Cash Game Cash game. .50 needed? (3 Viewers)

[scbill88]

I am building a set of Majestic CC for a cash game set. I read somewhere that .50 for cash games are useless since two .25 are the same, and usually .25 is a chip a cash set is going to have in good quantity. Likewise, tournament sets usually have $25 then $100 skipping $50 ok.
So the question is do you use .50 in low stakes cash games?

 

[TheOffalo]

Since you're building your own set, doesn't really matter what sets come with, you can customize. But .25 would be more versatile.

Depends what kind of stakes you want to run. If you're going to run games where a quarter is a potential blind (.10/.25, .25/.25, .25/.50) or micro-stakes involving nickels where the quarter would be your "workhorse" chip, then definitely go for .25 chips over .50 chips.

The general rule of thumb is that each denom jump should be 4-5x the previous value (.05/.25/1/5/20or25/100/etc.), as to not be redundant. Makes for easier counts at the end when cashing out.

The only relatively common exception is when running a .50/1 game where there's no chance people want to play a smaller stake that would involve quarters, then it seems acceptable to have the denom jump be only 2x going from .50 to 1.

 

[Skagglio]

Building sets lately I've been skipping quarters and using .50 chips instead. That way I can play either .50/.50 blinds or .50/1 and the extra quarter in the small blind doesn't really affect play.

 

[TheOffalo]

If you look at how many chips it takes to pay the blinds, generally it's 3 total between the SB and BB (if the BB is double the SB). If you're playing 1/2 with $1 chips, SB is 1 chip, BB is 2 chips, same with .25/.50. Even playing .50/1 with quarters would be 3 chips for the blinds, 2 quarter chips for the SB, 1 dollar chip for the BB. So getting both .25 and .50 in the same set doesn't really "help" and again just makes it messier to have two chips that are so close in value.

Building sets lately I've been skipping quarters and using .50 chips instead. That way I can play either .50/.50 blinds or .50/1 and the extra quarter in the small blind doesn't really affect play.

Agreed, if you're never playing lower than .50/.50 then of course quarters (and nickels and dimes) are obviously unnecessary.

 

[tabletalker7]

I have seen someone here with a custom set involving.50/$2/$10/$50 for chips but other than that I don't see a .50 chip working out well. It isn't about the .50 chip being bad as much as the rest of the set not working well with it.

 

[Nine_high]

I have used both. 25c is more versatile, 50c is nice because you can get away with much fewer whether doing .50/.50 or .50/1.00

I don't recommend using both at the same time.

 

[upNdown]

The only reasons to use a .50 in my opinion are chip driven not game driven.
I play .25/.50. Having quarters gives me the flexibility to play .25/.25 if I wanted, which I’ve been thinking about doing to ease people into an orbit of PLO or for double board bomb pots. That’s a game driven consideration and it’s nice to have that flexibility, whether it be for the whole night or just for an orbit or an even a single hand.
But if I had really cool looking .50 chips, sure, I’d play .50/.50. It plays almost the same as .25/.50.
If I could only use a limited amount of chips for any reason, I’d also go .50/.50 because it could comfortably be played with fewer than half the amount of quarters I’d use for .25/.50.
And again, if .50s were all that were available - ie: I don’t want to get into relabeling - then yeah, I’d happily use .50s.
There’s nothing wrong with .50, I just don’t prefer them.

 

[BearMetal]

In my 4 years here, I have since bowed to the pressure of not having both 25c and 50c on my table at the same time. I was shamed; made to walk through the proverbial Kings Landing street of PCF, naked, with a bell ringing behind me.

With that said, although most of my cash sets use a 25c chip and NOT a 50c, I have some sets where there are only 50c chips available (such as with my Terrible's RHC). In these cases, I reserve these sets for 50c/$1 NLHE.

If you're building a brand new cash set and a 25c chip exists (or you are OK making your own), then that is the best, most versatile option as it lets you play 25c/25c, 25c/50c, 50c/50c, and even 50c/$1. If you are building a new set and the chip family you want only has a 50c chip, then you would probably need to reserve it for 50c/50c or 50c/$1 games.

Side Note: Some of my sets DO have both 25c and 50c chips. However, they don't play together. Depending on the stakes, I will choose either to be the frac.

 

[moose]

Simple answer: don't use both .25 and .50 in the same game. Never have $50 chips.

 

[MrCatPants]

Building sets lately I've been skipping quarters and using .50 chips instead. That way I can play either .50/.50 blinds or .50/1 and the extra quarter in the small blind doesn't really affect play.

+ 1. This is the way.

 

[Venturalvn]

We used to play .25/.50, and I have many sets that have many quarters. One day I got a Paulson set with 50 cent fracs so we played .50./.50, and it was a lot easier to have fewer fracs on the table. Then I created a custom set using .50 instead of .25 because I liked being able to spend the money on more custom $5s than fracs.

Now we've established the game as .50/.50 just for ease of the group remembering the flow, even when we use the sets that contain quarters. It's name to have quarters available for bullshitty games, horse racing, etc., but for regular games I would only go for .50 fracs from here on out for playing our .50/.50 game and soon enough our .50/1 game. People end up either hoarding all the quarters, causing slow downs in making change for others, or for some reason bet only all in quarters until they run out, meaning slowing down to make change later. For whatever odd reason, I don't see this happening with a more limited amount of .50 fracs.

TL;DR: Moved from .25/.50 to .50/.50, will only order .50 fracs moving forward, life is better now.

 

[umbkcshah]

Along this line, why not just have the 0.25/0.50 be a NCV / Non-denominational chips for the small blind? If going for games smaller than 25c/50c I could see the issue, but it feels like an easy solution if creating your own set.

 

[OfficerLovejoy]

.05/.10 was my only game for several years but I wanted to grow the stakes in the foreseeable future.
I wanted to be able to still spread the usual format (.10/.10) but leave the shallow waters of nano stakes behind at some point.

So if i was gonna do .05/.25/1/5/25 chips, the .05 were gonna be completely useless as soon as I increased my stakes.
This was my very european solution and I still couldn't be happier with how the set plays at .10/.10 , .10/.20 and .30/.50

 

[upNdown]

or for some reason bet only all in quarters until they run out, meaning slowing down to make change later. For whatever odd reason, I don't see this happening with a more limited amount of .50 fracs.

I’ll say the opposite. While I rarely see people betting a stack of quarters in my game, I recently played .50/.50 for the first time in a while and I definitely say a lot of betting/calling $2-3 bets with multiple .50s. And though I’m sure it’s just because I’m not used to a .50, there was something very unintuitive about it for me. It took a second to process that four fracs equaled two dollars.

 

[Venturalvn]

I’ll say the opposite. While I rarely see people betting a stack of quarters in my game, I recently played .50/.50 for the first time in a while and I definitely say a lot of betting/calling $2-3 bets with multiple .50s. And though I’m sure it’s just because I’m not used to a .50, there was something very unintuitive about it for me. It took a second to process that four fracs equaled two dollars.

In our game it basically took fracs from "this pile of chips" using quarters to "this tiny pile are only for blinds" using fifties.

 

[dp68094]

I have sets with $.25's, sets with $.50's, and even a set with both (Garden city peaches, really pretty, and those ugly green quarter hotstamps). I've played them all and I have to say I definitely prefer the $.50's in a $.50/$1 game by a long shot.... otherwise there is too many tall stacks of quarters flowing around the table.

 

[davesilver88]

Since you're building your own set, doesn't really matter what sets come with, you can customize. But .25 would be more versatile.

Depends what kind of stakes you want to run. If you're going to run games where a quarter is a potential blind (.10/.25, .25/.25, .25/.50) or micro-stakes involving nickels where the quarter would be your "workhorse" chip, then definitely go for .25 chips over .50 chips.

The general rule of thumb is that each denom jump should be 4-5x the previous value (.05/.25/1/5/20or25/100/etc.), as to not be redundant. Makes for easier counts at the end when cashing out.

The only relatively common exception is when running a .50/1 game where there's no chance people want to play a smaller stake that would involve quarters, then it seems acceptable to have the denom jump be only 2x going from .50 to 1.

I don’t think it can be said better than this

 

[scbill88]

Since you're building your own set, doesn't really matter what sets come with, you can customize. But .25 would be more versatile.

Depends what kind of stakes you want to run. If you're going to run games where a quarter is a potential blind (.10/.25, .25/.25, .25/.50) or micro-stakes involving nickels where the quarter would be your "workhorse" chip, then definitely go for .25 chips over .50 chips.

The general rule of thumb is that each denom jump should be 4-5x the previous value (.05/.25/1/5/20or25/100/etc.), as to not be redundant. Makes for easier counts at the end when cashing out.

The only relatively common exception is when running a .50/1 game where there's no chance people want to play a smaller stake that would involve quarters, then it seems acceptable to have the denom jump be only 2x going from .50 to 1.

We always start .25/.50, so like the idea of 4x chip increases. The exception will be $10. They are a pretty blue and i just like them lol

 

[Nine_high]

In our game it basically took fracs from "this pile of chips" using quarters to "this tiny pile are only for blinds" using fifties.

This was my experience as well. I generally use quarters for .25/.50, but when I do use .50s for .50/.50 people just naturally seem to get that they are blind chips not betting chips. Once in a while someone throws out a bet like 3.50 but almost always bets are even dollar amounts.

Maybe it's because I give out so few, which seems a bit counter intuitive, but change making was far less common with .50s

 

[Venturalvn]

This was my experience as well. I generally use quarters for .25/.50, but when I do use .50s for .50/.50 people just naturally seem to get that they are blind chips not betting chips. Once in a while someone throws out a bet like 3.50 but almost always bets are even dollar amounts.

Maybe it's because I give out so few, which seems a bit counter intuitive, but change making was far less common with .50s

Same as well. Instead of 2 racks, I give out a single rack for the table, or sometimes not even.

Oddly, when I tried to only distribute a single rack of quarters instead of a barrel per person, my crew complained that I didn't give enough fracs. When I do the same with .50's, I get no reaction.

 

[allforcharity]

Go all NCV, every chip worth 0.05. Everybody starts off with multiple filled birdcages.

 

[merkong]

Built my first custom as:

Non denom (for lower stakes flexibility)
.50
$1
$5
$20

Haven’t been playing the .50’s much using non denom as .25’s

All future sets will as above without the .50 since the non denom can play as the .50

 

[Nine_high]

Same as well. Instead of 2 racks, I give out a single rack for the table, or sometimes not even.

Oddly, when I tried to only distribute a single rack of quarters instead of a barrel per person, my crew complained that I didn't give enough fracs. When I do the same with .50's, I get no reaction.

Yep I only brought two barrels of .50s and it was plenty for 5-7 handed.

 

[Tonysquander]

Go with the chips that fit your game currently and where you anticipate it will go in the future. Don’t worry about what others’ preconceived notions of what the “proper“ set or denoms should be or look like. You’ll be happier in the long run and your set will work for your game.

 

[scbill88]

Built my first custom as:

Non denom (for lower stakes flexibility)
.50
$1
$5
$20

Haven’t been playing the .50’s much using non denom as .25’s

All future sets will as above without the .50 since the non denom can play as the .50View attachment 1126585

Nice set.

 

[merkong]

Nice set.

Superior and reasonable artwork by @TheOffalo

 

[louBdub]

Building sets lately I've been skipping quarters and using .50 chips instead. That way I can play either .50/.50 blinds or .50/1 and the extra quarter in the small blind doesn't really affect play.

This.

• 50/50 is great
• 50/1 is clean with single chip blinds
• Min raise increments are simple
• Games seem to play smoother

I can go on and on…. But 50c has made its way into my main cash set for a reason. However, it all depends on your group, how it plays, et cetera

 

[slowplay]

Go with the chips that fit your game currently and where you anticipate it will go in the future. Don’t worry about what others’ preconceived notions of what the “proper“ set or denoms should be or look like. You’ll be happier in the long run and your set will work for your game.

This.

I've been going back and forth with .25/.50 decision, mainly influenced by opinions of others here.
Since we really play .50/.50 and .50/1 (if the group is for it and game is good we increase the blinds later in the night as the % flow ) I couldn't be happier with the decision to go with.50. It just makes life easier, single chip blinds, easy raises etc.

 

[Fezzyfezz]

Everyone has a different opinion but this is how I set up my Tiki’s. I went 25¢ and no 50¢. But I only got 100 of them. 200 dollars. 150 $5, 50 $10’s, 50 $20’s I like this chip because convenience on reloads as people carry $20 bills in their pockets, 25 $50’s and 25 $100’s only to complete my set of all the tikis and colorways. I just love the artwork and I am a collector. Had to have them all and full knowledge that the higher denoms won’t see much action.

 

[Natskule]

View attachment 1126503View attachment 1126504

.05/.10 was my only game for several years but I wanted to grow the stakes in the foreseeable future.
I wanted to be able to still spread the usual format (.10/.10) but leave the shallow waters of nano stakes behind at some point.

So if i was gonna do .05/.25/1/5/25 chips, the .05 were gonna be completely useless as soon as I increased my stakes.
This was my very european solution and I still couldn't be happier with how the set plays at .10/.10 , .10/.20 and .30/.50

Love the 0.5/2/10/50 sets. Only ones I recognize are the Silver Sevens and Sams Town, What were the others originally?