Cash Game .25/.50 or .50/1 Limit? (1 Viewer)

[Phantom]

I see a lot of higher limit games (1/2, 1/3, 2/5 etc...), and wondered if anyone did a lower limit game and if works just the same. My game is low-stakes (.25/.25 NLHE) and we have just started playing PLO (which led to some bigger pots), but was just think of adding a limit style for some 5-card draw and HE. I don't see our crew buying in for more that $40, maybe $50. Maybe this won't work, but just interested in people's opinions.

What denoms would you use and how many for a 6-handed table?

This may also be just a dumb concept/enquiry as I have no experience with limit games at all, so sorry in advance.

 

[Psypher1000]

we have just started playing PLO (which led to some bigger pots), but was just think of adding a limit style for some 5-card draw and HE.

Fixed limit or spread limit?

 

[Phantom]

Fixed I reckon

 

[moose]

I would do .50/1 unless you have a rack of quarters for everyone.

 

[upNdown]

I know I could google it, but if anybody wants to take a few minutes to explain how fixed limit and spread limit would work, I'd appreciate it.
I never play limit games, so I don't understand why you'd need lots of quarters. Would the betting be capped at .50 in some circumstances? Or is there reason why everybody would limp in?

 

[Phantom]

I would do .50/1 unless you have a rack of quarters for everyone.

I don't have a rack of anything for anyone .

At .50/1, would you have a .50 chip and do a rack each of that? Or 50/50 in the rack of .50 and 1?

 

[moose]

If you have .50s give out .50s, otherwise give out as many quarters as you can, and fill in the rest of the starting stacks with $1s.

If using .50s, I would use a single .50 blind.

 

[RowdyRawhide]

I honestly think at your NLHE stakes you could easily do .50/1 and could more than likely do 1/2. I mean if your group is still getting $1 each in the pot preflop and flop then there is no reason you couldn't play 1/2, if your guys are routinely getting double this amount in this position then no reason you couldn't do 2/4. Then you would only need 50 x $1 per person, per your buy ins. Either way you could use those sweet 007 chips your larger denom if you wanted.

 

[Phantom]

If you have .50s give out .50s, otherwise give out as many quarters as you can, and fill in the rest of the starting stacks with $1s.

If using .50s, I would use a single .50 blind.

Thanks mate. If I go the limit route, will probably use .50s.

I honestly think at your NLHE stakes you could easily do .50/1 and could more than likely do 1/2. I mean if your group is still getting $1 each in the pot preflop and flop then there is no reason you couldn't play 1/2, if your guys are routinely getting double this amount in this position then no reason you couldn't do 2/4. Then you would only need 50 x $1 per person, per your buy ins. Either way you could use those sweet 007 chips your larger denom if you wanted.

Thanks Rowdy , 1/2 could be a bit steep for this crew, but interesting to note it. If we did that, we would need a rack of .50s each. 600-800 chips. Hmmmm. I still love the 007 chips .

Thanks for the replies and I have done a search and found great info from Bergs and JButler on this topic. Thanks gang.

Cheers

 

[joseywales]

Here's our structure for a social game that has been running for years, without issue. Meaning, everyone has fun and although folks gets irritated momentarily on bad beats, now one linger in anguish.

.25/.50 blinds

First Buy-in $15 ( 12 x $.25) (8 x $.50) and (8 x $1.) I have 25 $5 chips and 25 $10 chips, if we ever need to color up. That only happens if we have 8 players. Typically, we have 6 or 7.

Second buy-in is $15, same as above.

Third buy-in is $20. Same as above, but I add a $5 chip.

You can't go to the movies for $50, it's all in fun. I'd be lying if I said we didn't let guys buy up $90. I know I've hit $70 at times. The group can deny the extra buy-ins and although extra buy-ins usually benefits the group, I've seen some guys clean up on their 5th buy-in.

Some of the players have holdem' skills, others just play. I'm probably somewhere in the middle. Truth is, the skilled players don't win a lot, because some of these others guys rarely fold and hit the garbage. We all just laugh. The biggest winner, in the years I've hosted, was a brother of one of the regulars. His alternator dies, so he had to stay at his brother's. After some coaxing, this slot machine player, decided to join his brother in our game. He had no idea how to player poker. He got great cards all night long. He never bluffed, never played aggressive. At least he was a nice guy.

Our game motto: It's not probability, it's possibility...

 

[Phantom]

Here's our structure for a social game that has been running for years, without issue. Meaning, everyone has fun and although folks gets irritated momentarily on bad beats, now one linger in anguish.

.25/.50 blinds

First Buy-in $15 ( 12 x $.25) (8 x $.50) and (8 x $1.) I have 25 $5 chips and 25 $10 chips, if we ever need to color up. That only happens if we have 8 players. Typically, we have 6 or 7.

Second buy-in is $15, same as above.

Third buy-in is $20. Same as above, but I add a $5 chip.

You can't go to the movies for $50, it's all in fun. I'd be lying if I said we didn't let guys buy up $90. I know I've hit $70 at times. The group can deny the extra buy-ins and although extra buy-ins usually benefits the group, I've seen some guys clean up on their 5th buy-in.

Some of the players have holdem' skills, others just play. I'm probably somewhere in the middle. Truth is, the skilled players don't win a lot, because some of these others guys rarely fold and hit the garbage. We all just laugh. The biggest winner, in the years I've hosted, was a brother of one of the regulars. His alternator dies, so he had to stay at his brother's. After some coaxing, this slot machine player, decided to join his brother in our game. He had no idea how to player poker. He got great cards all night long. He never bluffed, never played aggressive. At least he was a nice guy.

Our game motto: It's not probability, it's possibility...

Cheers for sharing mate sounds familiar haha. I agree about the movies thing here too. A movie and dinner (kebab), is around $25+ for one person. Our buy-in for 25/25 NL is $25 and we have hours of fun. I take it your game is a NL game. Do you ever play limit with your crew?

 

[joseywales]

Nope. Always no limit. i have noticed no one has gone all in over the past few games.

 

[Phantom]

Nope. Always no limit. i have noticed no one has gone all in over the past few games.

My crew don't either . I did once, but 97o beat my AA, so ....

 

[joseywales]

My crew don't either . I did once, but 97o beat my AA, so ....

I remember when I first started playing, my brother went all in, head to head with me. I said, "are you sure?" I later had a silver coin made with the date and the 4 aces on it. Seems dorky now, but I needed a cool card cover and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

[Dr. Neau]

I know I could google it, but if anybody wants to take a few minutes to explain how fixed limit and spread limit would work, I'd appreciate it.
I never play limit games, so I don't understand why you'd need lots of quarters. Would the betting be capped at .50 in some circumstances? Or is there reason why everybody would limp in?

Fixed limit: Blinds are 0.5X (or 0.33X if X is odd) and X. Bets for first two rounds are X. Bets for final two rounds are 2X. Betting is usually capped each round at 4 raises (or something like that). Some games allow unlimited raising when it's down to 2 players, and some only allow that on the river. Casinos typically have all players use a single value of chip which is equal to the small blind. So a $2/$4 game and a $3/$6 game will have everyone using $1 chips for simplicity. A $4/$8 game and a $6/$12 game will use strictly $2 chips. The single chip type is key to the speed of the game as the dealer can more quickly compare bets stacks.

Spread limit: A blend between fixed and no-limit. The minimum bet to start all rounds is equal to the big blind. Players can initially bet anywhere between the min and the max. Like no-limit, the raise increments cannot decrease within a betting round. Like fixed-limit, there is typically a cap on raises which may be waived if only two players remain.

 

[upNdown]

Thanks. I've since played it a bit online, so I understand how the betting works in fixed.

The single chip type is key to the speed of the game as the dealer can more quickly compare bets stacks.

This explains need for all one chip.
I guess I'll have to try it sometime, but frankly playing it in person, especially in a home game with no dealer, just seems like a total pain in the ass, managing bets with all those chips.

 

[Dr. Neau]

Well, the thing is...if the limits are $2 and $4, you are never ever ever making a bet that's more than $4...so why have a chip valued higher than that?

Now in reality of a home game, you can be making change between hands because you don't care as much about speed. At a casino: Speed means income. It means more rake and more tips.

 

[Blaster]

 

[Thomacetti]

Fixed limit: Blinds are 0.5X (or 0.33X if X is odd) and X. Bets for first two rounds are X. Bets for final two rounds are 2X. Betting is usually capped each round at 4 raises (or something like that). Some games allow unlimited raising when it's down to 2 players, and some only allow that on the river. Casinos typically have all players use a single value of chip which is equal to the small blind. So a $2/$4 game and a $3/$6 game will have everyone using $1 chips for simplicity. A $4/$8 game and a $6/$12 game will use strictly $2 chips. The single chip type is key to the speed of the game as the dealer can more quickly compare bets stacks.

Spread limit: A blend between fixed and no-limit. The minimum bet to start all rounds is equal to the big blind. Players can initially bet anywhere between the min and the max. Like no-limit, the raise increments cannot decrease within a betting round. Like fixed-limit, there is typically a cap on raises which may be waived if only two players remain.

Fresh on the forum and i like you already...
Great post, we will benefit having you on board !

 

[links_slayer]

but frankly playing it in person, especially in a home game with no dealer, just seems like a total pain in the ass, managing bets with all those chips.

It's not that bad if you're using the "proper" denoms for the game (e.g. $1 chips for $2/$4 and $3/$6, $2 chips for $4/$8). That's why a lot of folks recommend a non-denom limit set composed of a LOT of one type and a few of another (workhorse and color-ups, respectively) - it can handle a variety of stakes. Determine the value at the beginning of the night and you won't have to answer "what's this one worth again?" all night; all you have to worry about is "it's four chips to you, sir."

 

[Wils]

Well, the thing is...if the limits are $2 and $4, you are never ever ever making a bet that's more than $4...so why have a chip valued higher than that?

Doesn't that assume only one person has bet ahead of you?

Person A bets 4
Person B calls
Person C raises to 8
Person D calls
Person E raises to 12
Person F raises to 16

I bow to the experience of others, but it seems to me that even in a limit game you'd need some higher denomination chips just to handle big action (other than first rebuys). I guess where I'm coming from its that I wouldn't be able to justify the cost of a true fixed limit set, so I need compromises that work!

 

[Dr. Neau]

Hey, I use three different chips in my limit games...I'm just saying why casinos go with a single chip.

 

[Psypher1000]

I bow to the experience of others, but it seems to me that even in a limit game you'd need some higher denomination chips just to handle big action (other than first rebuys).

You always want to have a 2nd denom on hand that's a 10x-25x multiplier of your base chip, however those are only used for rebuys and/or coloring up if someone's stack becomes too big to be easily managed. They're never necessary for betting purposes.

In a 3/6 fixed limit Texas Hold'em with 3 raises per street, you're looking at

12 + 12 + 24 + 24 = $72 maximum wager per hand, never exceeding $24 per street. So you buy in for a rack of $1's and you're set. If you need to rebuy, another rack of $1's is preferable, but if there's "too many" chips on the table already, you're out of $1's, or need to focus on expediency, then 4x$25 coming your way. Even in a "max bet" scenario, though, you never actually "need" the $25 chip - you're just making change.

If you go to $4/$8 many casino's will bump to $2 chips for the base which helps keep physical pot/stack size more manageable and further reduces the need for a higher denom.

It's not that you *never* see higher value chips used in a bet during fixed limit - you occasionally will - but at a casino $3/$6 game, the $5 chips are more of a nuisance than anything and I regularly see dealers change them for $1's. I don't commonly see $25's hit the pot so I don't have a clear recollection of what happened with them, but I *think* they stayed in play & the dealer let the cage handle those at the end.