Buying the Button and Buying the Pot
In Texas hold 'em poker, you can either 'buy the button' or 'buy the pot'. Both poker 'buys' entail placing large bets but each poker 'buy' has different intentions up its sleeve. We all know that nothing's really free when you're playing for money, especially in poker. Even a free card's not really free in the literal sense of the word. So, how does one actually buy the pot or buy the button in Texas hold 'em poker?
When one makes an effort to buy the pot, it is in reference to executing a bluff. One bluffs by placing a large bet in order to get the rest of the players to fold with the intention of winning the pot. So to buy the pot is to take it from everyone else with a bluff.
What about when one is said to buy the button? Now, this is different from buying the pot because one really doesn't win the button in a round. To buy the button is to make a large bet to get rid of the players between you and the button.
Players who intend to buy the button usually raise the stakes at pre-flop. And you'll know if it came out as planned when everyone else in better positions has folded. The intention here is to be the last player to act on a betting round. Since position is power in poker, being the last to act is the best position to be in Texas hold 'em.
And there is another difference to buying the pot against buying the button. Looking at their objectives, it's apparent that when one intends to buy the pot it is in regards to playing a bluff with a weak hand. And when one intends to buy the button, one is attempting to maneuver into a prime position to play a fairly good hand in the game.
Plays to buy the pot and to buy the button both involve placing large bets in poker. But that's the only thing these Texas hold 'em poker 'buys' have in common because their intentions are different in more ways than one. When one wants to buy the pot, they are bluffing with a weak hand to win the pot. And when one intends to buy the button, they are aiming to make the players between them and the button to fold so they'll be the last to act in the next betting round with a fairly good hand.