SixSpeedFury
Full House
First thing I learned about chips was the word "need" has no meaning.
Ain't that the truth lol.
$.25/50 Cash Game Question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter kmccormick100
- Start date
Ain't that the truth lol.
For a 25c/50c cash game with $20 buy-in, what denoms do you guys normally start with? I asked this question in another thread and the consensus was 25c, $1 and $5 chips work.
For example, I have 8 players, maybe 2-4 re-buys so total pot could be $240. I assume the blinds would increase but I'm still trying to work this out (maybe 25c/50c to 50c/75c, I dont know).
I'm trying to buy a new chip set and am not sure how many chips of each of these 3 denoms I need. TY.
For example, I have 8 players, maybe 2-4 re-buys so total pot could be $240. I assume the blinds would increase but I'm still trying to work this out (maybe 25c/50c to 50c/75c, I dont know).
I'm trying to buy a new chip set and am not sure how many chips of each of these 3 denoms I need. TY.
Weckedy
Flush
Why are you increasing to blinds? If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to play a tournament style instead of a cash game?
BooRayUSA
Pair
For starters Im glad this is being discussed because I'm constantly working on my group to
1. Expand their games beyond NLHE
2. Get away from constantly playing tourney style
And Most Importantly
3. Introduce them to chips beyond Wally World Dice
Problem getting players to play outside their normal comfort zone is harder than you think but offering a small cash game like this helps as does getting them used to games like SOHE BigO 2-7 TD and others
1. Expand their games beyond NLHE
2. Get away from constantly playing tourney style
And Most Importantly
3. Introduce them to chips beyond Wally World Dice
Problem getting players to play outside their normal comfort zone is harder than you think but offering a small cash game like this helps as does getting them used to games like SOHE BigO 2-7 TD and others
Everyone waaaay prefers cash games, and the reason we up the blinds is to accelerate the game so that there are only 3 players are left standing (so someone wins a decent amount), vs the pot being distributed among 7-8 players.
Tournaments have been less popular because winner takes all, for a half the evening half the players are out of the game and cant participate, and there is too much pressure towards the end when the blinds get raised and its less fun for some folks.
I guess we play a hybrid.
Are you saying that in traditional cash games that blinds never get raised?
Also, if we do a 25c/50c cash game with $20 buy-in, is a 40BB starting stack too little?
Weckedy
Flush
Yeah, ive never played a cash game with blinds rising ... i have played cash games with antes, but never rising blinds.
As for the 25c/50c cash game with $20 buy-in, agreed that the 40BB starting stack too little, so make it 25c/25c blinds.
25c/25c blinds is what i play with my low limit friends. Works out pretty well.
Jambine
Full House
^ That ^
I've never thought about making it 25c/25c. With 80 BBs vs a 40 BB starting stack in a $20 cash game, how would be progression of the game change? Would there be more players left standing at the end of the night. Someone mentioned less of a shove fest? Would players become looser with their hands?
I guess I'm just trying to understand why a 80BB starting stack would be more fun or offer better game play vs a 40 BB starting stack.
Weckedy
Flush
To help players be come looser with thier hands, i give each player a 5 dollar chip.
Once that 5 dollar chip hits the felt, things get "serious" and more monies is shoved into the pot to get that 5 dollar chip.
My usual break down for starting stacks are:
20 x 25cents
10 x 1 dollars
1 x 5 dollars
ReBuys can be in 5s or 1s depending on the mood that night, but having a 5 dollar chip in front of each player does something to them.
To help players be come looser with thier hands, i give each player a 5 dollar chip.
Once that 5 dollar chip hits the felt, things get "serious" and more monies is shoved into the pot to get that 5 dollar chip.
My usual break down for starting stacks are:
20 x 25cents
10 x 1 dollars
1 x 5 dollars
ReBuys can be in 5s or 1s depending on the mood that night, but having a 5 dollar chip in front of each player does something to them.
Yeah this seems like a really good breakdown. In my other thread 3 people said I only need 100 X 25c chips in my chip set, but that seems like too little.
20 X 25x X 8 players = 160 chips needed
10 X $1 X 8 players = 80 chips needed
1 X $5 X 8 players = 8 chips needed
4 rebuys at 15 X $1 + 1 X $5 = additional 60 $1 chips needed + an additional 4 $5 chips needed
So totals for my new set:
160 X 25c chips needed (so buy 200)
140 X $1 chips (so buy 175)
12 X $5 chips (so buy 25)
Does this look right?
RowdyRawhide
Full House
Is it easier to think about it as a 10c/25c or 12.5c/25c game vs 25c/25c game.....really your just cutting your blinds in half and doing away with the "small" blind (or in your case your actually doing away with the big blind "level") or you could consider it a two person "ante" after the button.
Marius L
4 of a Kind
Usually blinds dont increase in a cash game, but feel free to do whatever your groups like. As Weckedy also said, for a 20$ buyin game .25/.25 blinds should work better. (standard starting stack for cashgames is somewhere around 100bbs)
The reason why a 80bb stack is more fun is that hands are allowed to play out a bit more interestingly. There are more room to make bluffs, there are more room to bet/fold or raise/fold, as opposed to playing short stack where at some point if you raise you are already commited to the pot and have to get all your chips in regardless. Lets say you have two players both flop top pair with a stack of 20bbs in a pot that was raised preflop. lets say the pot is already 6$ and there are four players. everyone started with 20bb before the hand, so if someone bets 5$ into this pot he is almost already pot commited regardless of his hand as he will only have 13.5$ left. I can imagine short stacks like these tend to get allin on the flop and the turn, and thereby removing play completely from the river and often also the turn. If on the other hand you had double the stack (or half the blinds) you would more often have desiccions and play on the turn/river and the gameplay would be more fun IMO.
Weckedy
Flush
Yeah, your break down looks good to me.
My own cash sets always consists of at least 200 x 25cents, 200 x 1dollars, 200 x 5 dollars.
This makes sense, thank you. What if I up the buy-in to $25, so that its a 50 BB game. Is that acceptable?
Yeah our games are small potatoes, so I can never see needing 200 X $5. PLUS, heres the good thing, if I only need 25 X $5 chips, then I can buy some custom Majestic stickers and tweak the color! That wont be too much of PITA.
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Marius L
4 of a Kind
Well, its really just up to you. Of course if you enjoy playing a bit short stacked (many people do) then its fine. The most important thing is that you guys enjoy the game. If it were my game I would just play .25/.25 to be a bit deeper, but it just depends on the group of players and what you guys prefer. If you think your game will get to slow and boring with .25/.25 only then you should do .25/.50 as you are used to. If you are not sure you could just try it for a night and see how it evolves. Might also take a bit of time to adapt to deeper stacked play if your group is not used to it
I like this idea. I think I will switch to 25c/50c starting blinds (which is already a big change from our regular 20BB starting stack, now going to a 40 BB starting stack), and see how things progress. I guess what we like about the shorter stacks is that it forces a re-buy sooner than later, and the pot grows.
Please go with more reds $5 chips. Trust me when I say your poker will evolve, and you'll need more chips. Plus, if you ever decide to sell the chips, the extra reds will make the set more usable, marketable.
Chicken Rob
Full House
My weekly game is .05/.10 with $20 buy ins. I have no problem getting to 8 buy-ins in a single night if I'm running bad. That's 200bb starting stacks, and 1600bb total buyins from just one person. It's more challenging and interesting to play deep to me.
detroitdad
Royal Flush
This would be fun on occasion. I don't think I would want to play this on a regular basis. Could be a great night of drunken poker........hmmmmmmmmm
Chicken Rob
Full House
It's an awesome game because everyone plays to win, it plays deep, and we play mixed games. A lot of people in the game find 2-3 buy ins is a lot of their entertainment budget, so they are extra motivated to win.
If we played much bigger, the game would collapse. 5 years running with most of the same regs the whole time. It's definitely a fun Thursday evening for 4-5 hours.
In a typical cash game, players can buy in for any amount between the minimum and maximum buy-ins that were predetermined by the host. Rebuys are usually unlimited -- each player may have a stop loss or a maximum amount they're willing to risk. Players who bust can rebuy as often as the wish, until they want to quit for the night. At the end of the night, all the players could have chips, or one player could have all of the chips, or anywhere in between. Individual players cashe out their remaining chips when they leave the game. It's not like a tournament where you play until you bust out or until only a certain number of players still have chips.
If you use common rules, procedures, and structures, your players will be able to sit in any other game without having to relearn the game.
I tried this, but the small change made people play almost every hand, even when raises were 10x the big blind.
Shaggy
Full House
One issue you might run into if you change your blinds down to .25/.25 from .25/.50 is that players may make the same preflop raise in the new scenario as the old... and the callers may be just as willing to call... effectively nullifying your lowering of the blinds. If the players are really limpy/calley, it may make a difference. Best thing to do is try it out.
edit: Basically similar statement to what AdamAAAA brings up.
edit: Basically similar statement to what AdamAAAA brings up.
Mental Nomad
Full House
For a $20 buy-in at a game playing quarters, I'd do four dollars in quarters and sixteen singles. So 16/16.
Seems like you have an eight-player game... Once I have 8 x 16 quarters on the table (128), I would not really want to add any more. Whether or not you add more, people will still be running out of quarters and making change with each other... the winning players will just have bigger and bigger stacks of quarters if you keep bringing them in, and they don't help the game play well... you don't want people having to handle a pile of chips just because they're calling a basic first raise.
I would not add more quarters on rebuys... I'd rebuy with twenty singles. When out of singles, I'd start fives... but I wouldn't start rolling out the fives on the first buy-in, and perhaps even the second buy-in, unless I just didn't have enough singles.... I'd like to get about 8 x 20 singles (160) on the table before I start reaching of the fives.
Having 8 x 20 singles on the table plays fine; so does 8 x 30 singles.. Even 8 x 40 singles can play just fine, if player like having lots of stacks (many do). I, personally, think 8 x 30 is starting to get a bit chip-heavy, and 8 x 40 can be difficult if there are a lot of people who don't know how to manage their stacks yet. So I like to start pushing out reds as soon as I break 8 x 20 on the table.
I host 25-cent games regularly, six to ten players. I have a set with 200 quarters, 200 singles, 200 fives. (I also have twenty-fives, non-denoms, etc.) The big blind is 25 cents and the typical buy-in is $30 or $40, but some people buy in with $20. We like to have a full stack (100 BB). I've cut 50 quarters out of the rack to bring it down to 150, because they get annoying on the table. I always get all 200 singles in play, and we'd be comfortable putting more out there if I had them. We've never put all the red in play at a quarter game.
I also host a dollar game, $.50/$1, played with the same set. We pretty much always get 200 white and 200 red on the table, and dip in to the greens... and the greens definitely affect play, but they tend to make people tighter. Many people cling to the greens, and will fold earlier and avoid pots to avoid breaking the green chips.
Just one host's experience.
Chicken Rob
Full House
For us, when we lowered the blinds from .25/.25 to .05/.10, the less experienced players went broke slower.
Clearly it is important to balance the stakes with the comfort of the player pool if you want the game to survive.
Games will play to YOUR group's level. I used to play neighbors, mixed dealer's choice games, with the main chip being a quarter. We all bought in for $20 and had a blast. I've since upped the buyins to $40 for this group, and we still have a blast. However, I play with other more serious players at times, and my last home game, I had a guy buy in for $80, and cash out for $800 (yes, at a $.25/.50 NLHE game). It's the biggest payout I've had at these stakes.
Now, the folks who were donating money were rebuying for $60-$80 and nobody ever felt short. The game played as normal. You'd think the big stack might be able to push people around, and normally I'd say there's some advantage to his stack, but in reality, he had a horseshoe stuck up his butt. People were waiting, and looking him up with monster hands, he just kept having the nutz, and was getting paid off. Perfect storm. Otherwise, his monster stack would have been equalized around the table.
My main point is, I started out with small (small) games, but my poker evolved as I got better and more experienced. The $.05/.10 games won't hold the same appeal, and you'll start playing better people to challenge yourself. Or, in my case, my old buddies (that I'd played quarters with for 20 years) started to prefer not to play with me as much, since I got much better than them. It became a tad less fun for all, as they wouldn't win as much, and I'd go into tilt while my one buddy finishes telling a 4 minute fishing tale while we wait for him to deal...
When I started out, I was using dice chips (only 300 of them), and those were fine. But like you, your tastes evolved. Your poker will evolve in a similar manner. Now, I can't imagine a chipset less than 1000 chips that could spread a game I'd host. My Benny's cash set has 2000 chips, 800 of which are $5 chips.
When it comes to tastes, your starting stack preferences will vary as well. So whereas some people recommend this amount and that (recommendations are fine), but you will figure out what works best for your game. I only advocate flexibility. Getting enough chips that will grow with your game.
Now, the folks who were donating money were rebuying for $60-$80 and nobody ever felt short. The game played as normal. You'd think the big stack might be able to push people around, and normally I'd say there's some advantage to his stack, but in reality, he had a horseshoe stuck up his butt. People were waiting, and looking him up with monster hands, he just kept having the nutz, and was getting paid off. Perfect storm. Otherwise, his monster stack would have been equalized around the table.
My main point is, I started out with small (small) games, but my poker evolved as I got better and more experienced. The $.05/.10 games won't hold the same appeal, and you'll start playing better people to challenge yourself. Or, in my case, my old buddies (that I'd played quarters with for 20 years) started to prefer not to play with me as much, since I got much better than them. It became a tad less fun for all, as they wouldn't win as much, and I'd go into tilt while my one buddy finishes telling a 4 minute fishing tale while we wait for him to deal...
When I started out, I was using dice chips (only 300 of them), and those were fine. But like you, your tastes evolved. Your poker will evolve in a similar manner. Now, I can't imagine a chipset less than 1000 chips that could spread a game I'd host. My Benny's cash set has 2000 chips, 800 of which are $5 chips.
When it comes to tastes, your starting stack preferences will vary as well. So whereas some people recommend this amount and that (recommendations are fine), but you will figure out what works best for your game. I only advocate flexibility. Getting enough chips that will grow with your game.
Chicken Rob
Full House
This is not my experience. I've played a lot. Played regularly in uncapped 5/5 big bet games, and 30/60 limit games, and my regular .05/.10 game is fun. The abilities of the players in that game have risen over the years as well. The first night I played with this group I won every dollar in play. They were fine with it. The last pot of the night was a 4 way all in and I had the nut flush on an unpaired board.
These guys got better by playing with more experienced players.
Also, our regular .25/.50 games in New England has seen winners in the mid 4 figures. My personal biggest loss is $1600 in a single game, but others have lost much more. Our buy ins are $125 max or half the biggest stack, so late night gets very deep. We tried raising the blinds to 1/2, but that just tightened up the play and it played smaller.
Group dynamics will obviously vary.
dickzapper
Straight
I was gonna comment on this in JSD's thread last week but never did... In a cash game, I'd rather play against a large stack... I mean he's got all the dough right? Let em bully you with his J pair and WHAP, 3s full of 6, bam!
Exactly, so long as I have a decent stack, in relation to the bb, I'm ok playing against deep stacks. They tend to play looser, and you can just be patient, that big stack often gets smaller
I look at it like they're just temporarily watching my chips for me.
mkiefer009
Pair
Get more quarters.
Are these real or labeled?
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