Thoughts on adding chips while playing

[RichS]

O.K., here goes, first post by a long time lurker... Please be kind.

While playing in $50 buy-in games (.25/.50) I constantly add chips when I lose a hand or even when I get down to 49.00 from the blinds. I do this because the players will often call an all in and I want to win the most money I can from them.

While I've gotten in trouble a few times with this strategy (top two pair is the DEVIL /images/graemlins/mad.gif, three different players hit straight draws on me in an hour, none had the odds to call), it has seemed to work overall. After taking a BIG down swing on my initial $500 stake (dropped to $150 [New to online play I was bluffing too much against the big stacks]) I'm now closing in on $1k.

Is there any reason you wouldn't just add chips when you get lower than the buy-in if you felt confident that you could outplay folks post flop?

Why don't more people do this?

[theblitz]

I generally "top-up" when I got below 80% of the max buy-in.
No real reason why I chose this number.
I suppose it could be because the first digit is changing ($25 room I am moving from a 2 to a 1. $50 I am moving from a 4 to a 3). So it is a phsycological thing.

[webmonarch]

I do the same thing, and you are right to do it. I should state that I am not QUITE as particular as you are. I usually wait until I am at 60-90% of my stack, depending on the table and the buy-in. I wait a bit longer because I multitable, and my stack lets me see how I have been doing on a particular table. If I get to 60% of my stack and I'm playing well, I know it's time to move tables.

But, as a rule, you are correct. Having as much money as possible at a table is an advantage. You don't want to have the nuts against the big stack and not have the ammunition to make him pay big.

[The_Bends]

If you back yourslef against the table you always want the maximum in front. I wouldn't rebuy instantly (to much hassle) but I certainly would once I'd dropped 10%.

[subzero]

I usually buy-in max. If I'm down 30 big bets, not from being outdrawn or sucked out on, I consider changing tables rather than reloading. It's very possible that I'm up against better players. If I feel like I'm not playing my best, I may just quit for the night.

[DavidC]

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O.K., here goes, first post by a long time lurker... Please be kind.

While playing in $50 buy-in games (.25/.50) I constantly add chips when I lose a hand or even when I get down to 49.00 from the blinds. I do this because the players will often call an all in and I want to win the most money I can from them.

While I've gotten in trouble a few times with this strategy (top two pair is the DEVIL /images/graemlins/mad.gif, three different players hit straight draws on me in an hour, none had the odds to call), it has seemed to work overall. After taking a BIG down swing on my initial $500 stake (dropped to $150 [New to online play I was bluffing too much against the big stacks]) I'm now closing in on $1k.

Is there any reason you wouldn't just add chips when you get lower than the buy-in if you felt confident that you could outplay folks post flop?

Why don't more people do this?

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Only thing that I can figure out is that you give away your strength as a player if you do this.

[RichS]

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Only thing that I can figure out is that you give away your strength as a player if you do this.

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By this do you mean that I'm looking fishy to other players?

[TheWorstPlayer]

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Only thing that I can figure out is that you give away your strength as a player if you do this.

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By this do you mean that I'm looking fishy to other players?

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No, he means that it looks like you mean business when you top up after dipping down. It IS the smart move, but for the reason of not looking too serious about things I always make sure to win my first few hands so that I never drop down below the max buy. I would suggest you follow that route as well.