New to poker, PCF, and want to host a cash game! (1 Viewer)

Flawed_Titan

High Hand
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Hello all,

I’m a new poker player here, I’ve been playing at 4-6 hand tables for about a year but I’d guess I’ve only played 20 games total. Last month I went to Atlantic City and stacked someone who was more of a fish than me, then nailed a cooler set of Queens over set of nines on a shark.
Since then, I’ve been looking into making my own home games since the local game I was playing in broke up. Just bought some from chips from Apache and I’m waiting on some SSC for the table I’m building (pics to come!!)
I’d love any advice on how to start up a cash game, or really any friendly advice to a new forum user! (My first forum ever, actually.)
Cheers!!
 
Welcome!

Can I ask what chips and amounts you ordered? Part of hosting is having the right breakdown of chips based on the amount of players, the stakes, and the preferred format (cash/tourney) y'all play.
 
Welcome!

Can I ask what chips and amounts you ordered? Part of hosting is having the right breakdown of chips based on the amount of players, the stakes, and the preferred format (cash/tourney) y'all play.
D21E1D47-ABEC-4048-94A1-AF480E6822BE.jpeg

Currently, my breakdown is:
$1 - 125
$5 - 125
$25 - 50
We will use the 1/2 format but buy ins are $20 for $200 of chips. (So stakes are basically .10/.20
I think this will be ok for 4-6 players but I want to get more chips:
$1 - 200 total
$5 - 300 total
$25 - 75 total (I can only order in multiples of 25)
$100 - 25
 
Welcome! I have owned a large set of those Monte Carlos for a long time, actually one day planning on releasing them back to the world. We ran those for our first home game in 10 plus years... then we found PCF and they have been sitting ever since. But they still absolutely will get the job done.

I would be a bit scared of using them.at actual values for a cash game (because anyone can buy them off line and being them to your game) but for micro cash and only 4 - 6 players you should be fine!

Our set is tourney based but you could use them in the same sense of $5 = $.05 and so on.
20210401_085541.jpg


Now as far as proper breakdown on a set... many will say tons of chips in play is always better, but there is a point where there are too many and can be a nuisance when counting out "all ins"

I tend to lean on the heavier more than the efficient side. For me with this set up I would go.

6 players @ $20 buy ins (btw with $.10/$.20 most go with 200 Big Blinds which would allow for up to $40 buy ins)

($.10) x 15 = $1.50 x 6 = 90
($.50) x 15 = $14.50 x 6 = 90
($1) x 4 = $4 x 6 = 24 (they do make a $10 chip... I probably still have racks of them available)

Rebuys 1 - 6
($1) x 15 = $15 x 6 = 90
($5) x 1 = $5 x 6 = 6
Rebuys 7 - 12
($1) x 5 = $5 x 6 = 30
($5) x 3 = $15 x 6 = 18
Rebuys 13 - 24
($5) x 4 = $20 x 12 = 48

From there it is thought to incorporate a $25 chip in a $20 buy in game... so I would buy $5s from the players in quantitys of 5 ($25) and give them a chip... but then again there are no $250 chips... so not sure what you would use for those anyways. Of course that is only if the game played that big. If it was me, I would just get an extra rack of $5s and call it good.

So the set would need to be
($.10) 90 / 100 (only available in qty 25)
($.50) 90 / 100
($1) 114 / 125
($5) 72 / 175 (extra rack for rebuys)

Again they do make a $10 you can use for $1s and $50s you can use for $5s... I own both and happy to sell them to you dirt cheap if interested... honestly shipping will cost you more! Lol
KIMG0595.JPG

But the $10s and $50s are kind of close.

Hope that helps, I would say the 500 chip breakdown above would be enough for a $20 game. If you want a $40 breakdown (200 big blinds) you would probably need more chips. Happy to help with that breakdown as well if you are interested sir!

Fellow Chipper Ben
 
Also I would recommend not investing too much in the "economy" line of chips, slugged Plastics if you think there is ever a chance that you would eventually move into a higher end level of chips. We all have to start somewhere and I understand not dumping a ton of money into a hobby you may not stick with or if the game never really turns into much! Or if that is your total budget, absolutely nothing wrong with that!

But before you buy racks and racks of these (like I did) try them out, maybe buy a few samples of nicer chips or find a local PCF member and try to play a game on some real clay chips first. Clay typically holds its value pretty well, the Monte Carlos are not worth much of anything once you "drive them off the show room" floor so to speak.

Also if you are trying to get a "family" type home game together, even if you do not prefer tournaments, it is typically more fun for learning and more of a controlled amount to gamble then playing cash, so trying to get a game going I would recommend even with the same chips like a T1 based - T500 tourney (250 Big Blinds) and can be done using the exact same chips.

Just something to think about!

Ben
 
I would be a bit scared of using them.at actual values for a cash game (because anyone can buy them off line and being them to your game) but for micro cash and only 4 - 6 players you should be fine!
Isn't this a worry with any chips you buy? :unsure:
Now as far as proper breakdown on a set... many will say tons of chips in play is always better, but there is a point where there are too many and can be a nuisance when counting out "all ins"
The guys I used to play with enjoyed each having one or two $25's to feel like a high roller as the chips got passed around the table. Personally, I love the aesthetic of having a mountain of $5's.
Again they do make a $10 you can use for $1s and $50s you can use for $5s... I own both and happy to sell them to you dirt cheap if interested... honestly shipping will cost you more! Lol
I'll definitely think about it! Right now I just want to build up my functional starter set, though.

As for individual chip breakdowns we used to just play with 36 $5's and 20 $1's, (these translate into $0.50 and $0.10 cash values,) or 1 $25, 31 $5's, and 20 $1's. I do wonder if adding more colors (in the form of $10 chips) would make it more appealing to my faux "high roller" friends mentioned earlier... It's a good thought!

One more question... Why would I not just use my normal chips if I ran a tournament?
 
But before you buy racks and racks of these (like I did) try them out, maybe buy a few samples of nicer chips or find a local PCF member and try to play a game on some real clay chips first.
I would love to find someone to play with in NC around the Greenville area or even Raleigh.
 
Isn't this a worry with any chips you buy? :unsure:

The guys I used to play with enjoyed each having one or two $25's to feel like a high roller as the chips got passed around the table. Personally, I love the aesthetic of having a mountain of $5's.

I'll definitely think about it! Right now I just want to build up my functional starter set, though.

As for individual chip breakdowns we used to just play with 36 $5's and 20 $1's, (these translate into $0.50 and $0.10 cash values,) or 1 $25, 31 $5's, and 20 $1's. I do wonder if adding more colors (in the form of $10 chips) would make it more appealing to my faux "high roller" friends mentioned earlier... It's a good thought!

One more question... Why would I not just use my normal chips if I ran a tournament?
The end of my last statement was that you can use the same chips. Many of us don't again because of security (mostly because we want an excuse to buy more chips! Lol) but it is nice having different chips for each.

An example... I love the 05 CDIs, my tourney sets start with T25 (which in that series is the $25 chip) i would like to also have a cash set but I don't want $25s being taken from the tourney game and then getting mixed into the cash game. In a tourney the are worth 1 small blind... in cash $25!!
20200725_131132.jpg

So everything on the table here is tourney except the left stack. We found another chipper that murdered and relabeled some AS $20s as CDI $20s which was the perfect solution to our problem
20200713_202313.jpg

So now the Green $25s and Black $100s above are just for tourneys and the 43mm chips shown here are cash only. Same theme but different chips.

If that makes any sense
 
Isn't this a worry with any chips you buy? :unsure:
No, not really...

The easier it is for someone to get ahold of whatever chips you are using the more of a concern it is. If someone can easily buy online the $25 chips you are using for 20c then they bring them into your game and you have a problem...

One more question... Why would I not just use my normal chips if I ran a tournament?
The answer is similar to the above answer. It makes it tempting for someone to try and cheat the game
 
An example... I love the 05 CDIs, my tourney sets start with T25 (which in that series is the $25 chip) i would like to also have a cash set but I don't want $25s being taken from the tourney game and then getting mixed into the cash game. In a tourney the are worth 1 small blind... in cash $25!!
Ohhhhhh ok I get it, yeah that makes a whole lot of sense. In a tournament, the chips aren't worth anything to the players in terms of cash, so if a chip walks away from the table, they aren't losing anything. If that chip finds its way home during a cash game, the chip IS worth cash to the player and hence we have an issue.

I'll steer clear of tournaments until:
1. I have a solid player base
2. I get tournament dedicated chips

Thanks for the info!
 
There are a few NC chippers, not sure how close they are. I know @Statesvegas isn't too God awful far away not sure how full his regular game is but one of the nicest guys around. There is a user Map that has some members locations on it. Thise that want to be found. Lol

I will see if I can figure out how to share a link.
 
I tagged you in the members locations thread. You can reach out to those listed close by and see if the host/ have any games scheduled. Also you can make a post on the forum saying "New Member looking for a game near Greenville"

On occasion we have meet ups around the country. I highly recommend coming out any playing poker with other chip nuts. Everyone is always extremely friendly and it is an awesome way to check out lots of different chips. Also to get pointers and ideas on how to run your own home games.

Just this year alone @FordPickup92 and I have played in Maryland (home), Florida, NJ, Virgina (several times), Las Vegas and plan to play in NM and Ohio both in October. Not in casinos but in home games that Members open their doors to chippers and we all get together for the love of chips and poker!!
20210529_143752.jpg

This was Memorial Day this year in Fredriksburg VA @Seeking Alpha Social Club hosted this amazing 4 day event of poker! All chippers except Rich who snuck in the shot there (furthest to the right sitting down) Lol

Ben
 
Hey all, here’s my follow up post on the table I built! It’s a little baby 6-hander but fits well in my apartment until I get into a bigger house. It’s my first time building//upholstering anything and I think it turned out pretty ok!

Cheers!
 

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