What is a buy-in at a casino?
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A buy-in is the amount of money you exchange for chips at a casino table game. Sit down at a blackjack table, put down £100, and you ‘buy in’ for £100 worth of chips. In poker, the buy-in is the amount you pay to enter a cash game or tournament.
Table buy-in minimums
Most casino tables have minimum and maximum buy-ins. A minimum might be £25-£50 at live casino tables, ensuring players have a meaningful stack to play with. Poker cash games set buy-in ranges (typically 20x-100x the big blind). Tournament buy-ins are the entry fee — pay it, receive your tournament chip stack, and play until you’re eliminated or in the money.
Online buy-ins
Online poker and some live casino games require explicit buy-ins before play. When you join a live casino roulette or blackjack table online, you effectively buy in by placing chips on the table. The process is handled by the interface rather than a physical chip exchange, but the concept is the same — you’re committing funds to play at that table.
Ben Barber got into the gambling industry through the poker rooms of London in the early 2000s. After building up a solid grounding in casino, sports betting and poker, he made the move to Malta where he spent close to a decade writing for some of the biggest affiliate networks in the region. A few years ago he relocated to Bali, which shifted his focus toward website strategy and affiliate marketing. The casino side never really left, though. He still writes reviews, how-to guides and in-depth pieces on everything from slots and live dealer tables to crypto casinos and sweepstakes sites. His approach is fact-first: help players understand how online gambling actually works before they deposit a cent.