Stake

A player must put up a certain amount of money to join a poker tournament or cash game, which is called the stake.

In cash games, the stake is considered a hundred times the big blind. For example, the stakes would be $1,000 in a$5/$10 cash game since the big blind is $10. While the minimum and maximum buy-in amount players can pay to join the game may vary, the stake is fixed at this size to make it easy for everyone to understand.

In tournaments, the stake refers to the buy-in. If you are playing a $215 Sunday Major, that is your stake since you need to pay $215 to enter the event and will get a predetermined amount of chips. Unlike in cash games, the buy-in is always fixed in MTTs, so you can’t pick how much you want to pay to sit down.