Testing Out a .50/.50 Cash Game – No $1 Chips? (2 Viewers)

[Rooster410]

My players won;'t budge from .50/.50 cash game up to 1/1. I hate having 1s and .50s in play. Thinking about trying something a little different for my home game running a .50/.50 cash game but skipping the $1 chips altogether.


The idea is to simplify the bank and avoid needing a ton of singles in play. Probably looking at a breakdown like:

• .50 chips (200 chips)
• $5s (200 chips)
• $25s if deeper stacks come out (100 chips)

Typical buy-ins are $50 to $100, and the game usually runs 6–9 players.


Curious if anyone’s tried this setup before. Does removing $1s actually speed up play or cause more confusion? Would love to hear thoughts or see how others have handled similar games.

 

[jamesjkim]

Feels like it'll become more like a 2/5 game where bets are in $5 increments. I have no experience with this though. And/or you're gonna have 2x the amount of chips in pots than you would with $1s in play. e.g. Bet $3 = 6x $0.50 chips vs 3x $1 chips.

I don't think it'll impact the speed of play but may make the game play bigger than expected.

 

[RocAFella1]

What if you ran a single $1 blind game with no .50 chips?

 

[Rooster410]

What if you ran a single $1 blind game with no .50 chips?

Not a bad idea! I think most of myplayers like limping for less than a dollar though. Makes no sense because usually you don't see a flop without some type of a raise to $1 - $3...So you might be on to something.

 

[Machine]

Another option would be to have a $1 button straddle and no blinds. I think @jamesjkim is correct about the evolution of a 5 becoming more commonplace.

Please log how it plays and if you see any oddities from what your normal is, I would be interested in it. Also please up date this thread over time as well.

GL

 

[Tonystark137]

Just a thought that you would either have to have a lot of 50c chips in play or players comfortable getting change from the pot.

 

[Rooster410]

I'd have 200 x .50 chips

 

[mdt11]

A couple of options here:
- Use 50c chips and the standard $1/$5/$25 etc chips. Not totally efficient but not the end of the world either. Plenty of sets here that have a 50c chip and otherwise standard denoms.
- Use 25c chips for the blinds. More efficient and “standard” and you now have a flexible set to use for lower stakes. Players can bet in smaller increments on later streets. Plus you appease the moar fracs crowd.
- Go with a 50c/$2/$10/$50 progression. Uncommon but not unheard of if you want to stick with one-chip blinds and an efficient progression from there. Will limit your options mainly to custom sets.

 

[Machine]

- Use 25c chips for the blinds. More efficient and “standard” and you now have a flexible set to use for lower stakes. Players can bet in smaller increments on later streets. Plus you appease the moar fracs crowd.

They are not more efficient, you can't bet smaller increments than the original big blind, you could bet 1.25 if that is what you mean.

.50 chips are more efficient in that you need less to run the game, in the context of the next chip value being 4 to 5 x then yes they are more efficient in chip values.

- Go with a 50c/$2/$10/$50 progression. Uncommon but not unheard of if you want to stick with one-chip blinds and an efficient progression from there. Will limit your options mainly to custom sets.

I love this idea, although the OP would have to buy new chips lol - also if I was in this boat, I would likely do this hahahaa

 

[upNdown]

Makes no sense because usually you don't see a flop without some type of a raise to $1 - $3...

If that's the case, then it makes no sense to me to try to play this game without $1 chips.
If you're looking to use fewer chips, you could very likely play comfortably with fewer 50 cent chips - I haven't tried it but I bet 60 would work fine.

 

[Rooster410]

If that's the case, then it makes no sense to me to try to play this game without $1 chips.
If you're looking to use fewer chips, you could very likely play comfortably with fewer 50 cent chips - I haven't tried it but I bet 60 would work fine.

True. Probably just need to convince them to play $1/$1 then.

 

[Machine]

I haven't tried it but I bet 60 would work fine.

I do it, 60 is perfect, 40 is a bit thin. Thats all I put in my .5/.5 game unless @ParrotheadMZ is in the game, then I sell him 40 and just try not to look at his stack

 

[Machine]

True. Probably just need to convince them to play $1/$1 then.

you could always not change anything for the next game, keep track of how many times its .50s to see the flop. Then bring the 'Analytics' to the next session and claim you sold the fracs to your meth addicted brother in law or someone online.

Another approach is just make it 1/1 for the first 2 hours, and explain you want to see how it plays, then assess at the end of the first 2 hours.

 

[upNdown]

True. Probably just need to convince them to play $1/$1 then.

My players won;'t budge from .50/.50 cash game up to 1/1.

Just an unsolicited opinion, but if you have a home game that works, I wouldn't recommend messing around with it for chip reasons. Might sound like heresy to say this here, but the game is so much more important than the chips.

 

[LeLe]

• .50 chips (200 chips)
• $5s (200 chips)
• $25s if deeper stacks come out (100 chips)

U going to need a lot of 50c if you skipping 8x denomination difference

My players won;'t budge from .50/.50 cash game up to 1/1

You can try start by doing with 50/$1 den suggest to change to $1/$1 after a few more games rather den double the stake at once.

Also you only need 40x 50c and 180x $1 for 50/$1 which minimal your 50c/$1 in play as wanted

You can change to 160-200 $1 once you change to $1/$1 at later stage

 

[tallsbutler]

Just an unsolicited opinion, but if you have a home game that works, I wouldn't recommend messing around with it for chip reasons. Might sound like heresy to say this here, but the game is so much more important than the chips.

#truth

 

[GetUrShineBox]

If you're going to use .50's and then go right up to $5's I don't think 200 - .50c chips is enough, that's only 20 each and bets in the amount of $3.50, $4, $8.50, $9, etc... will require a lot of change making.

I'd recommend start stacks of (assuming $75 buy in)

40 x 0.50 = $20
11 x $5's = $55

or reduce the amount of .50's and still use the $1's to make the bank easier at the end.

10 x 0.50's = $5
20 x $1's = $20
10 x $5's = $50


And if you can spend on some new chips then I do like the
.50, $2, $10 idea
or
.50, $2.50, $10 if you use Paulson's and its easier to get snappers than $2's.

 

[allforcharity]

Use quarters. 80-120 of them. Then use your $1s. Also makes your set flexible enough to do 0 25/0.25 and 0.25/0.50 when you need.