Cash Game Guidance for Hosting First Home Cash Game (4 Viewers)

[pkr_newbee]

All, i'm excited to be part of this online community, and writing my first post here. I recently got into poker a couple years ago through a friend during COVID. I have only played virtually, but I enjoy the sport and the strategy that goes into it. I found a few local friends who also enjoy Poker and I plan on hosting cash games for now (not at the level to host a tournament, although I feel I could with the right group of participants). Overall, nothing too serious, but enough to have good food, company, and conversation. Having said that, since I am new, I have been trying to find a nice set (nothing too expensive, but nothing cheap) and landed upon the Nexgen Remix on Pokerstore. Blinds would be $0.25/$0.25 with $25 buy-in, and just interested in hosting 6/7 people (including myself).

I have been going back and forth on chip denomination and starting stacks, and feel 500 is sufficient for a set (even if folks want to rebuy), but I am ok with adding more. I don't think my game would ever warrant anyone throwing in $25 chips, but for an extra ~$25 for 2 barrels I'm comfortable adding some more color.

Chip Set:
$0.25 - 100 (should I get more?)
$1.00 - 200
$5.00 - 200
$25.00 - necessary?

And also, what are some options for how to best distribute the starting stacks for $25 buy-in. I was thinking:
$0.25 - 16 chips
$1.00 - 11 Chips
$5.00 - 2 Chips

 

[TheRealStephen12]

For .25/.25 and even .25/.50c, you have enough chips. Go with 12/22 for the first 8 buy-ins, use the remaining 4/24 for the 9th buy-in/rebuy, and use $5s for the rest. 100 quarters is plenty, moar chips are better according to everyone here, but you only need them if you move up to .25/.50.

 

[PseudoPsanity]

As far as starting stacks go, I'd probably just give the first 5 people a full barrel of quarters and dollars. Then probably 25 dollars for everybody else. I would do rebuys in all 5s.

 

[davesilver88]

My only thought would be to be potentially increase the max buy to $30

With blinds at 25¢/25¢, max $25, you are technically giving 100BB which is good. But since the SB and BB are the same, conceptually the game will play slightly bigger than if the game was 10¢/25¢.

Increasing max to $30 would be giving 120BB.

But that’s just nit picking stuff. Your chip breakdown looks good.

 

[pkr_newbee]

My only thought would be to be potentially increase the max buy to $30

With blinds at 25¢/25¢, max $25, you are technically giving 100BB which is good. But since the SB and BB are the same, conceptually the game will play slightly bigger than if the game was 10¢/25¢.

Increasing max to $30 would be giving 120BB.

But that’s just nit picking stuff. Your chip breakdown looks good.

Thanks and I'm sure I can squeeze an extra $5 from my group. Glad to hear the chip breakdown looks good

 

[Kam]

Welcome!

I think the Nexgens are really good value for what you get. The newer ‘remix’ version are brighter than my older ‘pro’ version.

Share pics when you get ‘em.

I’d also recommend some plastic playing cards and a table topper to have a solid setup.

GL

 

[pkr_newbee]

As far as starting stacks go, I'd probably just give the first 5 people a full barrel of quarters and dollars. Then probably 25 dollars for everybody else. I would do rebuys in all 5s.

I had actually modeled this out (prior to seeing the chip calculator on the site), and wasn't sure if 20 qtrs. would be too much. i'll this option out and see how it goes. thanks for the suggestion

 

[PseudoPsanity]

I had actually modeled this out (prior to seeing the chip calculator on the site), and wasn't sure if 20 qtrs. would be too much. i'll this option out and see how it goes. thanks for the suggestion

It might be. I've never played 0.25/0.25. It also varies from group to group. You really just have to try it and see what works.

 

[pkr_newbee]

For .25/.25 and even .25/.50c, you have enough chips. Go with 12/22 for the first 8 buy-ins, use the remaining 4/24 for the 9th buy-in/rebuy, and use $5s for the rest. 100 quarters is plenty, moar chips are better according to everyone here, but you only need them if you move up to .25/.50.

Great, so I'll stick with 3 denoms. .25/1/5. I like this chip distribution as well because it allows me to bring in more than my anticipated 6 players. I must admit, i'm good with math, but tend to overanalyze my options . Appreciate your perspective!

 

[Labrat]

The fractionals question breaks down to this, IMO:

If you don't mind having people constantly making change from the pot or each other, 12 each is a good amount. Upside is you don't have to teach your players how to count all those fracs during cashout.

If it drives you crazy and slows your game down when people are constantly making change from each other or the pot, then a barrel each is a good amount. Downside is teaching your players how to count all those fracs during cashout.

Personally, I like the barrel of .25s/barrel of 1s starting stacks for a $25 base buy-in and then using $5s to take it up to a max buy-in, which would be $50 in the case of my .25/.25 game. Easiest way to dole out stacks, if you ask me.

Also loosens our game up a bit.

 

[Mushmanchuman]

Yup I am a more fracs type of guy. Maybe go with 160 fracs: that way everyone gets a barrel and there is plenty on the table.

Preferably they don’t get used much. Besides the guy that counts out $2 in 8 quarters. Most of the time you’ll raise with $1 chips.

 

[JP1984]

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...ut-a-cash-game-chip-set-5c-10c-to-5-10.30897/

The answers you seek are here...

 

[kidpurple]

My cash game has been very similar to what you've described. I host tournaments more often, but just very recently bought a bunch of the same Nexgen Remix chips for a cash game. I went a little overboard with my purchase and would certainly do it differently if I were ordering today. I thought I might pull the labels off the yellows and use them for nickels, but haven't done that yet. 25¢/25¢ seems to be small enough for even some of the beginners I play with.

If I had to go for only 500 chips, I'd probably do exactly what you listed and start with 12 or 16 quarters per player. If you were getting closer to 10 players, then there are a lot of chip cases built for 600 chips. In that case I do also like to start each player with a full barrel of quarters and a full barrel of ones so I'd add another 100 quarters to your set. I prefer more counting at the end than change making during the game.

 

[pkr_newbee]

Welcome!

I think the Nexgens are really good value for what you get. The newer ‘remix’ version are brighter than my older ‘pro’ version.

Share pics when you get ‘em.

I’d also recommend some plastic playing cards and a table topper to have a solid setup.

GL

Accidentally purchased the $0.50 stacks. Meant to do that in all $1’s and then the rest in $5s. Oh well. Still excited to get this going…

 

[Kam]

Accidentally purchased the $0.50 stacks. Meant to do that in all $1’s and then the rest in $5s. Oh well. Still excited to get this going…

Welcome to the exclusive Nexgen club!

Standard PCF approved solution to your problem: buy m0ar chipz.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Accidentally purchased the $0.50 stacks. Meant to do that in all $1’s and then the rest in $5s. Oh well. Still excited to get this going…

Ouch. Those $0.50 chips are not going to be very helpful. Personally I'd try to return them or sell them because I hate 2x denoms with the fire of a trillion suns.

Or, you could keep them, with a plan to get a few more racks and someday host a 1/2 limit game that uses $0.50 chips as a workhorse.

IMO 160 quarters is way more than enough for a single table, especially shorthanded. By the end of the first night, I expect you'll see the wisdom in giving minimal quarters (like 4 or 8) in each starting stack and doing rebuys in $1s and $5s only. Most of the time you probably won't need more than a barrel or two in play. The $1 chip is going to be your workhorse in this game; that's the chip you want an abundance of.

 

[detroitdad]

Chip Set:
$0.25 - 100 (should I get more?)
$1.00 - 200
$5.00 - 200
$25.00 - necessary?

I would get at least one to two barrels of $25's. This will make the set more flexible. 100 x .25 is plenty

And also, what are some options for how to best distribute the starting stacks for $25 buy-in. I was thinking:
$0.25 - 16 chips
$1.00 - 11 Chips
$5.00 - 2 Chips

.25 x 12
$1 x 12
$5 x 2

Make sure you know how to handle situations like mis deals, flipped over cards, ect....Then stay consistent with it. Make sure your rulings are for the benefit of the game. Stay consistent with your rulings. If you are involved in a fucked up hand (flipped card, missed bet, ect.... have some that can be your back up to make the ruling. Stay consistent.

Have fun, act like adults, drink responsibility and your game will grow. If someone is toxic at the table, chat with them, and/or don't invite them back. One toxic person can ruin the vibe at the table.

 

[pkr_newbee]

Ouch. Those $0.50 chips are not going to be very helpful. Personally I'd try to return them or sell them because I hate 2x denoms with the fire of a trillion suns.

Or, you could keep them, with a plan to get a few more racks and someday host a 1/2 limit game that uses $0.50 chips as a workhorse.

IMO 160 quarters is way more than enough for a single table, especially shorthanded. By the end of the first night, I expect you'll see the wisdom in giving minimal quarters (like 4 or 8) in each starting stack and doing rebuys in $1s and $5s only. Most of the time you probably won't need more than a barrel or two in play. The $1 chip is going to be your workhorse in this game; that's the chip you want an abundance of.

Yea I wasn’t focused well when I purchased. I was going to have more $1s and then the rest in $5s as mentioned.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Make sure you know how to handle situations like mis deals, flipped over cards, ect....Then stay consistent with it. Make sure your rulings are for the benefit of the game. Stay consistent with your rulings. If you are involved in a fucked up hand (flipped card, missed bet, ect.... have some that can be your back up to make the ruling. Stay consistent.

I've found one of the hardest parts of hosting to be ruling on dealing irregularities, especially when dealers prematurely deal board cards. The standard casino solution in current year is to shuffle the prematurely dealt cards back into the deck and start over, essentially re-rolling whatever was dealt prematurely. Most players will be fine with this, especially if you're consistent, and I hope that's the experience you have.

But man, when you get resistance on this, it can be an ordeal. The stubbornest player I've encountered about this insists on the Sacred Order of the Cards philosophy, which holds that once the deal begins, nothing can alter the cards that were ordained to come up. (This is massively exploitable in a self-dealt game.) Doesn't matter if the entire rest of the table has backed me up; he will still grumble. To this day, I have yet to get a straight answer from him about what to do when a board card is dealt prematurely. Every time the issue comes up and I say the premature card cannot stand, he throws his arms in the air and says that can't happen, it has to stay, etc., but has no real answer for how we deal with the players who have yet to act.

In general, you'll run into players who are like this. They have their own ideas about how things should be done, maybe even hosted some games themselves where they made up their own rules (which is the case with my example), and raise a stink about a totally standard solution being wrong or unfair or whatever.

Having the rule in writing helps. Being consistent helps. Once you reverse an ordinary ruling in response to a complainer or allow material outcomes to be decided by democratic vote, you will have a mess on your hands. A lot of the time you have to be a shot-caller, not just a mediator.

 

[Machine]

I agree; The host's consistency is the most important thing to me.

I like to set the burn for the turn, the turn, the burn for the river, the river out on the board and then shuffle the flop back in.

If cards are marked well you're F'd but if not this makes everyone happy for the most part.

if you want to cite sources RR's are not as explicit as I would like, but here is the tda and rr

 

[detroitdad]

But man, when you get resistance on this, it can be an ordeal. The stubbornest player I've encountered about this insists on the Sacred Order of the Cards philosophy, which holds that once the deal begins, nothing can alter the cards that were ordained to come up

Yep.....I very politely and friendly explain why we do it like we do at my game. If the argument persists, I simply say that its my house, my rules. Just ask @quixotemi about this lol. He has heard me say it several times.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Yep.....I very politely and friendly explain why we do it like we do at my game. If the argument persists, I simply say that its my house, my rules. Just ask @quixotemi about this lol. He has heard me say it several times.

My response depends in part on how much good faith I detect, i.e., whether the player genuinely wants to ensure a fair, proper ruling or just wants to advocate for his own advantage or play in the mud.

My stubborn player seems to be of the first type. I lay the law down but also have a conversation with him about his reasoning and the reasoning behind the casino way of doing it. (Maybe we'll learn something.)

But occasionally I run into the second type. Like I had a player who'd constantly advocate for starting a tournament with 11 players to a table or consolidating at 11 players when a 2-table tourney is underway. Even when I told him no, he'd push back. "Is that written down somewhere?" (It was.) "But that's going to hurt the integrity of the game!" (How?) He was 100% doing it because it's his preference not to play short-handed. I know because when I shut him down, sometimes he'd sit there grumbling out loud about having to play short-handed.

Someone like that, I'm not going to get into a prolonged conversation where every point he makes is just bad-faith nonsense trying to get what he wants. I shut him down, and if he keeps pressing, I call him out on what he's doing and tell him I don't entertain people trying to change rules for their own advantage.

 

[mdt11]

If you are playing at stakes where players cannot in good faith make their argument, but then move on once a host ruling has been issued, it’s probably time to just hire an impartial dealer. Well worth the extra $ if the stakes are that high.

If someone is making a scene over a ruling at a $0.25/$0.25 game… Bye

 

[Jimulacrum]

If you are playing at stakes where players cannot in good faith make their argument, but then move on once a host ruling has been issued, it’s probably time to just hire an impartial dealer. Well worth the extra $ if the stakes are that high.

If someone is making a scene over a ruling at a $0.25/$0.25 game… Bye

In general, I agree. This one guy is an odd case because it's a close-knit group at a private club where he is a long-standing member and a former director, and blah blah blah. I wouldn't quite say he makes a scene, but he does tend to persist longer than he should after he's told no. The 11-handed thing is one of a short list of issues I've had with this guy, but I'd rather not bail on the game, and 86ing him isn't an option (nor is hiring a dealer because it's all cheeseburger stakes).

Overall I don't think he's a bad guy, but I do not share his sense of ethics or whatever inspires him to engage in borderline angley behavior trying to secure small, theoretical edges.

 

[pkr_newbee]

In general, I agree. This one guy is an odd case because it's a close-knit group at a private club where he is a long-standing member and a former director, and blah blah blah. I wouldn't quite say he makes a scene, but he does tend to persist longer than he should after he's told no. The 11-handed thing is one of a short list of issues I've had with this guy, but I'd rather not bail on the game, and 86ing him isn't an option (nor is hiring a dealer because it's all cheeseburger stakes).

Overall I don't think he's a bad guy, but I do not share his sense of ethics or whatever inspires him to engage in borderline angley behavior trying to secure small, theoretical edges.

Yea $0.25 if you plan on making a scene over a small amount of change imo it’s not worth the time and not going to be part of my game. For me it’s a sense of fun and fellowship where my group of guys won’t mind losing $30/$40 and are there to have a good time, get out the house, have some good food and vibes, guy talk, etc.

 

[kidpurple]

Ouch. Those $0.50 chips are not going to be very helpful. Personally I'd try to return them or sell them because I hate 2x denoms with the fire of a trillion suns.

Or, you could keep them, with a plan to get a few more racks and someday host a 1/2 limit game that uses $0.50 chips as a workhorse.

Yep, I bought 200 of the yellow 50¢ chips. I do wish I had skipped them completely. Using them in a limit game isn't a bad idea, but I think my group is gonna prefer lower stakes which probably means quarter chips.

Some other ideas for the yellow chips that I had. I would remove the labels (which is pretty easy) for all of these ideas:

• Use them as 5¢ chips for very cheap games
• Use them as $20 chips if games get big
• Bounty chips
• Prize chips (write a date on them and give them to tournament winners)

What else could be done with the 50¢ yellows?

 

[Jimulacrum]

Yep, I bought 200 of the yellow 50¢ chips. I do wish I had skipped them completely. Using them in a limit game isn't a bad idea, but I think my group is gonna prefer lower stakes which probably means quarter chips.

Some other ideas for the yellow chips that I had. I would remove the labels (which is pretty easy) for all of these ideas:

• Use them as 5¢ chips for very cheap games
• Use them as $20 chips if games get big
• Bounty chips
• Prize chips (write a date on them and give them to tournament winners)

What else could be done with the 50¢ yellows?

Replace the inlays with tiddies and use them as "Show 'Em" chips.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Yea $0.25 if you plan on making a scene over a small amount of change imo it’s not worth the time and not going to be part of my game. For me it’s a sense of fun and fellowship where my group of guys won’t mind losing $30/$40 and are there to have a good time, get out the house, have some good food and vibes, guy talk, etc.

A good test is whether people will freely round off their loose quarters at the end of the night or insist on making you pay them out exactly.

It's a pretty sure sign that either the person's playing over his means or he takes the money part of the game a little too seriously.

 

[mdt11]

In general, I agree. This one guy is an odd case because it's a close-knit group at a private club where he is a long-standing member and a former director, and blah blah blah. I wouldn't quite say he makes a scene, but he does tend to persist longer than he should after he's told no. The 11-handed thing is one of a short list of issues I've had with this guy, but I'd rather not bail on the game, and 86ing him isn't an option (nor is hiring a dealer because it's all cheeseburger stakes).

Overall I don't think he's a bad guy, but I do not share his sense of ethics or whatever inspires him to engage in borderline angley behavior trying to secure small, theoretical edges.

Ultimately you know your players best. Sounds like you’re making the right judgement call even if he’s tiptoe’ing the line of what’s acceptable.

We all can only judge each other on intent and that’s usually pretty clear to discern in person.

 

[Goosefraba]

I would add if you’re the dedicated dealer or if it’s pass the deal try to stay clear headed. You’re hosting so it goes with the rule calling. You know your limit enough to have a good time, even though it’s “cheeseburger money” as you put it. It’s still money and you want to give your players a sense of comfort in knowing the game runs smoothly to the end of the night.