Blinds increase to $1/$1 from .50/$1 to avoid .50c chips - implications? (1 Viewer)

[Dann1215]

I run a home game where I’m considering eliminating the .50c chip and raising blinds from .50/1 to 1/1. The rational is avoiding the purchase (and change out) of the .50c chips as I look to upgrade my set (just waiting on the Apache majestic restock).

Max buy in is $100 with rebuys/add ons to match highest stack.

I like the try to keep my game friendly and not have stakes be too high.

If I bump up the blinds, do I need to raise the buy in also? Does anyone have experience with how this might effect gameplay?

Thank you!

 

[dkersey]

No real implications or impact. I did the same. It does eliminate 1 chip to cash out and manage so really it's a net benefit.

 

[RagingAZN]

As you’re keeping the BB the same, the game will play exactly the same as it does now. The 50c chip is largely redundant in a 50c/$1 game.

 

[RocAFella1]

Are your players nitty enough to fold from the SB for 50c? If not then it will be no difference at all.

 

[Machine]

Also depends on the game, PLO stacks can go in every hand.

I wouldn't change it, it will likely inflate the preflop bets.

 

[jayfiggy]

The change shouldn’t affect play too much. I wouldn’t really think you need to increase buy-in.

I think the biggest question you need to ask, is are your players OK with it?

Even though it doesn’t change much, people may not realize that, and jump to conclusions. I would just recommend running it by your group before making any changes.

 

[upNdown]

It probably should make the game play a bit bigger. But I’ve played enough different games at these and similar stakes to know that a game it going to play as big as the players want it to play, regardless of stakes. So if you make this change with the exact same players, it may not change anything.

 

[ashetoother]

Thanks for this. I have been toying with the same idea so interested in the feedback. We play 0.50/1 and my crew DESPISES my 0.25 chip. They berate me constantly. I don't want to invest in a 0.50 so was thinking of going 1/1.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

What's a normal preflop raise? Are people raising to $2 or $2.50, or is $3-4 standard? Different games play differently.

25c/50c to 50c/50c would be a smaller jump in my mind because people still associate the smallest chip as just the blinds. If you eliminate that quarter/50c, it makes the $1s seem smaller. Just spitballing, interested to see how it goes. Answer is it shouldn't matter much to the game but people are weird.

 

[chippitydoodah]

Sounds like you're group wants it already so do it. Some groups need to hear that "$.50" to feel the game is cheap. Kinda like buying an item for $9.99 but never if it was $10.00

 

[LeLe]

Frankly, 50c/$1 and $1/$1 generally played the same, effective stack is what makes the differences

Also, you don’t need to buy many 50c for 50/$1 stake. You only need maximum to allocate 4 per person so you only need 36-40 for a full table.

 

[upNdown]

We play 0.50/1 and my crew DESPISES my 0.25 chip. They berate me constantly.

This is odd. Many of us get frustrated that our players don’t care about chips at all. Do they just hate the fact that it’s a .25, and that they have to use two of them? Or is there something about the physical chip that they don’t like?

 

[allforcharity]

Congrats! You just saved a lot of money on future chip set purchases because fracs can sometimes be the most expensive part of a cash set.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Frankly, 50c/$1 and $1/$1 generally played the same, effective stack is what makes the differences

Also, you don’t need to buy many 50c for 50/$1 stake. You only need maximum to allocate 4 per person so you only need 36-40 for a full table.

I play in a game, $50 buyin gets you

20 50c
20 $1s
4 $5s

Lot of chips which is fun, but piles of 50c chips end up in one stack or another. Its bananas, but its an older crowd and the pot will sometimes have a 50c ante from all 7, then another dollar with half the crowd paying in 50c pieces for some odd reason. Boom, we see 4th street with 13 fracs in the pot!

 

[exodus]

There will be a marginal difference in the game with 50c more being in the pot now. Buyins and rebuy rules are a much bigger factor in keeping the game friendly. Sounds like you made the right move.

 

[Taghkanic]

I second the question about bet sizes.

If no one ever opens for fractional amounts like $2.50 or $3.50, then it should not make much difference.

If people do use such amounts, it probably changes things a bit. My guess is that those opening to $2.50 would make it $3 instead, and $3.50 opens would become $4, rather than those bettors rounding down instead.

That means that reraises are also going to be bigger… And flop bets too, in relation to a generally larger pot. Plus further magnifications of those larger flop bets on the turn and river.

There would also be slightly more incentive to try to steal the blinds, if your players think about such things.

My guess is that you would want to increase the max buyin to more like $150 as a result, unless you are OK with a somewhat shallower game that leads to more shoves.

Most 1/2 games seem to make the max buyin 150BB ($300) so $150 or even $200 might make sense for 1/1.

 

[chippitydoodah]

Just have .25 & .50 and play "however da fahk" they want.

 

[mdt11]

If you allow match the stack it’s likely already playing on the larger side for a $0.50/$1. Based on your description it doesn’t seem like there will be much difference (and you will save a lot on chips).

 

[Kensco]

Max buy in is $100 with rebuys/add ons to match highest stack.

I like the try to keep my game friendly and not have stakes be too high.

Try running a game with only a $1 Big Blind to see if it fits your crowd.

Buy-in / re-buys & betting should remain about the same, the only difference should be that the BB won't net anything on a walk.

 

[davesilver88]

Thanks for starting this thread / convo again.

I also host a 50¢/$1, $100 max game. I’ve historically been team moar fracs, so my starting stacks have been:

25¢ - 20
$1 - 20
$5 - 15

Last game we had a full ring. And I gotta say, the game felt very slow when people would go all in, counting all their quarters.

I can’t really contribute to how to solve this endless dilemma of the 50¢/$1 game. But I think either getting a 50¢ chip and have 4 of those in the starting stack, or just going $1/$1, are the two best options.

 

[Taghkanic]

Thanks for starting this thread / convo again.

I also host a 50¢/$1, $100 max game. I’ve historically been team moar fracs, so my starting stacks have been:

25¢ - 20
$1 - 20
$5 - 15

Last game we had a full ring. And I gotta say, the game felt very slow when people would go all in, counting all their quarters.

If they keep them in stacks of 20, how much counting really has to be done?

 

[philhut]

1/1 should see a more lively game statistically with two big blinds essentially. The pots should grow given that any other player playing or raising to the flop will be betting out two big blinds who have more added value to play. While the mathing is simple I'd recommend going to 1/2 and raising your buy in to $200. The staggered amount small/big blind will play better overall.

 

[Booshme]

I run a home game where I’m considering eliminating the .50c chip and raising blinds from .50/1 to 1/1. The rational is avoiding the purchase (and change out) of the .50c chips as I look to upgrade my set (just waiting on the Apache majestic restock).

Max buy in is $100 with rebuys/add ons to match highest stack.

I like the try to keep my game friendly and not have stakes be too high.

If I bump up the blinds, do I need to raise the buy in also? Does anyone have experience with how this might effect gameplay?

Thank you!

I really like being able to raise to 2.5 big blinds, it hits the sweet spot, too many folds from tight players when I bet 3bb, too many calls when betting 2. That’s the reason I got nickels for my baby games instead of running it .10 / .10

So for my setup I give half a barrel tops of .50 chips to each player, only for the small blind. It’s not enough to give me a huge headache when cashing out.

I wouldn’t worry about raising the blinds if you go the 1 / 1 route.

 

[davesilver88]

If they keep them in stacks of 20, how much counting really has to be done?

They don’t! My game is more of a social event to most than about cards.

 

[ashetoother]

Sounds like you're group wants it already so do it. Some groups need to hear that "$.50" to feel the game is cheap. Kinda like buying an item for $9.99 but never if it was $10.00

I think this explains my situation. Most of my crew wants to play higher stakes but some, especially the person that hosts the most, wants to keep it friendly and "cheap." This results in negative comments about playing with quarters.

 

[LeCoq]

I run a home game where I’m considering eliminating the .50c chip and raising blinds from .50/1 to 1/1. The rational is avoiding the purchase (and change out) of the .50c chips as I look to upgrade my set (just waiting on the Apache majestic restock).

Max buy in is $100 with rebuys/add ons to match highest stack.

I like the try to keep my game friendly and not have stakes be too high.

If I bump up the blinds, do I need to raise the buy in also? Does anyone have experience with how this might effect gameplay?

Thank you!

I am a huge fan of fracs and snappers. I host a weekly $.25/$.50 game and my players enjoy it with no complaints and we get frequent re-buys.
It is a friendly low stakes game. What I do is have $25 buy in for $50 chips on the table. Blinds on the table are $.25/$.50, but actual cash value is $.125/$.25
I know I am going to get some grief from PCF for this, but this is how my game evolved due to 2 factors. first one of my players did not want a $50 buy in as she felt it was too much and second a different player wanted 100 BB. This has worked out very well and if you show up with $100 you have 4 buy ins. I usually only buy in once or twice. My usual starting stack is 8 x $.25, 8 x $1, 8 x $5
As I just got my snappers yesterday I will change my starting stack to 8 x $.25, 8 x $1, 8 x $2.5, 4 x $5

 

[4SUMERZ]

I run a home game where I’m considering eliminating the .50c chip and raising blinds from .50/1 to 1/1. The rational is avoiding the purchase (and change out) of the .50c chips as I look to upgrade my set (just waiting on the Apache majestic restock).

Max buy in is $100 with rebuys/add ons to match highest stack.

I like the try to keep my game friendly and not have stakes be too high.

If I bump up the blinds, do I need to raise the buy in also? Does anyone have experience with how this might effect gameplay?

Thank you!

Rather than eliminating the $0.50 chip, simply put less of them in play. I use the $0.50, but only have 10 chips for each starting stack, and do not include them in the rebuys. I have 100 total $0.50 chips for the ones I use for play. I have an 8 seat table, so only 80 $0.50 chips in play. No issues with the chip count at cash out.
Most of the smaller denoms get put in the final pot of the evening, so only 1 player needs to count most of the small denom chips
going to $1/$1 may change the dynamic of your game. You did mention that your game is a friendly one. I realize that most sets do not include $0.50 chips. I had to get my 0.50 chips custom made. My players like the 0.50 chips for the blinds.

 

[JustinInMN]

Theoretically, the "standard" opening raise should be a little bigger with the SB and BB positions posting a total of 2*BB instead of 1.5*BB. So where a "standard" open may be 2.5x-3x with 1.5BB posted, 4x openings would be more common with 2BB posted. Assuming players make this adjustment, final pots probably end up 30% larger at the end.

It's enough of an increase where I wouldn't say "it makes no difference." Not to say this change is good or bad either way. It's certainly doable and I get the upside for reducing denominations.

That said, if using a 50¢ small blind, I am +1 for just putting a few 50¢ chips in play. Personally, When I host 50¢-1, I only put 60 50¢ chips on the table, and that still feels like plenty in a 8-9 handed game. Even if we play the small blind jackpot prop.

 

[JustinInMN]

Thanks for starting this thread / convo again.

I also host a 50¢/$1, $100 max game. I’ve historically been team moar fracs, so my starting stacks have been:

25¢ - 20
$1 - 20
$5 - 15

Last game we had a full ring. And I gotta say, the game felt very slow when people would go all in, counting all their quarters.

I can’t really contribute to how to solve this endless dilemma of the 50¢/$1 game. But I think either getting a 50¢ chip and have 4 of those in the starting stack, or just going $1/$1, are the two best options.

Oh uh #quarterwars post .

You can certainly speed things up by only issuing 8-12 quarters per player. When you think about, that's the same math with you suggestion of doing 4*50¢ chips in the starting stack.

 

[SetToBean]

If they keep them in stacks of 20, how much counting really has to be done?

I can see it being more of an issue in self-dealt games since the average person cannot cut or size-in chips quickly, and might struggle even more with uneven stacks.

I don't see any issue in games with designated dealers who can practice chip-cutting and quickly organising into stacks of 20 even when everything's messy. After all, once you've got that first stack of 20 sorting out the rest of the mess is even easier.