Cash Game Super-friendly restart game...seeking advice! (2 Viewers)

[legonick]

Super-friendly restart game...seeking advice!

I haven't run a game in ~20 months due to some IRL stuff, and, whatever - you know how it is! The old game was a friendly $20 tournament. I loved the format, but I've waned on poker a bit, and want to try something super-casual. I want this to be a social game!

I'd like to do some limit Texas hold 'em, and I'm seeking advice on stakes. I'd like it to be a cheap night. Like, +/- $20ish for a decent player. If someone wants to come and raise every street and blow through multiple "buy-ins", that's fine - I'm trying to target an amount for a newer but tight player. I'm also wondering if my chips can support this.

Initial thoughts:
$0.25/$0.50 limit Texas hold 'em, $0.25/$0.25 blinds, 9-player max (or how ever many show up). 3x raise cap. Will also mix in some pony racing! Maybe every once or twice around the table, need to play the crowd to see if people want it. Initial buy-in of $20.

The chips I'd like to use are:
$0.25 x 202
$1.00 x 203
$5.00 x 100

So that'd give me something like, starting stack:
$0.25 x 20
$1.00 x 10
$5.00 x 1

Rebuy/add-on amounts allowed in denominations of $5, and they just get a $5 chip and need to make change.

As for the event...:
I'm planning to have pony racing, dogs on the roller, well bourbon, and sodas and waters available. I have a very nice GG 9-player table. Chips aren't great yet, but set I'm eyeballing is mentioned above. I also have a dice set available. Chairs are standard "dinner table" fare. I like to dial in the lighting a bit, and I'll have music on in the background. I'm hoping to get the invite out ASAP, with the event this Friday night, February 9th! Do you think that's too close to Valentine's day, which is the Wednesday after, Wednesday, February 14th?

My questions:

1. What will blinds of $.25/$.25, pre-flop and flop raises of $.25, turn and river raises of $.50, 3x raise cap play at for wins/losses for the night?
2. It feels like I don't have enough small denom. chips in this set. Is this going to be a major headache or manageable?
3. Do you think this will be fun?
4. What is good limit poker strategy? Particularly, what are some adjustments for someone who is a standard TAG from NLHE to make?

Thank you for your input!

 

[Eriks]

Nothing wrong with playing limit games, but Texas just isn’t a good candidate. Frankly, it makes it too boring. The game doesn’t generate enough action and is more about squeezing out an extra bet here and there.

I would either add a few extra games to the mix or just find a way to make the NLH as friendly as possible. Flop games similar to Texas are good candidates; different versions of Omaha and Pineapple for example.

For limit, you typically like to have two denoms: a worsehorse chip and a value chip that’s about 20x the former. Starting with a rack each of the workhorse chip is fairly standard. Your set is very light on the 25c-chips and there will be a lot of change making. The $1-chip will help making change but might also make it a bit messy and more difficult to see how many bets are in front each player.

 

[Machine]

I would suggest Big O, that'll make it action all night, you're newer friend will be on equal playing ground.

 

[Eriks]

Unless you think it’s to much for the group to handle, introducing split pot games is a nice way of keeping the losses of each hand down. Hi/low split Omaha games and SOHE (simultaneous Texas and Omaha) for example.

 

[springbox]

People will be making change a decent bit, but it's plenty doable. Just make sure when the bet hits $1 people pull back their quarters and put a dollar out. I'd probably cut the $5 from the starting stack and just add more $1s, they're easier to change make with. $5s are for rebuys.

Mix in a few other games, limit is a great way to try out different formats without too much risk. Just make sure you know the rules well for all the games played. If your players aren't familiar with other games keep it simple, maybe some Omaha (hi only?), pineapple, just stuff to spice it up a little. When I play limit games people love Showmaha, Badugi is common too and it's a very simple drawing game. I think hold 'em only will get a bit boring, but it can definitely be in the rotation.

 

[allforcharity]

I've never played spread limit hold'em, but I understand that it could be a good mechanism for low-stakes play in a social game where nobody is going to be out more than burger-for-two money on most nights. For a 0.25/0.25 game with $20 buy-ins and rebuys I could see a 0.25-1 spread for each betting round so the most you are out is $4 per hand if betting on a monster.

 

[legonick]

I've never played spread limit hold'em, but I understand that it could be a good mechanism for low-stakes play in a social game where nobody is going to be out more than burger-for-two money on most nights. For a 0.25/0.25 game with $20 buy-ins and rebuys I could see a 0.25-1 spread for each betting round so the most you are out is $4 per hand if betting on a monster.

What is "spread limit"?

I calculate $5.75.

Blind: $.25
Pre-flop - raise, re-raise, re-raise: $.25 + $.50
Flop - raise, re-raise, re-raise: $.25 + $.50
Turn - raise, re-raise, re-raise: $.50 + $1.50
River - raise, re-raise, re-raise: $.50 + $1.50

Of course this would be peculiar case as any calling lowers that amount.

 

[upNdown]

Yeah the first thought I had was that fixed limit Holdem is a bad choice, especially if you have a crowd that’s used to playing only no limit Holdem (like 90% of America.). No limit only players hate it because they feel handcuffed because they feel like they can never put the pressure on and they’re always getting sucked out on. If you make them play different games that they’re not used to, like stud or Omaha variants, they may be less likely to hate it.
Or you can give it a try and see how it goes.
Regardless, I wouldn’t sweat the chipset too much. What you have should work fine, unless people flat out hate making change for each other.

 

[allforcharity]

What is "spread limit"?

There's a cap on the total amount that can be bet on a betting round. But the mechanics are slightly different than regular Limit.

 

[Natskule]

There's a cap on the total amount that can be bet on a betting round. But the mechanics are slightly different than regular Limit.

We play spread limit dealer's choice. 0.25 to $5, 3 raise limit.

It helps limit big losses and it works well for this particular game.

 

[legonick]

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[legonick]

There's a cap on the total amount that can be bet on a betting round. But the mechanics are slightly different than regular Limit.

We play spread limit dealer's choice. 0.25 to $5, 3 raise limit.

It helps limit big losses and it works well for this particular game.

What are the different mechanics?

Normally it's the raise limit...so raise, re-raise, re-raise, call or fold.

 

[springbox]

What are the different mechanics?

Normally it's the raise limit...so raise, re-raise, re-raise, call or fold.

My understanding is that in spread limit, there's a maximum raise amount. Like fixed limit, there's a cap on the number of raises. Like no limit, each raise has to be at least the size of the last raise. In spread limit with a $5 cap and 3 raise limit a maximum bet and 3 raises would make for a maximum of $20 per street. I don't ever play spread limit, so I don't know if raise limits are common.

I also don't know what this is called, but some places have no restrictions beyond a per-hand bet. I think WA caps the maximum bet per hand at $300 or $400, so once you hit that you can't wager any more. I think that's a bizarre way to do it, and playing spread or fixed limit makes more sense to me, since you're effectively establishing a per hand maximum anyways.

 

[4SUMERZ]

We have an 8 player similar cash game, $0.25/0.25 blinds, we did $20 buy i, but just recently increased it to $25 buy in just to give each player more chips.
We don't limit the bets, but our group isn't one that go all in, because we are more social than trying to make money. We are all retired, and play for 4.5 hours a session. We have 2 sessions per month, 1 Wednesday afternoon 3.5 hour session, and 1 Friday Night 4.5 hour session.
We can top up when the stack gets to $5.00 or less, in increments of $5.00 up to a max of $25, so if someone topped to max, he would then have approx $30 in chips. We seldom get more than 1 or 2 buys ins in our sessions, so that tell you that the betting is not crazy. Every once in awhile, someone may throw in a $5 bet, but seldom gets called.
My starting stack
10 - $0.25
11 - $0.50
12- $1.00
1 - $5.00

My buy in is with $1 and $5 chips
We play NLHE mostly, but dealer choice, so once in awhile, a few of the guys will throw in a 3 card Pineapple deal, just to try to change the luck. Same as NLHE, but must discard one card after the flop. The other game thrown in less, is 4 card Omaha, Id say 75% Holdem, 20% Pineapple, and 5% Omaha.

It works for us. I've yet to have anyone go home rich, or poor. I think the stats would show that most everyone is fairly close in the $$ wins/losses in our winter play from Nov-April.

Good Luck with your game.

 

[SteveEH]

Fixed limit hold'em is GREAT for people that are new to poker - it's an easy game to understand, you don't have to think about bet sizing, and it moves quickly (more hands played).

If your crowd is used to no limit tournaments or are seasoned players, it may be a tough sell. Mixing in pineapple or Omaha will spice things up, and if your group is experienced, split pot and circus games too.

I restarted my game post COVID with non poker players. We played .50/1 fixed limit hold'em, a 3 bet cap, players bought in for $40, and no one had to rebuy over about 10 sessions. That being said, your .25/.50 $20 buy should be good as it's half my stakes.

If you do a search using my name you will find the fixed limit results I posted, how we moved to spread limit and how that worked out.

Good luck!