Cash Game Rock/Bomb pot (1 Viewer)

[SixSpeedFury]

So recently (or at least to me) I've been seeing YouTube videos of games where they employ either a rock or a bomb pot in the games. Can someone explain what the difference is? Seems like a fun thing to incorporate.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Bomb pot is just when everyone posts a set amount preflop and the dealer deals the flop. Then the betting continues as normal after the flop with everyone in the hand.

The rock is different. I haven’t played with it before so I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I think it is a moving straddle. When you win the rock you have until your B.B. to post in and then that hand plays with a straddle on. So if it is used every hand the game goes from say $2/5 to $2/5/10.

 

[ilovegravy]

As I understand it, the rock is a mandatory straddle that is posted by the person who won the previous hand. If I am wrong, someone will correct me

 

[DrStrange]

The rock is a "currency" that functions as a mandatory straddle when its owner is UTG. Normally it is a 2bb straddle in my games, but it could be anything desired.

I give the rock to the original UTG as a gift from the house. That player has to straddle with the rock - not his/her chips, just the item serving as the rock. Who ever wins the pot gets the rock. If there is a split pot, the player sitting UTG gets it back. The player that now has the rock holds it until they are UTG where it again becomes a straddle.

If the player with the rock goes all-in, the rock counts as a 2bb chip. That is the only way it get in play outside of an UTG straddle.

The rock can not be restraddled.

The rock can not be traded, bartered, sold or held in reserve.

At the end of the night, the rock cashes out as a 2bb chip though by custom most players give it back to the house for free.

It does juice up the action, sometimes quite a lot. The rock also lets the tight wads at the table get a taste of straddling, maybe they will learn to like it?

Fun! -=- DrStrange

 

[AWenger]

it is a moving straddle. When you win the rock you have until your B.B. to post in and then that hand plays with a straddle on. So if it is used every hand the game goes from say $2/5 to $2/5/10.

As I understand it, the rock is a mandatory straddle that is posted by the person who won the previous hand. If I am wrong, someone will correct me

Yes. The rock is a mandatory straddle, and it represents a dollar value. (it could be $5 in a 1/2 game, or $10 in a $1/2, $1/3, or $2/5) The rules of "the rock" depends on the house rules. I've seen different variations. I've seen both of the scenarios above.

I've played in a couple 1/2 and 1/3 'home' games with a rock where a straddle was allowed either UTG or on the button, and the player who won a pot with the rock can choose to wait until either of those positions to post the rock, but the rule was he had to post it by 1 complete round, or he had to pass the rock to the next player.

The Aria Casino used a rock in a 2/5 PLO game, where the rock was an actual $10 chip in a round air-tite plastic case on the table. It was mandatory straddle each and every hand, and it basically just increased the game stakes to 2/5/10 PLO. The player who won the last pot would put the rock out, then pre-flop betting action started left of that player.

In the first scenario, the game stakes only increase once or twice a round, on average, because the rock is only used in the UTG and/or Button straddle. The rock could end up being used more often, if players in early position win the pot, then they need to post it by their BB. If the UTG+1 player wins the pot 3 hands in a row, you could have the rock being used 3 times in a row UTG, but this is rare.

It does juice up the action and can be fun. Some players even add chips on top of the rock to make the straddle even larger. I recall one player would commonly add any spare $1 chips he had to the rock, which was usually between 1 and 4 chips, but a couple times he had about 15 to 20 $1s chips, and they all went out with the rock as the straddle.

 

[SixSpeedFury]

So if I'm reading this correctly, the rock is essentially a third straddle, and as long as you win pots and hold on to it you're always last to act?

 

[AWenger]

the rock is essentially a third straddle

I think you meant it's a third blind. The rock is a straddle, it replaces a straddle. (i.e. in games where the rock can only be used from certain positions (UTG and/or button), a player can straddle to $10, or if he has the rock, he'll use the rock).

and as long as you win pots and hold on to it you're always last to act?

In the Aria PLO version where the rock had to be played every hand, yes. If you keep winning pots, the rock goes out as a straddle from any position at the table, and you're last to act preflop (only). [Note: IIRC. A straddle from any position is also called a Mississippi Straddle, and I'm not entirely sure of the rules when the SB & BB act preflop in the Mississippi Straddle.]

 

[rocollis]

Bomb pots are fun. We added them to our game a few months ago. Then someone had the idea of doing a double board bomb pot. We tried it and can't go back. We do one DBBP every orbit! So much fun and lots of action! Aren't they @ParrotheadMZ , @chiplee ?

 

[ParrotheadMZ]

Bomb pots are fun. We added them to our game a few months ago. Then someone had the idea of doing a double board bomb pot. We tried it and can't go back. We do one DBBP every orbit! So much fun and lots of action! Aren't they @ParrotheadMZ , @chiplee ?

Well I do enjoy losing money
I really do like this addition to the game. I also like when you do it when a player is cashing out. I was leaving for like three hands in a row but the fun sheriff put an end to it and kicked me to the curb

 

[upNdown]

I guess I’d be the fun police too.
To me, the beauty of poker is that I decide when to put my money in. These bomb pots don’t interest me. Every party has a pooper . . .

 

[Rhodeman77]

When we get short handed, 3-4 players and the stacks are all very deep every hand is pretty much a bomb pot. Someone raises to $10 or $15 and the other couple players call 90% of the time. The real Poker and betting start on the flop.