Looking to change up our high hand bonus, critique welcome (1 Viewer)

[Kensco]

I’ve been thinking of a way to change up the high hand bonus for our home game to create the potential to win, and be awarded, hand bonuses throughout the game and to simplify funding the prize pool(s).

In past games I’d pull from post-flop pots to build a high hand prize pool and the highest hand of the night would be awarded whatever that amounted to at the end of the night.

I don’t like being hyper focused on funding the prize pool by raking the pot, and when someone gets a rather high hand early on the seemingly foregone conclusion can take the fun out of the prospect of winning for everyone else.

Searching the topic on PCF I found shared concerns as to funding the prize pool and equity regarding players who arrive late or leave early being eligible for the full prize pool.

So, I’m thinking of changing it up to run similar to a seven-deuce prop bet and would appreciate some constructive criticism.



This is where I’m at:

A player would receive a payout from every other player, whether or not live, for qualifying hands; both hole cards must play; and, the hand must go to showdown.

Aces full would pay 1 x BB from every position,

Four of a Kind would pay 2 x BB from every position,

Straight Flush would pay 3 x BB from every position,

Royal Flush would pay 4 x BB from every position, and

A win with seven-deuce would pay 5 x BB from every position


In a 25¢ / 50¢ 8 player game (our stakes):

Aces full would pay $3.50 (1 x 50¢ x the other seven players)

Quads would pay $7

Straight Flush would pay $10.50

Royal Flush would pay $14

Wining with seven-deuce would pay $17.50

These amounts seem appropriate for our game.


A $3/$6 game would pay out $42, $84, $126, $168, and $210 respectively. Not too shabby, but I have no experience playing 3/6 with a HH bonus so not sure of the appropriateness of these amounts.


My thoughts:

Every player would have to agree upfront to participate and realize there is potential for contributing to the prize pools several times throughout the game. This would be a compelled component of every hand.

There could be multiple prize awards throughout the game.

There could be multiple prize awards during the same hand i.e. a straight flush beating quads. Unlike a bad beat jackpot, the quads would not receive a higher prize pool than the royal, but it would receive its scheduled bonus if it went to showdown and both hole cards played.

The prize payout would be immediate

The payout being a multiple of the BB (Blind or Bet, as appropriate) x each table position scales the amount of the prize to the stakes of the game

Unlike a cash payout at the end of the night, the bonus is paid in chips that remain in play

Payouts for the bonus would come only from chips in play; players who bust out during the hand would not pay their share of the bonus to the hand winner.


In my head this all seems succinct and logically written. YMMV


I appreciate any and all critical review

 

[TheYeti]

My first thought is that your payouts are too low and the qualifying hands are too restrictive. We probably see Aces Full maybe once every other game, quads less often than that, and straight flushes only once in a blue moon.

I don't think the slim chance that I might win $3.50 or $7 would incentivize me to stay any later than I usually would.

FWIW, we play from 6pm-12am and collect $5 from every player who wants to participate in the high hand before they see their first hand of the night. The HH is only "active" from 7pm-11pm to accommodate late arrivals and those who need to leave earlier. We then pay out the HH (in chips) at 11pm. Has been working well, but last game I hit a straight flush around 9:30pm and it did cause a couple of players to bail earlier than normal, but that sort of thing is a pretty rare occurrence.

 

[TheRealStephen12]

Maybe you could take a rake each pot that goes to a flop (say 50c), and pay it out if a high enough hand is achieved (say, quads or better, no showdown needed). Whatever is left at the end of the night you play a hand of holdem/pineapple with everybody to award it if you don’t like the idea of a rollover jackpot.

 

[Jimulacrum]

I’ve been thinking of a way to change up the high hand bonus for our home game to create the potential to win, and be awarded, hand bonuses throughout the game and to simplify funding the prize pool(s).

In past games I’d pull from post-flop pots to build a high hand prize pool and the highest hand of the night would be awarded whatever that amounted to at the end of the night.

I don’t like being hyper focused on funding the prize pool by raking the pot, and when someone gets a rather high hand early on the seemingly foregone conclusion can take the fun out of the prospect of winning for everyone else.

Searching the topic on PCF I found shared concerns as to funding the prize pool and equity regarding players who arrive late or leave early being eligible for the full prize pool.

So, I’m thinking of changing it up to run similar to a seven-deuce prop bet and would appreciate some constructive criticism.



This is where I’m at:

A player would receive a payout from every other player, whether or not live, for qualifying hands; both hole cards must play; and, the hand must go to showdown.

Aces full would pay 1 x BB from every position,

Four of a Kind would pay 2 x BB from every position,

Straight Flush would pay 3 x BB from every position,

Royal Flush would pay 4 x BB from every position, and

A win with seven-deuce would pay 5 x BB from every position


In a 25¢ / 50¢ 8 player game (our stakes):

Aces full would pay $3.50 (1 x 50¢ x the other seven players)

Quads would pay $7

Straight Flush would pay $10.50

Royal Flush would pay $14

Wining with seven-deuce would pay $17.50

These amounts seem appropriate for our game.


A $3/$6 game would pay out $42, $84, $126, $168, and $210 respectively. Not too shabby, but I have no experience playing 3/6 with a HH bonus so not sure of the appropriateness of these amounts.


My thoughts:

Every player would have to agree upfront to participate and realize there is potential for contributing to the prize pools several times throughout the game. This would be a compelled component of every hand.

There could be multiple prize awards throughout the game.

There could be multiple prize awards during the same hand i.e. a straight flush beating quads. Unlike a bad beat jackpot, the quads would not receive a higher prize pool than the royal, but it would receive its scheduled bonus if it went to showdown and both hole cards played.

The prize payout would be immediate

The payout being a multiple of the BB (Blind or Bet, as appropriate) x each table position scales the amount of the prize to the stakes of the game

Unlike a cash payout at the end of the night, the bonus is paid in chips that remain in play

Payouts for the bonus would come only from chips in play; players who bust out during the hand would not pay their share of the bonus to the hand winner.


In my head this all seems succinct and logically written. YMMV


I appreciate any and all critical review

My main criticism is that the bonuses amount to a tax on the table whenever someone has a huge hand and probably just won a substantial pot anyway.

It creates a pain point for all the other players, and for a bonus that's nothing special for the winner because it will often be dwarfed* by the size of the pot anyway. I would expect grumbles. Not loud grumbles or anything, but not a positive net effect either.

What about skipping the big hands and attaching slightly larger bonuses to oddball stuff, like winning with ace-high or less, or a randomly determined rank/suit combo like ? That way it'll reward something other than monster hands, and may encourage people to play looser than usual.

Spoiler: *

Or little-peopled, if you prefer.