Cash Game Chipless Spread Limit Game (3 Viewers)

[Jimulacrum]

I got invited to a new poker game a month or so ago, and I've attended another one since. It's a group of older guys who have been playing together on and off for decades. Game is dealer's choice, dealer picks a new game each hand, with most of the games being 7 Card Stud variants (vanilla, Chicago and various other one-card splits, 6-4 high-low no qualifier), Guts, a few versions of 3 Card Poker, and since I've joined, Dramaha and some Omaha variants.

Stakes are 1/2/4 limit and an ante of 1, but spread limit, i.e., you can choose to bet or raise by increments of 1–2 and 1–4 in the later rounds. Dealer can also call an ante of 2 and 2/4/8 limits, which tends to happen later in the game. I know stud poker and spread limit aren't for everyone, but I enjoy the games, the guys are fun to play with, and overall it's a hoot.

The thing I find most interesting is that we play with no chips at all, just piles of paper money. So old-school. The guys said the reason is that they used to play with chips, but sometimes the bank would come up short, and with cash that isn't an issue.

Obviously I'm a proponent of chips, but it just seems like a non-starter in this game, so I'm rolling with the cash thing. To keep things interesting, last time I brought half a dozen Eisenhower dollars to spread around. Next time I'm bringing a bunch of $2 bills I've collected from the local supermarket. People seem to appreciate it.

A few other notables:

• Check-raising isn't allowed in some games. May even be all games. I'm still feeling this out.
• In games with a qualifier to bet (like Jacks or Better), if they realize someone has opened with improper openers, they actually roll the action back, as if the hand has been fouled and needs to be undone. I find it really weird. Then again, I find Jacks or Better really weird in the first place.
• There seems to be an unspoken agreement that once the action gets heads-up, they're basically going to check it to showdown every time. This came up in a hand I was in; it got heads-up, and suddenly the other guy revealed his hand, with more cards and rounds of betting still to come. I asked him about this, and he explained that's just how they do it because it's a friendly game or something. I asked for clarification on whether this was an actual rule, and everyone agreed it's not, so I made it clear I don't intend to play that way. It's contrary to the spirit of the game IMO.

I played in a game a little like this many years ago and never expected to encounter another one. Figured all the piles-of-cash-on-table games had gone extinct. This game looks to go off about once a month, and I plan to be there, betting all the way to the end even when it's heads-up.

Anyone else have a game like this you play in, or used to play in?

 

[Phoe9x]

Sounds like a nightmare to figure out peoples stack.

What in the world were they doing that the bank came up short? Do they not know how to count? Were they using dice chips that you can easily sneak in chips?

 

[doublebooyah85]

I got invited to a new poker game a month or so ago, and I've attended another one since. It's a group of older guys who have been playing together on and off for decades. Game is dealer's choice, dealer picks a new game each hand, with most of the games being 7 Card Stud variants (vanilla, Chicago and various other one-card splits, 6-4 high-low no qualifier), Guts, a few versions of 3 Card Poker, and since I've joined, Dramaha and some Omaha variants.

Stakes are 1/2/4 limit and an ante of 1, but spread limit, i.e., you can choose to bet or raise by increments of 1–2 and 1–4 in the later rounds. Dealer can also call an ante of 2 and 2/4/8 limits, which tends to happen later in the game. I know stud poker and spread limit aren't for everyone, but I enjoy the games, the guys are fun to play with, and overall it's a hoot.

The thing I find most interesting is that we play with no chips at all, just piles of paper money. So old-school. The guys said the reason is that they used to play with chips, but sometimes the bank would come up short, and with cash that isn't an issue.

Obviously I'm a proponent of chips, but it just seems like a non-starter in this game, so I'm rolling with the cash thing. To keep things interesting, last time I brought half a dozen Eisenhower dollars to spread around. Next time I'm bringing a bunch of $2 bills I've collected from the local supermarket. People seem to appreciate it.

A few other notables:

• Check-raising isn't allowed in some games. May even be all games. I'm still feeling this out.
• In games with a qualifier to bet (like Jacks or Better), if they realize someone has opened with improper openers, they actually roll the action back, as if the hand has been fouled and needs to be undone. I find it really weird. Then again, I find Jacks or Better really weird in the first place.
• There seems to be an unspoken agreement that once the action gets heads-up, they're basically going to check it to showdown every time. This came up in a hand I was in; it got heads-up, and suddenly the other guy revealed his hand, with more cards and rounds of betting still to come. I asked him about this, and he explained that's just how they do it because it's a friendly game or something. I asked for clarification on whether this was an actual rule, and everyone agreed it's not, so I made it clear I don't intend to play that way. It's contrary to the spirit of the game IMO.

I played in a game a little like this many years ago and never expected to encounter another one. Figured all the piles-of-cash-on-table games had gone extinct. This game looks to go off about once a month, and I plan to be there, betting all the way to the end even when it's heads-up.

Anyone else have a game like this you play in, or used to play in?

Love the idea of a cash limit game everything else sounds awful

 

[Jimulacrum]

Sounds like a nightmare to figure out peoples stack.

Stacks don't really matter because it's all spread limit and not table stakes. You can just put more cash in play mid-hand if you come up short for a bet.

What in the world were they doing that the bank came up short? Do they not know how to count? Were they using dice chips that you can easily sneak in chips?

No idea. Could have been anything. The era of using chips in this game was before I was around.

I've hosted a fair number of games (with chips), and small shortages happen sometimes. Overages even happen sometimes. If it's small amounts once in a while, that's not a big deal and not necessarily a sign someone doesn't have a command of arithmetic.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Love the idea of a cash limit game everything else sounds awful

"Cash" meaning the paper money or just meaning the non-tournament structure?

 

[doublebooyah85]

"Cash" meaning the paper money or just meaning the non-tournament structure?

Paper cash. Old school etc. sounds fun. But everything else sounds awful.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Paper cash. Old school etc. sounds fun. But everything else sounds awful.

I could take or leave some of the antiquated/"friendly" stuff.

Some of their ways of doing things—notably the Sacred Order of the Cards mentality, i.e., you can't reshuffle if there's a prematurely dealt card, just have to kinda figure it out—don't jibe with my understanding of the game and why certain rules exist in a casino environment.

That said, I'm fine with it in a low-stakes game populated with friends who will never try to squeeze advantage out of those kinds of spots. I don't see it ever being a real problem. But it's not how I would choose to run things, given the choice.