Ran into a buzz saw - how to bring this together (1 Viewer)

[slisk250]

I've been wanting to get invited to a few game around and had been talking with a real player who hosts the group. It turns out that we had some major day after the Classic flake rate and yesterday's game was in question. I get a call with, "I got five total, are we on?"

Three of the guys are solid players and good guys. Two were just reckless and wealthy (not so bad, I'm thinking). They like to start at 5X the buy in we play for. Then they allow rebuys up to the biggest stack on the table. It gets crazy real friggin fast. Once I figured out who the donkeys were and made a few good plays on the quality guys, it settled down a bit and I was fortunate to escape ahead. I think I can probably hold my own but have to play much more tight at the start (don't like to). How do I get the three guys in and keep the damage low enough to get in my lower stakes players? I got a clear invite to their weekly game. I want to host a game that gets all these good guys together, leaving the donkeys at home. What blinds and rules might you suggest. Assume we like to buy in for 100 and it is unusual for someone to lose 300. They start at 500 and rebuys could easily go over 3000. Can this gap be bridged?

 

[Mental Nomad]

It's not the buy-ins that set the size of the game so much as the blinds. What are the blinds at these two games?

 

[slisk250]

1/2 last night 5/10 at their game.

 

[Mental Nomad]

Yeah, there's no way to bridge that gap in a cash game... but I do have a weird variant game idea that once thought up that might help. I'm going to write it up to get some opinions on it.

 

[onerand]

Unclear, OP. Were you playing 5-10 with $500? And your game is 1-2 with $100? These are both 50bb stack games. I must be misunderstanding

 

[Mental Nomad]

The way I see it, both groups are playing a similar game of poker, in terms of stacks relative to bet sizes - but the bigger stakes table is a little looser, and the smaller stakes table is a little tighter.

It's going to be very hard for some of the higher-stakes folks to come down and not feel like they're playing for chump change, and it will be hard for the lower-stakes players to move up.

 

[slisk250]

I think what happens is its an early shove fest and rebuys. Then they all rebuy to the biggest stack. Pretty soon you are sitting there with 500 chips surrounded by 1500 chips a player if you did not get a good pot early. Maybe a mid range buy in tournament is the way to go. I'll go to their game and learn a bit more. These guys are just a bit crazy. A few have boxes of money but for the most part we are in the same tax bracket.

 

[courage]

Gap can prolly not be bridged but as a good friend is fond of saying, "every game finds its own equilibrium." Why do you want a structure that leaves the donkeys at home? You're doing it wrong.

I just got finished playing 1/2/Brian tonite at casino. Basically that's 1/2 with an unlimited Mississippi straddle, in this case anywhere from $20 - $260, every.single.hand. Then Brian confirmed busto after up $2400. New Brian was named Sean. Rinse. Repeat.

 

[slisk250]

Some games I like the donks but for this I want a serious 8 player game where everyone is solid. I'm not concerned with winning money so much as the challenge. Three of my guys are real fun and quality players. They just don't like more than 20-50 buck buy ins

 

[DrStrange]

This is a potential gold mine, but it also can play havoc with your regulars. If you are hosting, pay close attention to the health of the game. You might need to split the game which you can do by offering different buy-in limits on different nights and even different blind levels. {I host $0.25/$0.50 $20 max, $1/$1 $100 max and $1/$2 "match the big stack" every month}

Expect the game to be 1-2-25 rather than 1-2. Variance is going to be sky high. Don't play if the big bets dissuade you from making good choices.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking tournament thoughts in a cash game. The big stacks are at a disadvantage vs the small stacks. {don't believe that? Make a thread in strategy and have a discussion.} Be eager to play ABC short stack TAG - you will be getting the biggest +EV bets of your poker lifetime.

Strap in tight for a wild ride -=- DrStrange