Moving up from 5c/10c to 25c/25c (1 Viewer)

[maloviz]

The last few home games I've hosted have been 5¢/10¢ cash games with a $20 max buy in/top off all night.

It's been a lot of fun but recently I've been thinking doing 25¢/25¢ blinds might be a little more exciting, fun, and easier to manage (no nickels).

The group I play with is mostly casual players. Friends and family. I'm not trying to make a cut-throat game and I definitely don't want my players not returning because the price is too high. But sometimes I feel like the game might be better off and easier to play as 25¢/25¢.

My idea was to tell players than the next game with be a $25 buy in instead of $20. This is only $5 more, and I know the actually buy in is what most casual players care about. This would of course mean it would be a 100bb starting stack instead of 200bb, which might change the dynamics of the game a bit. But I think overall the game will probably still play the same. Not sure if I want to establish rebuy being up to $50, as I'm not sure how my players would feel about spending $50 on a rebuy.

Most seem to not mind the $20 buy-in / rebuy and most players will rebuy, or top off at some point in the night. I'd say most players are fine with spending $40 in a night. So I don't think $50 is too big of a stretch for 2 buy ins. Even if the bb amount is different.

I wanted to know what people though if this and if anyone else has had similar experiences they can share with raising the stakes (even just a little) at their home game. I want to keep the game fun for everyone and make sure that players are comfortable playing ~2x a month

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

When I want to raise the stakes, I ask the players. Its not a bad idea but we dont know your players or how your game runs; I know half my players only come cause its 5c/10c and dont understand the difference between 100 and 200bb playing. Their limping range includes AK and QQ lol, I dont think they're going to correctly adjust to doubling the big blind and changing SPR.

 

[Dodger]

What’s the flow of game play at 5¢/10¢? Are the nickels being bet often or used primarily for posting blinds? If the latter and players are used to betting quarters/dollars, then making the bump to 25¢/25¢ shouldn’t be too tough.

But, as @NotRealNameNoSir says, just ask your players.

 

[maloviz]

What’s the flow of game play at 5¢/10¢? Are the nickels being bet often or used primarily for posting blinds? If the latter and players are used to betting quarters/dollars, then making the bump to 25¢/25¢ shouldn’t be too tough.

But, as @NotRealNameNoSir says, just ask your players.

Preflop raises range from 50c-$1.50 usually, occasionally someone will put 25c on top (35c total). This of course gets no one to fold and just makes the pot a bit juicer.

My players love to limp so the price to do that would be going up. I'm worried this might make the game less fun for some people but to be honest I might be in favor of discouraging "bingo poker". However, I can see the valid points from both sides of the argument. I don't enjoy folding hand after hand in a game that's supposed to be social and fun. But I also don't like there being 6-9 players on every flop.

Postflop actions sees pretty much no nickels. Most of the time someone will throw in a single 25c bet, or if the pot is getting big they will start betting appropriately. Sometimes they go crazy and put a dollar into a 40c pot too though.