Cash Game How well will a 300 chip cash set play 6 or 8 handed? (6 Viewers)

[upNdown]

I'll probably give it a shot 6 handed and I bet it will be fine. 8 handed, it might be a little tight.
For a .25/.50 NLHE game I'd have:
100 quarters
100 $1's
100 $5's
and a barrel of $25's - that should keep the bank big enough

Does anybody have experience playing a cash game with a small set like this?

 

[Ronoh]

While more is always better, a rack of fracs and a rack of singles are all you need for one table regardless... unless you have a player who hoards them (coughbenandave) it's a non issue. One rack of fivers is pretty light but should be fine in a game that only requires a bank of 1100 for eight guys.

 

[Psypher1000]

Does anybody have experience playing a cash game with a small set like this?

*Raises hand* Your assessment is correct. Should be fine 6-handed. Moving up to 8, I would want somewhere between 400-500 chips (although at that point & for those limits I would argue your best move is to just jump to a full 600pc birdcage and be done with it).

 

[upNdown]

While more is always better, a rack of fracs and a rack of singles are all you need for one table regardless... unless you have a player who hoards them (coughbenandave) it's a non issue. One rack of fivers is pretty light but should be fine in a game that only requires a bank of 1100 for eight guys.

That's what I figure. I'll have a few hundos to push the bank a bit higher. But with this crowd it's probably not necessary.
I'm most concerned about the $1's but I think we can get by with a single rack. This is my Gulfport set - so it's not like I can just add on another rack. it's just about hit the playability threshold, but I don't want their first night to be frustrating. I'll probably wait for a night with just 6 players.

 

[detroitdad]

*Raises hand* Your assessment is correct. Should be fine 6-handed. Moving up to 8, I would want somewhere between 400-500 chips (although at that point & for those limits I would argue your best move is to just jump to a full 600pc birdcage and be done with it).

I agree. The smallest set that I had for a 10 player game was 440 chips. It worked fine.

What is your buy in for a .25/.50 game? Ours is 100. Three hundred chips would be challenging.

 

[Jambine]

I'll probably give it a shot 6 handed and I bet it will be fine. 8 handed, it might be a little tight.
For a .25/.50 NLHE game I'd have:
100 quarters
100 $1's
100 $5's
and a barrel of $25's - that should keep the bank big enough

Does anybody have experience playing a cash game with a small set like this?

That is actually a good travel set for 8 handed

 

[upNdown]

I agree. The smallest set that I had for a 10 player game was 440 chips. It worked fine.

What is your buy in for a .25/.50 game? Ours is 100. Three hundred chips would be challenging.

Good question. I'm taking over my buddy's game, with some of the older players and some new ones. In that game, the initial buy-in was $20, with rebuys usually going higher. I'm gonna shoot for $40 or $50 buyins - still short, but I don't want to overwhelm the guys used to buying in for $20.
I'll start us out with a full size chipset, but I'll definitely sneak those gulfports into the table as soon as I get a chance.

 

[detroitdad]

At those buy ins you should be fine.

 

[links_slayer]

You could always let cash play

 

[72o]

Yeah I was going to add with a $20 buyin, you'll most likely want more ones as $5 chips will eat up those buyins pretty fast.

I play a very similar game but our buyins are usually $40 and I barely get a couple barrels of fivers onto the table. Lotta $1s (like 400-500) though because people at these low stakes still want a good amount of chips in front of them. But again, thats how my game plays out. YMMV

And I don't want to get into the whole "Quarter Wars" thing either.

 

[upNdown]

You could always let cash play

At those buy ins you should be fine.

I'm not worried about the size of the bank - I think itt's fine, and if not, I have plenty of $100 plaques I could throw in. The question is more about how the game would play with a single rack of ones. Even at the $20 buy-in game, 5 or 6 handed, I could get about a whole second rack of $1's on the table. Granted, some guys would be sitting on stacks of $1's, and that's fun, but PROBABLY not necessary?

 

[upNdown]

Yeah I was going to add with a $20 buyin, you'll most likely want more ones as $5 chips will eat up those buyins pretty fast.

I play a very similar game but our buyins are usually $40 and I barely get a couple barrels of fivers onto the table. Lotta $1s (like 400-500) though because people at these low stakes still want a good amount of chips in front of them. But again, thats how my game plays out. YMMV

Right, but this won't be $20. Like I said, 40 or 50. So a starting stack would have 12 quarters, 12 dollars, and the rest in $5's. In an 8 player game, that's my whole bank of $1's. Probably playable, but not ideal. Like I said above, I think I'll save this set for a night where there will only be 6 players - that's an average of 16 ones per player, which is better than 12.

 

[detroitdad]

I'm not worried about the size of the bank - I think itt's fine, and if not, I have plenty of $100 plaques I could throw in. The question is more about how the game would play with a single rack of ones. Even at the $20 buy-in game, 5 or 6 handed, I could get about a whole second rack of $1's on the table. Granted, some guys would be sitting on stacks of $1's, and that's fun, but PROBABLY not necessary?

You already know this, but change will have to be made frequently. Get them in a good practice of not making change in the middle of the hand and it should work with minimum problems.

It might be best to be the dedicated dealer?

 

[Shaggy]

Should be fine... Tight with 8, but still useable. Get the players accustomed to making change from pot (or dealer make change from pot).

 

[upNdown]

You already know this, but change will have to be made frequently. Get them in a good practice of not making change in the middle of the hand and it should work with minimum problems.

It might be best to be the dedicated dealer?

Should be fine... Tight with 8, but still useable. Get the players accustomed to making change from pot (or dealer make change from pot).

Yeah, maybe I just don't need to jam this foot into this shoe. One of the reasons I own so many chips is so I don't have to worry about those issues. I don't need to force a "special" set onto the table if it's just gonna be a change-making pita.

 

[Shaggy]

Yeah, maybe I just don't need to jam this foot into this shoe. One of the reasons I own so many chips is so I don't have to worry about those issues. I don't need to force a "special" set onto the table if it's just gonna be a change-making pita.

you won't know until you try. My go to breakdowns for my .25/.50 $100 buy-in 9 player game is:
100x 25c
120x $1
130x $5
40x $25
10x $100

This allows me to have a functional set with 400 chips. It is not a "change-making pita."

I recommend trying your set once... what's the down side... you're making more change than you'd like. What's the upside... you find out your set doesn't need to be so big... What good is that... You can now afford more expensive chips... Mapes anyone?

 

[AWenger]

but this won't be $20. Like I said, 40 or 50. So a starting stack would have 12 quarters, 12 dollars, and the rest in $5's

Perfect. 12-12-x was a breakdown I used for a 25c/50c cash game back in the day, with a max buy-in of $40.

IMO, these stack sizes kind of play more like a tournament-sized stack with a smaller number of chips, but it's fine for a cash game. For comparison, some $1/2 games I play in now, people buy in for $300 with all $5 chips except for 10 to 20 $1 chips. For the buy-in stack in those games, it seems having several barrels of the workhorse chip can sometimes make the game looser.

A couple tips:
If the game gets really big on a night, just have a backup chip on-hand to use as a $100 or additional $25 chip, just in case you need more bank.
If people cash out early, I made change for their $1s to keep more of the $1 chips on the table, since that was the workhorse chip in the game.

 

[AWenger]

This is my Gulfport set

Request for game pics when this game happens! Home Game pics thread is here.

 

[churlbut18]

I'm working through a very similar scenario, determining the breakdown for a 5 player $0.25/$0.50 NL cash game with an $80-$100 buy in.

I'm leaning towards 60/100/80/20 (260) which gives me a bank of $1015 and 12/17/16 or 12/17/12 starting stacks plus enough for 5+ rebuys.

Allows me to buy some very expensive chips and have a playable set for a small group. Still having starting stacks of 40+ chips and $1k on the table.

 

[DaneWoj]

Our game just switched to .50/.50 so now we dont have to worry about having enough quarters. When we upgraded to majestic chips their .50 chip works great. The play of the game didnt change at all. We have 3 racks(100x.50, 100x1, 100x5) and then we use 7 - $50 Jetons after that. Our bank works to an even $1000. Cash plays($100s only) once all the chips are used.

 

[upNdown]

Our game just switched to .50/.50 so now we dont have to worry about having enough quarters. When we upgraded to majestic chips their .50 chip works great. The play of the game didnt change at all. We have 3 racks(100x.50, 100x1, 100x5) and then we use 7 - $50 Jetons after that. Our bank works to an even $1000. Cash plays($100s only) once all the chips are used.

I've never played a .50/.50 game, but I bet you could get away with a lot fewer 50 cent chips than that. Like 4 per player is probably plenty? Anyway, it's not a solution for me. I'd rather just buy a boatload of chips, if I could, but these chips are really hard to find. But now that I've finally found almost a rack each of $1's and $5's, I'm itching to play with them.

 

[Shaggy]

But now that I've finally found almost a rack each of $1's and $5's, I'm itching to play with them.

Just do it!

 

[upNdown]

Not QUITE 100 $1's, but close enough, if I can rustle up 5 friends.