Are you using "fun" chips in your games ? (1 Viewer)

[Kid_Eastwood]

Hi there,

Just wondering if you are using those kind of chips in your games ?

Show Em

Poker is not just about the cards in your hand, it is about guessing how your cards compare to the opponent’s cards. You just folded, and it’s driving you crazy wondering if you did the right thing. Just once you wish you could see what the opponent had in their hands! If you were using Show Em poker chips, you could find out! The idea behind Show Em Chips is that each player receives one (or more) Show Em chips, which they are free to use at any point during the game. When the chip is used, their opponent must show their cards (after the hand is over of course!). You could also "sell" the Show Em chips to players who really want to use them, and sweeten the pot for everyone!

Rabbit Hunt

The poker definition of Rabbit Hunting is: to see the undealt cards after a hand is finished in order to see who would have won if the hand hadn’t been folded. The idea behind Rabbit Hunting chips is that at the beginning of the night, each player receives one (or more) chips. At any point during the game, they can turn in the chip to "Rabbit Hunt" and see what cards would have come next. You could also "sell" these chips to players who really want to use them, and sweeten the pot for everyone!

Reload / Rebuy

Rebuy and Reload poker chips are typically used interchangeably, so just choose which theme works best with your group. The idea behind Rebuy and Reload chips is that at the start of the poker tournament, each player receives a Rebuy chip. If a player is eliminated from the tournament and chooses to rebuy, they must turn in their Rebuy chip. The players who still have their Rebuy chip at the end of the night can get a prize such as a portion of the rebuy payments from the prize fund, a drink, food, etc. Rebuy chips are another way to add some fun to your tournaments!

Bounty

At the beginning of the poker tournament, each player receives one Bounty poker chip. When each player is knocked out of the tournament, they surrender their Bounty Chip to the person who eliminated them. The goal is to collect as many Bounty Chips as possible! At the end of the night, the Bounty Chips are then turned in for a prize. The prize can be cash, a poker trophy, or other awards. Or, you may decide to pay out a set amount per Bounty Chip, so that players who don’t end the night “In the Money” might not go home completely empty handed. If using this method, the value of the Bounty Chips should be determined at the beginning of the night (for example $1 to $5 per chip) and make sure to add this to the entry fee.

Personally, I'm using the reload and bounty chips.
Reload can be used like they suggest but it can also represent the value of a full stack and a player would receive a reload chip rather than the initial stack.
I like the idea of the "Show Em" chip and will maybe consider buying some.

Kid.

 

[Venturalvn]

These really only ever seem to apply to a tourney, and as we haven't played tournies in years our group has no use for these.

Even if they did, having a rebuy chip or anything like that only really seems to make sense to me if there's a perm dealer with a full tray, and only to balance the tray. None of which would ever apply to me.

Bounty chips are obv. And in any case, we're chippers. We have personal chips, card capper chips, memorial chips, business card chips. So what the hell...chance to design or buy more chips?? Sure!

 

[TheBigTater]

One of those I really dislike, the show em' chip. It goes against one of the basic tenets of poker. You're suppose to pay (call the bet/pay the bettor) to be able to see the bettors' cards. If you fold well then you should be left guessing. If the winner want to volunteer his holdings then that's ok but no free lessons. In a friendly home game I'll show more often than not but you shouldn't ever be forced to show if nobody calls.

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

@TheBigTater , for a friendly, low-buyin game I'd be ok with the Show Em chip. For more serious game I share your opinion.

 

[MaxB]

Our 5c/10c blinds cash game has the show 'em chips ... with a $5 buy in, everyone is having fun. I also have the STFU and HTFU chips that we toss around.

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

I also have the STFU and HTFU chips that we toss around.

How do you use those ?

 

[MaxB]

How do you use those ?

If someone is taking too long, fling them a HTFU chip and they either fold or bet in 10 sec ..... with raises to 25c, its not a life savings so no one should take a long time (y) :thumbsup:

STFU is someone on their phone or talking when its their turn. If they don't quickly play, they auto-fold

 

[SixSpeedFury]

 

[Schmendr1ck]

One of those I really dislike, the show em' chip. It goes against one of the basic tenets of poker. You're suppose to pay (call the bet/pay the bettor) to be able to see the bettors' cards. If you fold well then you should be left guessing. If the winner want to volunteer his holdings then that's ok but no free lessons. In a friendly home game I'll show more often than not but you shouldn't ever be forced to show if nobody calls.

Eh, I have a couple players that don't like to show if they don't have to. Just the same, everybody gets a single "Show Em" chip at the beginning of the night. Some players love them, some players never use them, but overall I think it makes the game more fun for everyone.

(Available from ABC Gifts and Awards. This is not a paid endorsement, I just like Gene. )

 

[Max D]

bought all of mine @ABC Gifts and Awards here is an excerpt of our rules specific to your question:
Special Chips
- 1 Show’em chip that can be used at any time to ask a player to see his hand
- The chip is then given to the player who had to show his hand
- If player refuses he must relinquish his Show’em chip(s), if player used it to see another player’s hand , then he must show his hand
- All Show’em chip chips will be removed from play when the game is down to the last four players

- 1 Rabbit hunt chip per player to run out the rest of the hand even though the actual hand has concluded
- Chip will then be taken out of play after being used
- Additional chips can be purchased for $1 (during breaks, not during play)
- Money collected will be added to bonuses funds
- Remaining Rabbit hunt chips will be removed from play when the game is down to the last four players

- 1 Bounty Chip per player to be used when a player gets knocked-out
- The chip is then given to the winning player
- The player will use the chip(s) to count knock-outs when he leaves
- The player will receive another chip if he re-buys

 

[BGinGA]

Personally, if given a choice, I won't play where either show-em or rabbit-hunt chips are used. No place for that time-wasting crap in poker.

 

[andy699669]

The Reload/Rebuy tokens are especially good for "Freebuy" tournaments. If anyone is able to keep that token to a checkpoint, options are:
a. Add-on! Equal to the starting amount at the very beginning (start with T10,000, add-on is T10,000)
b. Refund! 50% of Buy-In is returned. Lowers the prize pool, however.

 

[Darthhoodie]

I like using bounty chips, but that's about it.

 

[upNdown]

- 1 Show’em chip that can be used at any time to ask a player to see his hand
- The chip is then given to the player who had to show his hand

If the show em chips stay in play, that sounds like somebody could be forced to show their cards every hand of the night - I wouldn’t like that. I’m not a fan of show em at all, but in a friendly home game, I guess it’s okay if it was limited to once per player per night.

I’ve never understood the resistance to rabbit hunting - maybe because it doesn’t happen much in my games - maybe a few times a night. But it should take the dealer 3 seconds to peel off the last two cards - it’s neber seemed like a big deal to me. And if you’re charging players for the privilege, seems like a win-win to me.

 

[Jeff]

Personally, if given a choice, I won't play where either show-em or rabbit-hunt chips are used. No place for that time-wasting crap in poker.

And you kids...get off my lawn!

 

[PlaidDragon]

Are you using "fun" chips in your games ?

Aren’t ALL chips, “fun chips”?

 

[detroitdad]

 

[Darthhoodie]

And you kids...get off my lawn!

This ^ exactly! Most of my players are like this, and would not be keen on having to show a hand that wasn't called.
They do like the bounty, but it took an act of congress to get it put in.
Now they love the bounty, but no chance for the show'em.

 

[BGinGA]

Hey, you left out my top hat. And i rarely wear suspenders.

 

[MaxB]

I am not a fan of rabbit hunting .... everyone whines and makes up excuses... or pats themselves on the back for a "great move on their part" and the "I knew it would be those cards" ..... no thanks

 

[Max D]

Personally, if given a choice, I won't play where either show-em or rabbit-hunt chips are used. No place for that time-wasting crap in poker.

It actually has sped up our game, people rarely use the rabbit now that they have the options, go figure... “Show me” is more of a fun thing we do...

 

[Nex]

This originally was meant to just be a card capper chip, but I could as well use these as rabbit hunting chips.



Actually a nice idea to re-sell them to players once they have been used. Maybe not to fund some bonus but a bottle of booze for the table every now and then. The more fish the bigger the delirium!

 

[Schmendr1ck]

Personally, if given a choice, I won't play where either show-em or rabbit-hunt chips are used. No place for that time-wasting crap in poker.

Somebody already beat me to the "GET OFF MY LAWN" comment, so...

I think this is the kind of thing that sacrifices maximum efficiency to keep the game more fun for casual players. One rabbit hunt or show-em per player per night is not that big a waste of time.

If I'm in a game where everybody cares so much about getting in the maximum number of hands that they won't go along with an occasional rabbit hunt, then I'm looking elsewhere for a softer game.

 

[BGinGA]

Meh. Poker is a game that involves making decisions involving cash/chips based on information. Both rabbit-hunting and forced show 'em situations allow that information to be had for free and outside of the context of the game proper. Soft, friendly, hourly-hand-rate, really has nothing to do with it. It's just a waste of time, pointless, and totally counter-intuitive to the nature and intent of the game. There are plenty of friendly soft games where it's not allowed, for good reasons.

Often, stretching a given position to the extreme can be helpful in understanding an underlying point. Imagine a game where the entire board was dealt out to the river on every-single-hand, regardless of the actually betting involved. Or if players had to show their cards every-single-hand once it was over. The same reasons those are both ridiculous notions also apply to doing it at any time, even once.

Lots of ways to keep a game fun for players. Those two are some of the worst.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

Meh. Poker is a game that involves making decisions involving cash/chips based on information. Both rabbit-hunting and forced show 'em situations allow that information to be had for free and outside of the context of the game proper. Soft, friendly, hourly-hand-rate, really has nothing to do with it. It's just a waste of time, pointless, and totally counter-intuitive to the nature and intent of the game. There are plenty of friendly soft games where it's not allowed, for good reasons.

I'll concede that a show-em chip gives information that would otherwise not be free. I don't see it as a huge deal in a small stakes home game, but I understand why some players do not like it.

Rabbit hunting only takes a few seconds and doesn't provide any useful information of any kind, other than perhaps occasionally taking hands out of your range if certain cards are exposed. I don't believe most rabbit hunters are thinking this deeply about the game anyway, so again no big deal in my opinion.

Often, stretching a given position to the extreme can be helpful in understanding an underlying point. Imagine a game where the entire board was dealt out to the river on every-single-hand, regardless of the actually betting involved. Or if players had to show their cards every-single-hand once it was over. The same reasons those are both ridiculous notions also apply to doing it at any time, even once.

I wouldn't want to play in a game where I had to show my hand every time, or the board was dealt out every time. I disagree that doing it once is equally ridiculous, though. Bluffing every single hand is also a terrible idea, so does that mean we never bluff?

My cash players like the fact that they get a show-em chip with their initial stack - it's part of what makes my game a little unique compared to other home games. On occasion I forget to hand them out, and they always ask. If that little bit of pointlessness makes it easier for me to maintain the long-term health of my game, then I'd be foolish to stop.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I had considered using our flexible "Bonus!" chips as a show'em chip one night, where the player that had the most chips at the end of the night would win the nightly bonus (1/2 buy-in).

Cons

• It does require revealing information - information that could be useful in many more events into the future, where you aren't getting paid.
• Increased likely-hood that the bonus is going to an in-the-money finisher.
• Even greater chance that I'm just handing the money to @Ben , because he is the most highly-respected player in the group.
• Fairly high probability that the bonus would get chopped, leaving the bonus at 1/4 a buy-in.
• Once one player had amassed the lion's share of bonus chips, remaining chips have no real (ICM) value

Pros

• Learning opportunity for struggling players
• Bonus chips in play!

As you can see, there is a real emotional advantage to the Pro-argument, but the Con-arguments have the final decision backed into a corner. The idea is still alive, but not going anywhere.

 

[detroitdad]

Personally, if given a choice, I won't play where either show-em or rabbit-hunt chips are used. No place for that time-wasting crap in poker.

I mostly agree. The only way I'm would support the show'em chip is if they had a value on them.

Players pay 5 bucks per show'em chip. They can buy as many as they want. When a player uses one it goes to the victim of said "show'em" chip. That person then can choose to use it at another time, or hold onto it and cash it in at the end of the night.

 

[detroitdad]

I like my "Make it a Double" chip much better. It induces action vs giving away information

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

Upping this thread to know how you're using the rebuy chips.

- Are you giving them at the beginning of the tournament and players can use them to rebuy ?
- When a player rebuys, are you using it as a chip representing a full starting stack ? (E.g. giving it to the chip leader, who returns change that will be used as the rebuy chips) ?

 

[sir bluffs alot]

One of those I really dislike, the show em' chip. It goes against one of the basic tenets of poker. You're suppose to pay (call the bet/pay the bettor) to be able to see the bettors' cards. If you fold well then you should be left guessing. If the winner want to volunteer his holdings then that's ok but no free lessons. In a friendly home game I'll show more often than not but you shouldn't ever be forced to show if nobody calls.

Played in @Klobberer’s game last weekend and he used both the show ‘em an bounty chips for our tourney. He added the caveat that the person using the show’em chip had to pay the show-er a small blind. As the tourney went on, the cost of using a show’em chip went up exponentially. Liked that.