Cash Game Hosting my first cash game advice (1 Viewer)

[Mummster11]

Hey everyone,

I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseam but would like recommendations on my first cash game as host. I am in a few house games, and one of the games the host can't continue so I'm taking over the hosting duties. To set the scene, we have between 8-14 people most nights (usually the same people) and we play cash with blinds at $1/$2. Buy-in is max $100, but anyone can buy in for any amount lower than that. I already have a set of basic (so basic I have no idea what brand they are, but not high end at all) chips with amounts on them, and we usually give out chips as 1-$25, 3-$10, 7-$5 and 10-$1 to start.

My questions would be along the lines of: Are buy-ins and denominations acceptable/standard, and are there suggestions to improve those based on your experience? If I wanted to buy a better chip set for those parameters, what are the suggested sets (Monaco, Royal etc) that you have found to be your favorite, and when you buy, what amount of denominations did you buy (i.e. not buying $1000 chips or 50 cent chips)? And, what advice do you have to grow the game (i.e. more people)?

Feel free to answer any or all of above questions, and/or make suggestions from your experience about things you wish you knew before hosting games.

Thanks all!

 

[justsomedude]

It's common practice to allow 100x the big blind as a buyin. For 1/2 this would be $200.

If you'd like to keep the buyins at $100 based on player budget, you may want to consider lowering your blinds to .25/.50 or .50/.50. It still may play like a bigger game, but at least the stack sizes will be commensurate with your blinds selection.

As for chip denominations, general consensus for lower stakes cash is a frac (quarter), 1s, 5s, and 25s. You can add $100s if you really see your game playing bigger at some point.

Regarding the $10 denom, it is redundant and not necessary since you will have $5s on the table.

For .25/.50 starting stacks I like:
20x 0.25 = $5.00
20x 1.00 = $20.00
15x 5.00 = $75.00
TOTAL = $100.00

 

[allforcharity]

Since you already play $1/$2 you don't have to lower your stakes and get fracs, which will actually save you money. I'd consider $1/$1 so that people are buying in with 100BB.

You'll need to cover 2 tables of 7 so I would budget for 1000 chips. Most of them are going to be $1 and $5, your workhorses. Skip the $10 and $50, get some $25 and maybe a few $100 just because.

400x $1
400× $5
160× $25
40x $100

$10400 bank should be enough even if everyone buys in 5 times. Would also hold you well if you go to $200 buy-ins for $1/$2 stakes.

 

[sonic242]

As has been mentioned, 100x big blind is pretty common. My thought would be to require a minimum of 50x big blind and raise the max to a $200 buy in.

 

[Mummster11]

Since you already play $1/$2 you don't have to lower your stakes and get fracs, which will actually save you money. I'd consider $1/$1 so that people are buying in with 100BB.

You'll need to cover 2 tables of 7 so I would budget for 1000 chips. Most of them are going to be $1 and $5, your workhorses. Skip the $10 and $50, get some $25 and maybe a few $100 just because.

400x $1
400× $5
160× $25
40x $100

$10400 bank should be enough even if everyone buys in 5 times. Would also hold you well if you go to $200 buy-ins for $1/$2 stakes.

I appreciate the chip breakdown. I agree that should be enough for everyone.

 

[Machine]

I would say you want your first night taking over to maybe 1 up the previous host or something memorable. Toss in a bomb pot every hour, if not PLO dbl board then dbl board hold em.

I would set the blinds to be 1/1 for now and look to move the game down to .50/.50 in the near future. 200 big blinds is really where you want to be.

When you build out the set you'll want to pick up 100 non denim for the frac you can move it around for different games. You don't want a $10 chip in the game, and you won't really need that many hundos.

Don't impulse buy, read my cash break down post In my signature - landscape on mobile

Get a nice whiskey to serve as well.

 

[merkong]

Are these other games you're playing in also $1/2?

For your first night, I'd suggest staying in your lane; making sure the bank comes out alright and do whatever you can to avoid any major hiccups...

The more players that seem like they'd play at your game again, the better.

 

[Mummster11]

Are these other games you're playing in also $1/2?

Yes, but it's not too surprising as it is mostly the same people at the different games. One of the reasons I decided to host is to hopefully branch out and new people into the group. Newer people will be easier to suggest different blind structures. I myself prefer $.50/$1 with $100 buy in.

 

[kidpurple]

Skip the $10 chip. I think you've heard that one already.

I'm not ready to buy custom chips or expensive old casino chips quite yet. So I ordered a ton of sample sets. I ended up buying the Nexgen Remix Pro Clay chips from thepokerstore.com for my cash game. I like them a lot. The other one that was high up on the list was the Apache Royals. If they were the same price it would have been a touch decision. They Royals are a bit more expensive so I'm very happy with mine until I go with a custom chip in the group buy here.

 

[wayneomac]

Yes, but it's not too surprising as it is mostly the same people at the different games. One of the reasons I decided to host is to hopefully branch out and new people into the group. Newer people will be easier to suggest different blind structures. I myself prefer $.50/$1 with $100 buy in.

As people mentioned before $1/$1 will play the same and save you from getting fracs. Overall when I host the biggest thing is quickly getting people what they need. Drinks, chips, etc. I have an over the shoulder pouch I would never wear anywhere else I keep with large denomination chips for rebuys to keep things sped up.