You will usually see short stacked players pushing all-in pre-flop with these hands, and that is usually the correct play.
In theory, if their opponents don't know how to adapt to playing against short stack players, then those players could easily win using the strategy outlined. Those with more chips need to realize that when playing against the short stacked player, you have to select hands that play well pre-flop and not try to see the speculative hands I was talking about.
Most players are losing players
If you're an experienced tournament player, this will not be a difficult adjustment - usually, tournament players are used to playing short stacks and playing when 'draws are pointless'.
As for the profitability of these players, anyone who knows enough to win with the short stack should be capable of adjusting their game and winning with a proper strategy. That is not to say that they will; many people who should be capable of adjusting their games, simply let routine control their game and don't play effectively in all situations.
Another reality check is that most players are losing players, and therefore, buying in for less than the full amount allows players to play for less money than they would if they were using the full buy-in. That assumes that they do not just keep re-buying anyway. It's a cost-effective way to get into cash games. Don't be surprised if those who buy-in for $2 only, aren't winning money but just losing less than some of their counterparts who buy-in for the full amount.
Good luck at the tables!
 
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