Cash Game Max Rebuy? (1 Viewer)

[trigs]

I've always posted my $0.50-$0.50 cash games with a $100 buy-in and rebuys up to $100 any time between hands. I mostly did that because I figured having a set rebuy limit was standard and I felt 200BBs is deep enough to play with. My last game I had a player request to have rebuys of up to 50% of the largest stack. I ended up agreeing since I personally didn't care (more money on the table = more fun!) and no other players had an issue with it. In the end, I think it was only taken advantage of 2-3 times all night.

I'm curious as to any possible issues/negatives with the rebuy up to 50% of big stack. Who else uses this and why do you instead of a set rebuy amount? I'm considering using this normally for my future games. Anything I'm not considering?

(Results oriented thinking: my last game was EPIC - we had over $3k on the table by the end of the night!)

 

[Lemonzest]

I think it depends on your crew. How much disposable income does everyone have?

You don't want your game to run too big that it forces out some of your friends. I love having more money on the table and maximizing gamble but I am a degen.

As the host you (and I) need to consider how to make our game be healthy and keep running week after week.

Many people here would probably agree with a rebuy of 50% of the big stack. I usually let people rebuy for whatever they want but our game is only 20 NL. Sometimes I will rebuy for 100 and so will other people if they lose several buyins.

You want to make sure all the players can afford to rebuy 2-3 times per night otherwise the game may die over time.

 

[Gunnar]

Well.

I play 20/40 with min buy 2500 and max 6000* *Half the big stack. In my groups there are many players who regulary play higher stakes and some that play lower.

So I have both players that buy in for the min and some for the max. For me this has worked quite well but the other day the game got really big really fast.

We started 7 handed.
Avg on table is 4000.

Three way all-in. Pot is 19.000

Winner is big stack with 19.000
Two rebuys from my aggro players both half of big stack 9.500

7 players avg 6700!

one of the players goes straight for the big stacks few hands later.
10000ish all in. The big stack wins and goes to 30.000
Rebuy half the big stack for 15.000
7 players avg 8800

Player number 8 arrives and is usually buying in for 3000 he commented that the game was way bigger than he liked.

This happened in under 90min. This is an extreme senario but take in mind that games can grow really fast if your players are used to higher stakes than are being played as rebuy does not hit them in the bankroll.

ps Im talking about icelandic kronur Im not that of a highroller

 

[Lemonzest]

^^ roughly translates to a 20c/40c USD game - correct?

 

[Gunnar]

^^ roughly translates to a 20c/40c USD game - correct?

True

 

[Jimulacrum]

I play in some games with this rule, and I personally like it, but it's not for everyone.

Upside: You will have games where epic amounts of money get into play.

Your more skilled and deeper-pocketed players will generally love this rule. It will lead to much deeper stacks, more complex decision-making, and of course some mind-blowing pots.

Downside: You will have games where epic amounts of money get into play.

Your consistent donators will end up hating it for all the reasons your better players like it. They'll fare even worse with the complex decisions than they already do with trivial decisions, and they'll make costlier mistakes as stacks and pots get bigger.

The trouble with "half the big stack" is that it really punishes weak players in a game where weak players are lining up to get punished in the first place. Not only that, but if a fish has a great night and accumulates a lot of chips, it's much more likely that someone will be able to catch up and stack the fish. That kind of thing can really drive your donators out of the game.

Your folks who are near the edge of their comfort zone playing for $100 or $200 a night may also feel pushed out or even "bullied" by the much bigger stacks that will develop.

This is not to say it can't be a good rule, but I find that it's best suited for games where everyone is a skilled, serious student of the game or is rolled to play a bigger game than the one they're in. And I mean everyone, because you will probably lose most of the people who don't fit into one of those categories.

 

[Lemonzest]

@Jimulacrum explained that really well.

 

[dkersey]

I host a .25/.50 cash game, with a max buy in of $50 or up to 100% of big stack (up to $100). I wanted to cap it for the downside reasons that @Jimulacrum states above as I have a broad range of casual to serious players.

 

[74suited]

We use a cap of 100 BBS, though some games I've played in capped at the largest stack at the table, so if someone had $1K, you could buy in up to $1K. Most important is to be consistent and make sure everyone understands that rule, same with topping off, up to the max total.

 

[RichMahogany]

We usually do 1/2 of the largest stack