I mostly buy-in for 120-130bb (well below the max btw) and top up from my pocket to roughly the same amount when I drop below 100bb. Later on, when stacks are deeper or the dynamic has changed, I often top up to 200-250bb, especially when I'm down, if that means I will cover the right players.

Topping up after every hand with small chips would seem exhausting to me.

Trust me, recs have no idea you put another chip or two quickly on the table. And if they saw it, they wouldn't even think twice about it.

Why is taking something out of your pocket exhausting? Chips are ammo when used correctly. Playing shallow is not an optimal way to play imo and ime.

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When you reach into your pocket 10 times in the first hour and pull out a chip every time, everyone notices. You can tell yourself they don't all you want, but they do.

I agree with Mike that constant chipping up will be noticed. I'm kind of on the fence as to how much it matters but it will help form a grinder image.

Yeah, any unusual behavior is going to be picked up. I'm a "rec" player and would notice that pretty quickly.

Lol at thinking going north is even in the same realm as anything you suggested. Unless you think I’m talking about in the middle of a hand, which I am not.

I always keep another buy in in my pocket. I give them 400 at the cage every time. I usually have another 200 in my pocket. I'm in the minority but when things are going terribly well I put off topping off for awhile. Generally i do it at the 170 mark or so.

Yeah, I can't possibly understand how this can be taken as exhausting. You take x red chips from your pocket and put them on your stack. It takes less effort than it does to riffle chips.

Gbutmaybethat'scuzIhaven'tlearnedhowtorifflechipsG


I'm all for keeping the game pleasant / not killing the vibe / etc. But I think this don't-tap-on-the-glass mentality is a very outdated one in most of todays LLSNL tables. Everyone you are playing with has 1000s of hours under their belt and knows exactly what is going on. They're not going to take any offence / be intimidated / etc. any more than they already are based on your play.

Git'sfullynoticed,anditdoesn'tmatter,imoG


Definitely not in the same realm as the others I mentioned.

Definitely cheating. (and mind boggling that a response in a thread encouraging cheating hasn't been called out by anyone else)

GobviouslyopenlimpingLP>>>>alloftheseG

Breaking rules to gain advantage is cheating, plain and simple.

Yes there are different levels of cheating, just like different levels of crimes.

But let's not pretend that low level crime is not a crime and low level cheating is not cheating.

My 1/3 game you can buy-in for $500 and then top up to half of the biggest stack. However, most players we just let buy-in for whatever they want. Most of us want it uncapped.

I buy in for 100bb, and I top off when I get to $200 or so. Sometimes I'll add on if the other stacks get really deep, depending on who is deep.

Agree cheating is cheating. There are some players I ignore if they go north, because they suck -- wait, I've never actually noticed a good/winning player do that.

What's to stop you from taking chips off the table if you don't have any chips in your pocket? In other words, why does having chips in your pocket make it any easier to take them off the table?

Can you explain what problems could arise from having poker chips in your pocket while playing poker in a casino?

Going South has become a huge problem at my local casino. Regs decided they wanted to take winnings off the table and began "hitting and running" , i.e., getting up and leaving at the conclusion of winning a big pot. Complaints began when they tried buying back in about ten minutes later at the same table. So they began asking for table changes and now, after doubling up or winning a big pot, most of the regs ask for a table change, get up from the current table, pocket chips while changing tables, and constantly switch tables just so they can take money out of the game. Slows the game, shortens the tables, shrinks the remaining stacks and isn't being dealt with by management.

This probably won't happen in Vegas, but keep an eye out in your local casino.

I get accused of this all the time even though I table change not to pocket profit, but rather because I dislike my seat position at current table, or I see a better table/megafish.

Our room has a "you have to wait for an hour before coming back after cashing out" rule, plus a rule that you must keep all your chips as you table hop, which helps combat going hit-and-running / going south.

GcluelessrulesnoobG

You're very fortunate - my room forces us to chip down to whatever the max table buyin is (which is $250). This is unless the room has broken the table and you have been moved - then you are allowed to keep whatever your stack was on the first table.

I think it's situational, so for me personally it would make no difference because I'm very clearly a nit grinder type - backpack, sit and fold for hours, eat snacks I brought, drink the free coffee + water from the dispensers etc.

If you're presenting a chatty freewheeling persona, whether its for the tourists who don't yet know you or because you are rarely in that casino and no-one knows you, well it probably makes a difference.

so you only top off when your stack gets down to 66 big blinds? That's almost half your stack. I think you could do a lot better than that if you topped when you fall below 100bb's. Just keep a few hundred in $25 and $100 chips and top off when you're stuck $25 or more. Playing so short is one of the biggest disadvantages for advantage players.

I've been doing this for as long as I can remember and I've never in my life had someone either question what I was doing or even saw me during the 1.5 seconds it takes to top off my stack. No one is even looking at me, so how can "everyone" see it?

Let's just assume someone (or even every player) notices it. Is that going to stop me? I'm a more skilled player than everyone at the table. Playing full stacked is more important to me than if someone saw me doing it. And regarding my "grinder" image, everyone I play with knows I'm a good serious player but that doesn't stop them from playing their regular game against me that they play against everyone else. When you play in the highest game in your room, you will find that you're playing with the same players pool over and over again for sometimes years. A lot of them are retired businessmen that have nothing to do all day and a lot of money to spend. Is it going to "upset them" or are they gonna point to me and say "This guy's a "grinder""?

Every good player should play fully stacked before each hand especially if you're the best player at the table. It's not rocket science (and it's not going to hurt your game in any way shape or form of someone sees you do it).

That's a lot of words to tell me a position that I don't hold is wrong.

Other players seeing me top up (even if they do notice), isn't going to suddenly allow them to start playing optimal poker. Play with a full stack ffs and maximize profits.

Do some math on how often per hour you get your stack all in. Do some more math on how many of those All in hands you win. You will find out that topping up an extra $10-$30 makes almost no difference in your win rate.

The harm it does to the games in general is much more severe. If you dont realize that, then I dont know what to tell you. Keep doing what youre doing and keep wondering why the games get worse and worse every year as more and more whales stop playing.

I hear pros bitching and moaning every day about how nitty the games have become but they do the same things you guys do. They buy in for $1000 with 10 black chips. They seat change at every opportunity. The top up every other hand. SMH

I personally like to practice at shorter stack play, so I’ll play it all the way down. There are disadvantages, like getting AA or KK with only $40 behind, but for the most part it’s made me a better player I think. Now if I’ve been short for 45-60 mins and can’t get a good all in hand, I may reload.

This is all spot on. There are a few good regs who play in my 2/5 games when 5/10 isn't running that are just horrible for the game. Sunglasses, hoodies, SCARVES around their neck. And the worst part is they are tanking in $60 pots. When they step away from the table everyone starts complaining how slow and obnoxious they are. These guys play 5/10 and act like this in a smaller game? It's absolutely insane to me. I might end up talking to them away from the table to ask them to knock it off. It won't go well cuz they obviously have huge egos and are selfish AF.

Anyways - constantly topping up goes along with this behavior. It's not necessary at all. Is it the worse thing for the game? Probably not. It's certainly not good to project that image though. Loosen up (your image) a little bit and have fun. You don't have to do shots with fish or start playing more hands to project a funner image at the table. Just look around at the guys with grinder images (see above) and do your best to not behave like them.

when I get to poker room I turn all the cash I bring into chips.. I buyin for max and keep the rest of the chips in a bag ( sunglass bag which works well, no I don't wear sunglasses at the table lol) and I try to keep my stack at max as often as I can.

example..
im going to play 2/5 with 800 max.
I bring 1600 and turn it into chips at the cage. I put the max buyin in the rack (800) and the 800 ( half 100 chips and half 25s) in my bag.

the only time this doesn't apply is if when I buy in for max the average stack is less than 800.

example...
I buy in for 800, everyone else at the table has 500. I wont top-up until someone has 800+ or I get below the second biggest stack.

my theory is, if your playing in a game and you think you have an edge, then you should 100% make sure you have the max you can put on table to maximize your winnings IF you do end up getting stacks in.

Some of you are sounding ridiculous. Topping up is no way equal to tanking excessively, wearing scarves/sunglasses, and treating every decision like it is for your life in the WSOP main. Tanking is an actual inconvenience to other players at the table - topping up is not. Sunglasses/scarves and deamenor is observable. Topping most of the time is not.

When I'm at the table I go out of my way to connect with the fish. I often misdirect them and feed them some story about how I just enjoy playing and I'm here with buddies to throw off the grinder image. I talk with them, I am not closed off and egotistical. The fish enjoy playing with me. If people ask why I'm switching seat, depending on if I perceive them as stupid I say either 1) the other seat was very unlucky and I want to switch up my luck or 2) I want to see a particular tv better ( there are screens running all along the walls of my poker room).

Anyhow, I do all I can to make it enjoyable and to not make it feel like a predatory environment for the fish to play. Topping up is certainly not high on the list of what they are concerned about.

I kinda think that obsessively topping up isnt bad for the game and people will just assume youre kind of OCD but the seat changing thing is the worst by far. Theres a few times where Ive moved seats and the player I sat beside whether they were on my left or right got up a hand later and it clued me in to how bad seat changing is. Whenever I do this now I have to make a big deal about how a certain spot is my favorite seat and how Ive been waiting for it for hours etc.

Ive lost count of the times where some clever pro seat changes directly on the fishes left, 3bets or raises his limp the first hand after the change and the fish gets up and leaves or stops playing hands. Its 2019, even the bad players understand position and what you are doing.