Cash Game Limit hold em blinds per hour (2 Viewers)

[nlhenerd]

I’m considering hosting a limit hold em game and don’t know where to set the blinds. If we play 1/1 how many hours should $100 last for new/bad players?

 

[Legend5555]

I’m considering hosting a limit hold em game and don’t know where to set the blinds. If we play 1/1 how many hours should $100 last for new/bad players?

That's a weird question to ask. Plus, it depends on what limit stakes you play. Limit game blinds should be about 2-3x greater than NLHE blinds to get somewhat similar swings to the NLHE game.

So if you normally play 1/1 NL with $100 buy in, I'd play 2/4 (1/2 blinds) or 3/6 limit (1/3 blinds). In general, a typical buy in for limit is 20-50 big bets. So 80-200 for 2/4 or 120-300 for 3/6.

 

[joepro]

3/6 is usually played with blinds of $2 and $3. It’s only a buck to play the small blind so it promotes more action.

 

[turboj623]

If you guys are new to limit games, start out with 2/4. Blinds are 1/2 and Pre-Flop and Flop bets are in increments of $2, capping at $8 each round (4 bets). Turn and River are in increments of $4 capping at $16 each round. $100 should be able to ride a while as long the betting isn't getting capped each round or someone chases every hand. You can always spice things up and introduce a kill pot as well. If one player wins three or four hands in a row you can do a kill or half kill. That means the blinds jump by double or by one-and-a-half until that person loses a hand or folds.

 

[Legend5555]

3/6 is usually played with blinds of $2 and $3. It’s only a buck to play the small blind so it promotes more action.

Most places I played 3/6 in the past used 1/3. But it's whatever. Just forces SB to play more hands. I haven't played 3/6 in forever.

 

[SteveEH]

I've done a lot of research on this lately as it had been so long since I had played poker.

The feedback I got was that 25 Big Bets is a normal buy in (this is what I remember from casinos too). On an average night, players will win/lose about 25 Big Bets, and it is possible but uncommon for a player to win/lose 50. If course if a player has no idea and calls every hand this isn't going to apply.

In my game to ensure we keep the game going and no one busts out, I set the minimum buy in to 40 Big Bets.

If your players are bringing $100 I'd go with $1/$2 limit with .50/$1 blinds - 50 Big Bets each.

Edit: because we play 6 max I reduced the betting cap from 4 to 3.

 

[nlhenerd]

Okay- we normally play 25c/50c $50 max buy in for nlhe. It sounds like $1/$2 with 50c/$1 blinds should be good. We can always adjust but I’ll be happy to start in the right vicinity.

 

[MatthewTreeTree]

Anybody play 7 card stud anymore? Would you set it up like a normal limit game?

Another extra question within the question thread - anybody find it difficult to teach new players how to play?

 

[SteveEH]

Anybody play 7 card stud anymore? Would you set it up like a normal limit game?

Another extra question within the question thread - anybody find it difficult to teach new players how to play?

I want to and it's in th rotation fory next game. I will have a couple of new players to tech too. These should help:

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/resources/abby99s-mixed-game-cards.45/

For stud my dealer ante = big blind, and bring in = small blind.

 

[Legend5555]

Anybody play 7 card stud anymore? Would you set it up like a normal limit game?

Another extra question within the question thread - anybody find it difficult to teach new players how to play?

Stud can be a bit tricky to set up. The optimal set up is somewhere around

1/2/6/12

Ante/bring in/small bet/big bet.

So for stuff like .50/1 and 1/2, you need to compromise on the ante and/or bring either too low, it more typical too high.

 

[abby99]

So for stuff like .50/1 and 1/2, you need to compromise on the ante and/or bring either too low, it more typical too high.

Or have the dealer ante for the table. It works very well.

 

[Machine]

Anybody play 7 card stud anymore? Would you set it up like a normal limit game?

Another extra question within the question thread - anybody find it difficult to teach new players how to play?

I deal a 7 card stud game, we don't use a button, person on the left is dealt first every hand, the game predates buttons. (Dedicated dealer)

Having the dealer ante can cause shnanigans.

When we play 6 or less we offer up super stud, I like it. We play it all high low. Its not hard to learn.

 

[MatthewTreeTree]

Stud can be a bit tricky to set up. The optimal set up is somewhere around

1/2/6/12

Ante/bring in/small bet/big bet.

So for stuff like .50/1 and 1/2, you need to compromise on the ante and/or bring either too low, it more typical too high.

When you hear 10¢/25¢/$1/$2 what would you think? Lets say they were using a normal No Limit set?

In-Play:
100x 5¢
200x 25¢
200x 1
X00 x 5
Got a rack of twenties and hundreds as well

Wondering how often you would have to make change and what not and if it would be worth it to even attempt lol

 

[grebe]

When you hear 10¢/25¢/$1/$2 what would you think? Lets say they were using a normal No Limit set?

In-Play:
100x 5¢
200x 25¢
200x 1
X00 x 5
Got a rack of twenties and hundreds as well

Wondering how often you would have to make change and what not and if it would be worth it to even attempt lol

I would try to mimic a limit set as close as possible by eliminating as many denominations as I could. You can do a couple things to make this happen:
-dealer antes. If you have a dedicated dealer and do not pass the antes along, have everybody pay the antes at once and keep them on the side...then add one stack per hand. Once you run out, everybody pay up again.
-use the chip denom you have the most of as your workhorse. If you have a shitload of 1's, use them.
-use large chip denoms as your rebuys and encourage players to cash them in to the big stack
-cash plays

**Also, you can speed stud up a bit and make it play more like a holdem game by playing Mississippi stud...where 4th and 5th street are dealt together and you eliminate a betting round.

 

[grebe]

That's a weird question to ask. Plus, it depends on what limit stakes you play. Limit game blinds should be about 2-3x greater than NLHE blinds to get somewhat similar swings to the NLHE game.

So if you normally play 1/1 NL with $100 buy in, I'd play 2/4 (1/2 blinds) or 3/6 limit (1/3 blinds). In general, a typical buy in for limit is 20-50 big bets. So 80-200 for 2/4 or 120-300 for 3/6.

Yeah, I would start with 2/4. People are pretty comfortable with betting in $1 amounts.

 

[grebe]

Edit: because we play 6 max I reduced the betting cap from 4 to 3.

boo.

 

[Legend5555]

When you hear 10¢/25¢/$1/$2 what would you think? Lets say they were using a normal No Limit set?

In-Play:
100x 5¢
200x 25¢
200x 1
X00 x 5
Got a rack of twenties and hundreds as well

Wondering how often you would have to make change and what not and if it would be worth it to even attempt lol

That's the thing with stud, the "optimal" from a gameplay standpoint isn't very conducive to low limit sets with standard chip values. You have to compromise somewhere so that you only need 2 chip denoms in play.

When I play $0.50/$1, I use a ante button for stud rounds. That person owes the whole ante. And the size depends on how many players are dealt in. But it's usual $0.50. Bring in is $0.25. But that bring in is very large for typical stud games.

If you use, dare I say, non-denom chips, then something like a $0.10 and a $0.20 (or $0.30) chip would work for $0.60/$1.2 limit. .10/.20/.60/1.2. But that's just not reality for most of us.

 

[SteveEH]

When I play $0.50/$1, I use a ante button for stud rounds. That person owes the whole ante. And the size depends on how many players are dealt in. But it's usual $0.50. Bring in is $0.25. But that bring in is very large for typical stud games.

This is the same setup I'm testing at my next game.

 

[SteveEH]

boo.

I got newbies and don't want to scare them off... To be honest it probably won't make a difference in though.

 

[grebe]

I got newbies and don't want to scare them off... To be honest it probably won't make a difference in though.

TBH, capped betting is so rare, it will not matter....you are correct

 

[SteveEH]

Update from my game.

- Limit Hold'em only to accommodate the newbies
- Stakes were .50/1
- $40 buy in
- 5-6 hours of play
- biggest winner was up about 15 big bets
- biggest loser was down about 23 big bets (this guy hadn't played in years and called too much)
- 3 bet cap happened once.

If we mixed up the game I'd expect to see bigger swings.

 

[grebe]

Thanks for circling back and posting an update!

 

[SteveEH]

TBH, capped betting is so rare, it will not matter....you are correct

There was one time the 3 bet cap kicked in between me and another experienced player

 

[nlhenerd]

Update from my game.

- Limit Hold'em only to accommodate the newbies
- Stakes were .50/1
- $40 buy in
- 5-6 hours of play
- biggest winner was up about 15 big bets
- biggest loser was down about 23 big bets (this guy hadn't played in years and called too much)
- 3 bet cap happened once.

If we mixed up the game I'd expect to see bigger swings.

Thank you. This is super helpful.

 

[warma]

Update from my game.

- Limit Hold'em only to accommodate the newbies
- Stakes were .50/1
- $40 buy in
- 5-6 hours of play
- biggest winner was up about 15 big bets
- biggest loser was down about 23 big bets (this guy hadn't played in years and called too much)
- 3 bet cap happened once.

If we mixed up the game I'd expect to see bigger swings.

My PLO-8 games saw the biggest betting and pots due to the high-low split- much higher than HE.

 

[SteveEH]

Update from my game.

- Limit Hold'em only to accommodate the newbies
- Stakes were .50/1
- $40 buy in
- 5-6 hours of play
- biggest winner was up about 15 big bets
- biggest loser was down about 23 big bets (this guy hadn't played in years and called too much)
- 3 bet cap happened once.

If we mixed up the game I'd expect to see bigger swings.

Results from another .50/1 limit hold'em game:

- 4-5 hours of play
- biggest winner up 24 big bets
- biggest loser down 28 big bets. This was the one gambler from my regular players that prefers NL.
- 3 bet cap happened twice (that I can remember), both on the river when I had the nuts!

Also the guy from my last game who hadn't played for 20 years and lost 23 big bets in my last game was up this time. Really happy with that!

 

[zo121179]

Results from another .50/1 limit hold'em game:

- 4-5 hours of play
- biggest winner up 24 big bets
- biggest loser down 28 big bets. This was the one gambler from my regular players that prefers NL.
- 3 bet cap happened twice (that I can remember), both on the river when I had the nuts!

Also the guy from my last game who hadn't played for 20 years and lost 23 big bets in my last game was up this time. Really happy with that!

I really wish I had a game like this. Sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[SteveEH]

I really wish I had a game like this. Sounds like a lot of fun!

It was a good times! If you asked me about a limit game 10-15 years ago, I would have been like "pffft limit isn't poker, bruh (like bro from that other thread)!"

I ask myself what's changed, and a few of the big things are:

- I've missed socializing with my friends due to covid. Although now I've played limit I realize it's better for a sustainable social game.

- I don't want to "make new poker/gambler friends" with enough money to piss away just to get a sustainable NL game going.

- Life is more complicated now and I don't want to think too hard. I think @grebe summed it up in a other thread how limit is less complex than NL. I like this.

 

[Nanook]

I’m considering hosting a limit hold em game and don’t know where to set the blinds. If we play 1/1 how many hours should $100 last for new/bad players?

Title of thread is really strange as it suggests asking about how many hands/hour you get in a limit game & then the 1st post really has nothing to do with that. I like just about anything that promotes action. 3 & 4 chip structure games promote action more than 1 or 2 chip structure so for this reason I am a lot more of a fan of 3/6 limit than 2/4 or 1/2 limit with $1 chips. If 3/6 limit is too big them the best way to do it is going to get a fractional chip for your working chip. Either 50¢ or 25¢ and then do the same thing. Play a 3 chip structure with 25¢ chips. Small Blind = either 1 or 2 chips (I prefer 2 as it promotes action) and big blind = 3 chips = 75¢, small streets = small bets = 75¢ and big streets = big bets = $1.50

ditto for 50¢ chips as your working chip. In a 3 chip game with 50¢ chips you are talking about a $1.50/$3 limit game. 2 racks is $100 which would be 33 Big Bets. Pretty much perfect for a game where you would want it to be rare for someone to lose more than $100

Most places I played 3/6 in the past used 1/3. But it's whatever. Just forces SB to play more hands. I haven't played 3/6 in forever.

That is true, but when you play 15/30 usually they do $10 & $15 for the small & big. Does not matter a whole lot, but once again it is just one of those little things where 2 chips in the sb as opposed to 1 is going to make the sb play a little more ( more action = better game = more fun ) so for this reason I am always in favor of 2 chips for the sb in a 3 chip structure game

I've done a lot of research on this lately as it had been so long since I had played poker.

The feedback I got was that 25 Big Bets is a normal buy in (this is what I remember from casinos too). On an average night, players will win/lose about 25 Big Bets, and it is possible but uncommon for a player to win/lose 50. If course if a player has no idea and calls every hand this isn't going to apply.

In my game to ensure we keep the game going and no one busts out, I set the minimum buy in to 40 Big Bets.

If your players are bringing $100 I'd go with $1/$2 limit with .50/$1 blinds - 50 Big Bets each.

Edit: because we play 6 max I reduced the betting cap from 4 to 3.

mostly this is right. I would not reduce the cap. I actually like a 5 bet cap better, but in a game with a bunch of relatively new limit players 3, 4 or 5 bets will be pretty infrequent. One caveat that I have not seen mentioned here is that the cap only applies when there are multiple players in the hand. When there are only 2 players in the hand then technically it should be uncapped.

It was a good times! If you asked me about a limit game 10-15 years ago, I would have been like "pffft limit isn't poker, bruh (like bro from that other thread)!"

I ask myself what's changed, and a few of the big things are:

- I've missed socializing with my friends due to covid. Although now I've played limit I realize it's better for a sustainable social game.

- I don't want to "make new poker/gambler friends" with enough money to piss away just to get a sustainable NL game going.

- Life is more complicated now and I don't want to think too hard. I think @grebe summed it up in a other thread how limit is less complex than NL. I like this.

The biggest take away here is that you realize that your comment about limit being better for a sustainable social game is 100% correct. If you are trying to play really cutthroat poker then limit is not the game. If your goal is to have a sustainable fun game that everyone can play without anyone getting mad or quitting because they are just losing too much then limit is the better way to go

 

[SteveEH]

Results from another .50/1 limit hold'em game:

- 4-5 hours of play
- biggest winner was up 45 big bets!!! This was a noob so beginner's luck really hit!
- biggest loser down 35 big bets. This guy was new to our game and said he prefered NL (seeing a pattern here that started in my previous game...)
- 3 bet cap happened a lot more this time.

Also I'm up a 25 BBs after 4 games.