These are the right questions.
Standard open size is $2-5 depending on the player and what their cards are (higher opens are either low pocket pairs or aces/kings and lower opens tend to be suited connectors or double broadway).
It's usually a call fest. There are only 2 players that 3 bet preflop with any regularity, and even after a 3 bet there are still usually multiple callers unless the sizing jumps into the $20 range. Even then, there will be 3 players in that pot (the same 3 players that fold preflop 10% or less). Rarely will most players be able to isolate because of these 3 players.
There have been a few occasions now where one of these 3 players has cashed out for over $1200 and there was more than casual grumbling about how the game played. The last hand of the last game I hosted was not a fun one. There was a $15 open from the player who originally suggested raising the stakes. He had busted and came back later with a $500 buy in and was only opening for $15 or more (playing like he would 1/3). There were 4 callers. He continued on the K/9/2 rainbow flop, 4 callers. Turn is a 3, checks around. River is a 3, cut off bets $50, button folds, SB folds, BB raises to $125, UTG(preflop raiser) calls, cut off jams, sb snap calls, utg shows a king, tanks, then disgustedly mucks. Sb flips 3/5 off for trips, cut off flips 2/3 off for a full house. Sb angrily shoves her stack across the table and utg says some things I wont repeat.
I will admit it's been very frustrating for me as well, when I raise/3 bet a premium hand, flop top pair, barrel every street with a clean run out and villain flips over 8/2 off for a rivered 2 pair, or similar low unsuited hands for random backdoor straights.
As you said, the variance is wild, and for me makes the game not fun. I play poker because I like the skill aspect, but playing with these players is more often straight gambling, which is much less fun for me.
I'm not sure what to do to maintain a healthy game at this point with the players I have. I've been hosting less frequently and going to a game that's a bit of a drive for me but doesn't have any drama. There are likely some more players in my area that would play 25c/50c if it actually played at those stakes but they are inconsistent, whereas the big gamblers come everytime I host but are clearly playing larger than the blinds suggest.
Helpful info.
So, the standard opens in this .25/.50 game ($100 buyin) are $2-$5, or 4x-10x.
That’s a little bigger than what I’d expect, but not totally out of line.
If the stakes go up to 1/2 as your friend suggested, do you think opens would balloon proportionally to $8-$20, or would it be more like $5-$15 (2.5x-7.5x)? Would there still be multiple callers even at the highest open sizes?
Assuming the max buyin also went up ($300 would be standard for 1/2), would people buy in for the max or just play a very short stacked game—still buying in for $100?
There is a chance that upping to 1/2 would just make the game even more of a blind gamble, with players getting it all in on the flop constantly (due to stack to pot ratios). This would be even less fun for people who enjoy strategy rather than gambling.
Same questions for .50/1 or 1/1. Would changing the stakes actually change behavior?
The other thing I’m not clear on is how deep the pockets are of your player pool.
Are they playing this way just because they are stations/action junkies? Or because the stakes are so low that they don’t really care to be careful? Would their playing styles and willingness to rebuy change if their potential losses were much higher?
(Specifically with the any-two-to-the-river guy… I assume he is rebuying constantly?)
Another way to assess this might be to ask: How much money is in play over the course of the night?
If it’s say $2K total in a .25/.50 game, that’s 4,000 BB in play, or 20 total buyins. Not a lot for such a loose full-ring game, IMHO. If you go to 1/2 and people start nitting it up, there might not be much more money in play and much less action. Which probably would chase away some players there just to see a ton of hands and gamble.
Depending on the answers to the above, I don’t see a clear solution yet. I’d probably try bumping it up to .50/1 or 1/1, with an optional straddle, just to see what happens. Then re-adjust.
But it may be that the real adjustment at these stakes for the better players is just to play differently to exploit this player pool. For example, I might try playing even fewer hands, betting these much bigger preflop and punishing limpers with huge flop c-bets. I’d bring a big roll and rebuy as much as I could to smooth out variance, because there would be some ridiculous beats. Doing this (especially if there is another good player in the game also making life difficult for the stations) may either change the behaviors you dislike… or drive some players away.