What is Going North in Poker?

Going north in poker is slang for adding more chips to the table beyond the table cap. For example, if you are playing a $2/$5 cash game, the table cap might be 200 big blinds, or $1000. If you buy in for $1000, lose $200, and then try to add 5 $100 chips to your stack for $1300, that would be trying to “go north” of the $1000 cap.

Some people try to go north during play, some when they first show up to the table. Going north is not allowed in capped game, and depending on the room, dealer, and players, you’ll be met with various degrees of opposition whether you meant to go north or not.

The idea behind going north is to have more money on the table, so you can win more money in a big hand. Some rooms avoid this all together by allowing a form of going north, via match-the-stack add-ons and rebuys where you can buy up to the current biggest stack at the table.

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