Cash game min-max (3 Viewers)

[xdukeluvax]

That's exactly my point.
If you invite people to a home telling them you 're going to play .5/.5, you have to have a rule forbidding someone from turning it into a 2/5

Shouldnt a player like that be a cash cow for everyone tho? Hes going to punt every dollar to everyone. Obviously we probably all have beginner level players at our games and definitely dont want to scare them off. Thankfully havent had that problem

 

[edwardstarcraft]

Shouldnt a player like that be a cash cow for everyone tho? Hes going to punt every dollar to everyone. Obviously we probably all have beginner level players at our games and definitely dont want to scare them off. Thankfully havent had that problem

I once hosted a 25/50c game where a player blew through $700. Half the table was like "wow this is awesome" and half the table was like "omg I can't play a single hand this sucks"

 

[trigs]

That's exactly my point.
If you invite people to a home telling them you 're going to play .5/.5, you have to have a rule forbidding someone from turning it into a 2/5

Players willingly straddling/multi-straddling and/or players just potting blind for x hands is not the same as someone with an unlimited bankroll playing way lower stakes and just trying to steamroll a .50 game. (Who does this btw? That's a different conversation.)

However, as a host, if I had one over-rolled guy trying to literally run over this low limit table with his giant roll I'd let him jam as much dumb blind money into the pot as he wants to because he doesn't care about money and he's basically giving it away until he doubles/triples up after already giving 5x+ away and then still puts even more blind money in so how is it a bad thing for everyone else that the rich guy who doesn't care about money keeps throwing it away? consider setting buy-in limits.

 

[Old State]

A "normal" buy-in is 100BBs
More than that, it's deep, less than that it's shallow
One could argue that the buy-in, among socially related people, should be standard 100BBs, or half the big stack, eventually.
If you go for variable min/max, I guess the range should be 60 to 120 or 150 BBs.

For games among socially related people which are meant to be "friendly" (a ludicrous term for a violent game like poker) you could also establish a total cap per player per night/session.

So that if an otherwise nice guy comes to a .25/.50 game with $ 1K in his pocket, he won't be allowed to table all that, allowing him to play like a maniac, eventually unpunished (for the sole reason that other players will NOT have the liquidity to see him to his demise)

Who defines “normal”? I’ve played in Atlantic City since NL holdem started there and 200 BBs is normal except for the lowest stake game $1/2 that’s now $1/3 ($400 max). $2/5 is $1000 max. I’ve only played in Vegas a few times but I believe it’s similar.
For a home games I do keep it smaller to make sure the game doesn’t get to big and make people uncomfortable before we even start. $220 for $1/2 and $100 for .50/1. Everyone knows what to expect before they get there.

I also never take a “vote” to raise the stakes or buyin in the middle of a game. Even if 7 of 10 say they want to do it, the reality if that 2-4 of the 7 really don’t want to and felt pressured to go along. That’s how you lose players from future games. They quickly turn into “I can’t make it Friday night” every time in the future.

 

[Sal Bandini]

That's exactly my point.
If you invite people to a home telling them you 're going to play .5/.5, you have to have a rule forbidding someone from turning it into a 2/5

What's the rule?

 

[RocAFella1]

What's the rule?

Make the game limit or spread limit.

 

[Sal Bandini]

Make the game limit or spread limit.

Yep, and not many people want to play that. The only other option is to cap the amount you can lose in one night. Again, not a favorable rule for most people. You might as well play a tourney then.

 

[Coyote]

Guys relax.
What I 've been saying is that in home games there should be, IMHO, a cap per player per session, 'cause even clueless maniacs can run over the table if they 're lucky and the rest of the social invitees do not have the financial liquidity to see them lucky maniacs to their eventual demise.
I won't die in that trench. Just my thoughts, which could be useful to the rest of you, or not.

 

[Coyote]

Who defines “normal”? I’ve played in Atlantic City since NL holdem started there and 200 BBs is normal except for the lowest stake game $1/2 that’s now $1/3 ($400 max). $2/5 is $1000 max. I’ve only played in Vegas a few times but I believe it’s similar.
For a home games I do keep it smaller to make sure the game doesn’t get to big and make people uncomfortable before we even start. $220 for $1/2 and $100 for .50/1. Everyone knows what to expect before they get there.

I also never take a “vote” to raise the stakes or buyin in the middle of a game. Even if 7 of 10 say they want to do it, the reality if that 2-4 of the 7 really don’t want to and felt pressured to go along. That’s how you lose players from future games. They quickly turn into “I can’t make it Friday night” every time in the future.

The host, either a person or a profit-making enterprise, defines what's "normal".
With clearly different motives.

 

[Rakrul]

At my game there's a 100BB max buy in the entire night, even if the entire table is sitting with mountains. The "worst" I've had, was 4000bb at the table. It was full ring with a wait list and a few players busting out, so I think there was 13 or 14 players contributing at different times. I won't change it and here's why.
Poker rooms should strive for a balance between luck and skill. The book refers to real life examples like The South Point (300bb) and Bellagio (100bb) and argues that bad players lasts longer at Bellagio and thus is more likely to return.
I think we all can agree that the deeper the stacks, the more it benefits skilled players over poor players. And in order to keep your game going, you need fish. If the fish comes and lose 500bb in an hour, the likelihood of that player returning is a lot lower than if he lost 100bb/hour. (The numbers are just examples, it's not based on any model.)

The book is focused on casino poker rooms (and how poorly many of them are managed), but there's still plenty of validity here for home games as well.

 

[Old State]

The host, either a person or a profit-making enterprise, defines what's "normal".
With clearly different motives.

There are millions of home hosts. The casino industry is more consistent and for poker set most of the standards and established a lot of the rules. Not sure what motives they really have as poker is a big loser for most casinos. They would make significantly more money per square ft if they replaced poker tables with slots or lower edge games like blackjack

 

[isthisevencreative]

I think max 200 big blinds is a good balance for a friendly game. I suppose later in the night, you could raise the cap if everyone agrees. We do 5¢/10¢, buy-in $5-20. But sometimes later in the evening, the stacks can get big, and if everyone agrees, we remove the nickels, play .25/.25, and raise the max buy-in to $50.

I’m confused what do you mean 200 big blinds and then 5 cent/10 cent buy? Can you explain all this to me

 

[isthisevencreative]

Super casual home game is 5c/10c, buyin $5-20. Im one of the few who buys in at the max, and someone recently complained its unfair that some start with a bigger stack.

But he also complained that later in the night some people have more chips....I think he just doesn't like losing lol.

So if you buy in the beginning at $20 and loose all your money how much do you let the person buy back in with? I’m super new and need everything explained I’ve not played a cash game yet just been playing on my phone

 

[isthisevencreative]

We play NLHE/PLO .25/.50 with a min/max buy-in of $25/$100. Basically 50 to 200 BBs. Keeps it friendly enough. But we still manage to get $2k-$3k on the table on an active night. We've had people down over 1000 BBs and others up close to 2000 BBs.

Can you explain this to me? The first and second sentence

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

So if you buy in the beginning at $20 and loose all your money how much do you let the person buy back in with? I’m super new and need everything explained I’ve not played a cash game yet just been playing on my phone

No worries, welcome. For cash games, theres usually a min and a max. Min, cause its annoying if someone buys in for $1 and goes in everytime; max, to limit exposure and the game size. Usually the max is anywhere between 80-200 big blinds ( so if Im playing 5cent/10cent, 200bb is $20, capisce?). There's also, "half the big stack" or matching the big stack, so if someones winning tons and has $100 in front of them, new players can buyin for half that instead of 20. Personally I dont do this, match the stack makes it more dangerous for newer players.

Cash should be relaxed. If you buyin for 5 you risk 5, if you buyin for 20 you risk 20. Most people cite the big blind when figuring out mins and maxes; 50bb is short stack, 200bb is deep stack.

 

[isthisevencreative]

Nice to see I’m not the only one that runs a .05/.10 game and we also do $5 min/$20 max buy in. 200bb gives plenty of play for our causal game, but 200bb should give plenty of play for any standard(ish) home game.

What is 200BB what’s that mean

 

[Beakertwang]

I’m confused what do you mean 200 big blinds and then 5 cent/10 cent buy? Can you explain all this to me

5¢/10¢ referred to the blinds, $5-20 is the buy-in, for 200 big blinds max.

 

[isthisevencreative]

No worries, welcome. For cash games, theres usually a min and a max. Min, cause its annoying if someone buys in for $1 and goes in everytime; max, to limit exposure and the game size. Usually the max is anywhere between 80-200 big blinds ( so if Im playing 5cent/10cent, 200bb is $20, capisce?). There's also, "half the big stack" or matching the big stack, so if someones winning tons and has $100 in front of them, new players can buyin for half that instead of 20. Personally I dont do this, match the stack makes it more dangerous for newer players.

Cash should be relaxed. If you buyin for 5 you risk 5, if you buyin for 20 you risk 20. Most people cite the big blind when figuring out mins and maxes; 50bb is short stack, 200bb is deep stack.

5¢/10¢ referred to the blinds, $5-20 is the buy-in, for 200 big blinds max.

I get the .5/10 and the buy in but what do you mean 200 big blinds max? I’m thinking the big blind you’re referring to is the .10 you have to put in the beginning of the hand so what’s the 200 max exactly mean?

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

5¢/10¢ referred to the blinds, $5-20 is the buy-in, for 200 big blinds max.

So in many poker games there's 2 blind bets, to the left of the dealer. Poker is played at different stakes, different amounts of money being wagered; the blinds represent the minimum amount you can bet. So when we say 5cent/10cent, its microstakes, my minumum bet is 10 cents (one big blind, or bb). If I was playing $1/2, the minimum single bet would be $2.

Most buyins are separated by these big blinds(bb), it makes it easy to translate between stacks. $400 is a lot for some people, but thats 200 bb at $1/2, while 200bb at 5cent/10cent is only $20. Same ratio, different amounts. I may have just confused you further lol but this is how it works in my head. (Obviously not explaining to you @Beakertwang lol just furthering)

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

I get the .5/10 and the buy in but what do you mean 200 big blinds max? I’m thinking the big blind you’re referring to is the .10 you have to put in the beginning of the hand so what’s the 200 max exactly mean?

When people buy into the game, the max amount of money they can buy into my game with is 200 big blinds worth. 10 cents is the big blind, so my max buyin is $20, 200bb.

 

[bergs]

25/50c (with at least one straddle the majority of the time) - we play $125 max or half the biggest stack. $125 is great because it’s one stack of each denom (quarter, $1, $5).

My MA games usually had $200-400 rebuys after a few hours, $5-7K on table end of the night, big stack was always $1500+, to see a flop was around $8-15.

My game in AZ plays smaller. Rebuys are $100-150, $2K on the table, big stack around $500. We did get a $32 straddle on last session though. Seeing a flop was typically $2-5.

For the circus games, buying in for 200bb gives you the ability to play properly IMO.

 

[detroitdad]

I host .25/.50 dealers choice with a $100 max buy in. I haven't had anyone buy in for less than $100 to start the game in years! The rebuys are $100, or half the deep stack.

 

[arch3r]

Can you explain this to me? The first and second sentence

We play NLHE/PLO .25/.50 with a min/max buy-in of $25/$100. Basically 50 to 200 BBs.

The game we play is ROE or Round of Each. One round/orbit of No Limit Hold'em (NLHE) then a round/orbit of Pot Limit Omaha (PLO). Then repeat. The stakes are $0.25 for the small blind and $0.50 for the big blind. The amount of money you are allowed to buy into the game for is a minimum of $25 up to a maximum of $100. If you translate those dollar amounts into the number of big blinds (BBs) it represents you get a minimum of 50 big blinds ( $25 divided by $0.50 ) up to a maximum of 200 big blinds ( $100 divided by $0.50 ).

Many think/talk in terms of BBs when calculating bets and stack sizes. Consider a bet of $50. In a .25/.50 game, that is 100BBs, quite a sizable bet given the stakes of the game, while that same $50 bet in a $5/$10 game is only 5BBs, basically a standard raise.

 

[cpac54]

We play mainly $0.50/$1.00 and sometimes $0.25/$0.50. Buy-in always max. 200bb and re-buys and top-ups to the size of the big stacks. We've never defined a min. buy-in, but those who don't buy in for the max are almost always buying in for either 100 or 150bb.

 

[isthisevencreative]

No worries, welcome. For cash games, theres usually a min and a max. Min, cause its annoying if someone buys in for $1 and goes in everytime; max, to limit exposure and the game size. Usually the max is anywhere between 80-200 big blinds ( so if Im playing 5cent/10cent, 200bb is $20, capisce?). There's also, "half the big stack" or matching the big stack, so if someones winning tons and has $100 in front of them, new players can buyin for half that instead of 20. Personally I dont do this, match the stack makes it more dangerous for newer players.

Cash should be relaxed. If you buyin for 5 you risk 5, if you buyin for 20 you risk 20. Most people cite the big blind when figuring out mins and maxes; 50bb is short stack, 200bb is deep stack.

So why do people choose a short stack versus a big stack? What’s the big difference or which one is most popular for a game of about 10 people who are pretty new?

 

[isthisevencreative]

25/50c (with at least one straddle the majority of the time) - we play $125 max or half the biggest stack. $125 is great because it’s one stack of each denom (quarter, $1, $5).

My MA games usually had $200-400 rebuys after a few hours, $5-7K on table end of the night, big stack was always $1500+, to see a flop was around $8-15.

My game in AZ plays smaller. Rebuys are $100-150, $2K on the table, big stack around $500. We did get a $32 straddle on last session though. Seeing a flop was typically $2-5.

For the circus games, buying in for 200bb gives you the ability to play properly IMO.

What’s a straddle

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

So why do people choose a short stack versus a big stack? What’s the big difference or which one is most popular for a game of about 10 people who are pretty new?

Short stack: more gambly, people pick it cause less risk. Big stack: more room to manuever, people it so they win more when they win, more risk.