Buy-in obligations

What are buy-in obligations?

Buy-in obligations can apply to cash game and Zoom tables in some cases.

They require a higher minimum buy-in after a player repeatedly leaves tables after winning money and then rejoins with a smaller stack.

 

What games do buy-in obligations apply to?

• High-stakes No-Limit and Pot-Limit cash tables
• All Zoom poker tables

 

How do buy-in obligations work?

There is a limit on how often you can leave and rejoin tables with a smaller stack.

If you exceed the limit, buy-in obligations are activated.

Your minimum buy-in is then based on the stack size you had when you left the previous table.

 

How often can I rejoin a table?

Regular cash tables

You can rejoin up to 8 times within a 20-hour period

 

Zoom

You can rejoin up to 4 times within a 20-hour period

 

Which tables are affected?

Buy-in obligations apply to tables with the same buy-in range, measured in big blinds.

For example:

• An obligation created at a $0.05/$0.10 NLHE table with a 40–100 BB buy-in range also applies to a $5/$10 PLO table with a 40–100 BB range.
• An obligation created at a $0.05/$0.10 NLHE table with a 40–100 BB range does not apply to a $0.05/$0.10 NLHE table with a 100–250 BB range.

Tables with different buy-in ranges have separate buy-in obligations.

 

Why do we have buy-in obligations?

The feature is designed to reduce table breaking and discourage players from repeatedly moving between tables.

It:

• Helps keep tables running.
• Discourages frequent table changes.
• Encourages players to focus on playing rather than constantly looking for new tables.