Cash Game Advice Needed - Structuring Home Games (1 Viewer)

[JD3]

I need some advice, for some background info me and about 6-8 friends/family will play a tourney (no fixed structure) with a $20 buy-in. Because the buy in is so cheap some of the people tend to take it less seriously and with the lax structure the game last forever. There have been times where it takes 5-6 hours.

With that said, I have been thinking about trying to get them to move to a .25/.25 or .25/.50 cash game and increase to a $50 buy in. How would you approach this? I don’t want to be pushy but it has gotten to the point where they ask if i want to play and it’s just not enjoyable because it’s an absolute disaster.

If they won’t go for this, I’ve looked at some threads on a T100 tourney (would still like to increase buy in because I think people would take it more seriously) ive used the chip calculator to get the amount of chips, but what about durations between levels? Ideally think if the game could last 2-3 hours to start and see how play goes from there.

I am open to any opinions, and for note I do not have a real set of chips yet (leaning towards the Monaco on Apache).

Sorry for the long winded post, thank you in advance!

 

[chippitydoodah]

By "no fixed structure" Do you mean you aren't increasing the blinds?

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Sorry for the long winded post, thank you in advance!

Lol, welcome, that ain't long!

I think to start, I would make the blinds go up over time, that's a big part of why tournaments are so different than cash games and its also a good way to make sure they end when you want them to end. Every 20 minutes raise the blinds, putting pressure on people to play by raising the price over time. Depending on how many people are playing, I'd probably shoot for 15-25 minute levels between blind increases. 15 will feel very short, 25 may be a good compromise.

Alternatively, a cash game is fine. Have you mentioned this to them? It may be uncomfortable to more than double the buyin but some people may prefer that type of game. Talk to people, feel em out. One positive of a cash game is that casual players can come and go, they aren't locked in for 6 hours, they can leave whenever they please. This feels like less of a commitment than a $20 tournament that could last half a day.

 

[JD3]

By "no fixed structure" Do you mean you aren't increasing the blinds?

By no fixed structure, I mean we don’t play the same starting stacks, levels, etc. every time. It is literally different every time we play because they are the type that like to see a lot of chips on the table.

 

[JD3]

Lol, welcome, that ain't long!

I think to start, I would make the blinds go up over time, that's a big part of why tournaments are so different than cash games and its also a good way to make sure they end when you want them to end. Every 20 minutes raise the blinds, putting pressure on people to play by raising the price over time. Depending on how many people are playing, I'd probably shoot for 15-25 minute levels between blind increases. 15 will feel very short, 25 may be a good compromise.

Alternatively, a cash game is fine. Have you mentioned this to them? It may be uncomfortable to more than double the buyin but some people may prefer that type of game. Talk to people, feel em out. One positive of a cash game is that casual players can come and go, they aren't locked in for 6 hours, they can leave whenever they please. This feels like less of a commitment than a $20 tournament that could last half a day.

I’ve mentioned cash games before and this was their reaction, that if they wanted to play like that we could go to a casino. My thoughts were exactly what you mentioned, if we play cash games it would allow people to take a few hands off and enjoy the experience a bit more. Me and one of the players used to play cash games and never had issues but he and I were the only ones that were close friends everyone else were acquaintances so maybe that was a difference.

Maybe I try to structure one more tourney and gingerly introduce the idea of cash game again? I’ve known these people for nearly 20 years so I don’t want to make them upset but something has to change for me personally because it’s not as fun for me anymore for a variety of reasons.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Up to you. Healthy pressure towards blinds increasing is usually a good play to keep tournaments fun and interesting but if people really dont want to change, its tough to tell people how they should be having fun.

 

[JD3]

Up to you. Healthy pressure towards blinds increasing is usually a good play to keep tournaments fun and interesting but if people really dont want to change, its tough to tell people how they should be having fun.

For starters I’m going to try the T100 chip stack the calculator recommends and do 25 min levels and see how that works out.

I’ll use that as a opportunity to get a temperature of the room regarding increased buy in and cash game

 

[exodus]

Is there a reason the structure for tournaments differs all the time? Also, are there a ton of rebuys which extends the length of the tournament? If yall have been playing this way for 20 years I don’t see them changing what they are used to but it’s worth a shot. If not, I’d politely decline since it isn’t fun for you anymore.

 

[JD3]

Is there a reason the structure for tournaments differs all the time? Also, are there a ton of rebuys which extends the length of the tournament? If yall have been playing this way for 20 years I don’t see them changing what they are used to but it’s worth a shot. If not, I’d politely decline since it isn’t fun for you anymore.

We’ve only been friends that long, we haven’t been playing for that long. Everything was fine until someone new less experienced started playing and then some of the issues became more apparent. That’s what ultimately got me looking into a structured tournament on google and that’s how I found this forum oddly enough.

I think our main problem is starting chip stack vs blinds. I think we never structured it because everything seemed to work well enough that it never became a problem, plus I didn’t have children and it wasn’t a big deal if I was out until super late but obviously now it’s a bigger deal if that makes sense.

 

[allforcharity]

You'll probably need to do a turbo tourney with freezeout (no rebuy) or very limited rebuys if you want 2-3 hours play.

 

[merkong]

You'll probably need to do a turbo tourney with freezeout (no rebuy) or very limited rebuys if you want 2-3 hours play.

This if that’s what you’re after. We’re doing an STT on the last Saturday of each month during the Winter Season and we’ll do one reentry and keep the total in about two boy-ins worth on cash night and a freeze out also totaling about two buyins.

 

[JD3]

This if that’s what you’re after. We’re doing an STT on the last Saturday of each month during the Winter Season and we’ll do one reentry and keep the total in about two boy-ins worth on cash night and a freeze out also totaling about two buyins.

With your reentry, is there a cap of when you can rebuy or is it 1 rebuy regardless of when it happens

 

[chippitydoodah]

You can run 2 or 3 turbo tourneys in one night. $20 buy in and you can add $5 each for bounties. T50 with starting stacks of 4500. Unlimited re-buys up until the color up. Follow this blind schedule and each tourney goes about 2 hours.

People can come late and play the 2nd & 3rd tourney or leave early after playing 1 or 2.

 

[TankingRowlet]

If you're looking for cash game rather than tournament, I'd probably suggest 0.05/0.10 as this is more casual friendly. People won't be losing their groceries over the game and a straddle here and there might make things interesting.

I've tried going larger with mixed success as I'm not too sure the casuals in my crew are down to play anything larger, so instead we also play around with a $20 starting buy-in rather than $10.

Takes a lot of easing in before people start wanting to play slightly larger.

 

[JD3]

You can run 2 or 3 turbo tourneys in one night. $20 buy in and you can add $5 each for bounties. T50 with starting stacks of 4500. Unlimited re-buys up until the color up. Follow this blind schedule and each tourney goes about 2 hours.
View attachment 1404341

People can come late and play the 2nd & 3rd tourney or leave early after playing 1 or 2.

This sounds perfect, what is your chip breakdown if you don’t mind sharing.

 

[chippitydoodah]

You can go 2 ways

8 @ 25
8 @ 100
3 @ 500
2 @ 1000

Or

12 @ 25
7 @ 100
3 @ 500
2 @ 1000

 

[merkong]

With your reentry, is there a cap of when you can rebuy or is it 1 rebuy regardless of when it happens

In an MTT it would be like the first hour and probably similar in an STT. First three blind levels or so.

 

[Labrat]

I don't see why you just don't do a .05/.10 or .10/.20 cash game with a $20 buy-in, and then you can call the game when you've all had enough.