Cash Game Optimal setup for 7 players of fixed limit? (3 Viewers)

[Quad Johnson]

So I'm looking to expand my cash game set to be able to do limit games. Particularly 7 stud.

Everyone interested wants to play traditional with antes. We play 10c/25c NL so we're doing similar for limits.

5c ante
10c bring in, complete to 25c
50c on later streets

I currently have 2 racks of nickels and 4 racks of quarters in my set.

How many more nickels (if any) and quarters would I need to optimally sit 7 people and account for some top ups/rebuys?

Thanks in advance! I never had to consider a fixed limit setup but grateful my guys want to try some different games so I want to make it happen.

 

[BEANO52]

Ugh, I guess racks of: nickles x 200
quarters x 800 +

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Ugh, I guess racks of: nickles x 200
quarters x 800 +

Really, that many nickels even if they're just for ante and bring in? Im surprised

 

[Quad Johnson]

Ugh, I guess racks of: nickles x 200
quarters x 800 +

Is that total to play or to add to my current set up?

 

[Quad Johnson]

Really, that many nickels even if they're just for ante and bring in? Im surprised

I'm surprised too but I've no experience building a limit set so I'm open to others more experienced. Starting stacks etc

 

[SteveEH]

If you regularly play .10/.25 NL, I'd recommend increasing the fixed limit stakes to .50/1 or the limit pots will be a lot smaller.

 

[Quad Johnson]

If you regularly play .10/.25 NL, I'd recommend increasing the fixed limit stakes to .50/1 or the limit pots will be a lot smaller.

Some folks are newer to stud so they like the lower limits, that's why it's appealing when I presented the stake format. They wish to learn but don't like the idea of "losing too much" to a game they don't know.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

I'm surprised too but I've no experience building a limit set so I'm open to others more experienced. Starting stacks etc

Sure sure. I see your other post about not wanting to spend or lose too much, that's an important part: what's your usual buyin and rebuys? Some 10c/25c games have $200 on the table at the end of the night, others have $600, gonna change limits!

For yours, I can't imagine needing more than 200 nickels (100 or 120 is probably fine), and racks of quarters to match what you need, I like at least a rack per player plus a rack of $5s or $10s as value chips just to add to your bank. Even players that suck at making change can handle nickels and quarters pretty effectively.

So to future proof: 6 racks of quarters to make it a full limit set and a rack of $5s, giving you more bank than you'll probably need.

I've got 1000 x quarters and a few barrels of $10s and $50s. I don't foresee myself needing more than $600 with my crew.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Some folks are newer to stud so they like the lower limits, that's why it's appealing when I presented the stake format. They wish to learn but don't like the idea of "losing too much" to a game they don't know.

And to speak to this: pots will usually be far less. If you're betting on the river, you're not betting half pot you're capped to betting 50cents, makes for a very different betting structure. For us, I play 5cent/10cent with my apes but when we play limit we bump it to 25c 50c and see similar pot sizes.

 

[Quad Johnson]

Sure sure. I see your other post about not wanting to spend or lose too much, that's an important part: what's your usual buyin and rebuys? Some 10c/25c games have $200 on the table at the end of the night, others have $600, gonna change limits!

For yours, I can't imagine needing more than 200 nickels (100 or 120 is probably fine), and racks of quarters to match what you need, I like at least a rack per player plus a rack of $5s or $10s as value chips just to add to your bank.

So to future proof: 6 racks of quarters to make it a full limit set and a rack of $5s, giving you more bank than you'll probably need.

Thank you for the feedback. I wasn't sure if I should bother with big chip denoms at a fixed limit game. I was curious about introducing some $1s or $5s late for top ups and rebuys and having big stacks make change just to make it easier.

My current set is 1200 pieces which has:
200 nickels
400 quarters
400 $1's
200 $5's

With the stakes presented and my current chip set, what do you think is needed to add? Also what would you dole out for starting stacks? Min/max buy in?

My current game for 25NL is $20min/$50max to sit down. Haven't had it go deep enough to be concerned with late rebuys or top ups of "up to half of the big stack" but that's the cap I would put on it if the situation was presented.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Thank you for the feedback. I wasn't sure if I should bother with big chip denoms at a fixed limit game. I was curious about introducing some $1s or $5s late for top ups and rebuys and having big stacks make change just to make it easier.

My current set is 1200 pieces which has:
200 nickels
400 quarters
400 $1's
200 $5's

With the stakes presented and my current chip set, what do you think is needed to add? Also what would you dole out for starting stacks? Min/max buy in?

My current game for 25NL is $20min/$50max to sit down. Haven't had it go deep enough to be concerned with late rebuys or top ups of "up to half of the big stack" but that's the cap I would put on it if the situation was presented.

I'm relatively new to limit but have been experimenting, so take everything with a grain of salt until someone chimes in after hosting for 57 years. In limit games those bigger denoms just act as bank; I'll never be able to bet $5 in my game but it represents a full barrel of my quarters (or two barrels for $10), they just hold value in my stack. If I'm up big, a player rebuys for $25, I take 5 $5s and add them to my stack and give him 5 barrels of my limit chip or whatever breakdown he wants.

Its up to you. We're all about optimizing but if you end up needing to use that exact set you'll be fine if blinds are 50c/$1 like mentioned above (which will most likely play similar to 10c/25c NL), you can just use your $1s as well. Limit games are fun with mountains of the same chip so I'd add 600 quarters so a rack for each person, and you're already good on 5s. Didn't realize you already had the value chips.

Starting stack:
Whatever you want in nickels, you've got 200 so everyone can get 50c or $1 worth
rack of quarters for $25
Fill the rest in with $5s.

Take a few quarters out for whatever you'd like the nickels to be, and you're good. Limit games mean stack depth is far less important, someone can buy in for $500 while others only have $50 and most hands at those low stakes will play similarly, the beauty and curse of fixed limit betting.

 

[Quad Johnson]

I'm relatively new to limit but have been experimenting, so take everything with a grain of salt until someone chimes in after hosting for 57 years. In limit games those bigger denoms just act as bank; I'll never be able to bet $5 in my game but it represents a full barrel of my quarters (or two barrels for $10), they just hold value in my stack. If I'm up big, a player rebuys for $25, I take 5 $5s and add them to my stack and give him 5 barrels of my limit chip or whatever breakdown he wants.

Its up to you. We're all about optimizing; if you end up needing to use that exact set you'll be fine if blinds are 50c/$1 like mentioned above (which will most likely play similar to 10c/25c NL). Limit games are fun with mountains of the same chip so I'd add 600 quarters so a rack for each person, and you're already good on 5s. Didn't realize you already had the value chips.

Yeah we run 2 tables of 25NL, that's why my set is 1200 pieces. I don't have too many deep pocketed players at my game, which is fine. It's all old buddies I've known and played with forever with new comers from the local home game circle in my area picked up along the way. We started running two tables as it allows us to play late. When folks bust and don't rebuy, it used to potentially break the game but now we just condense to one table which works out perfect for us. The folks interested in limit games is only a handful. Plus I've no desire to run a second table for limit so 7 players max is what I'm going for on a mixed game night.

We've played NLHE for years. I'm just hoping this could turn into something great with hopefully interest in other games as time progresses.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Yeah we run 2 tables of 25NL, that's why my set is 1200 pieces. I don't have too many deep pocketed players at my game, which is fine. It's all old buddies I've known and played with forever with new comers from the local home game circle in my area picked up along the way. We started running two tables as it allows us to play late. When folks bust and don't rebuy, it used to potentially break the game but now we just condense to one table which works out perfect for us. The folks interested in limit games is only a handful. Plus I've no desire to run a second table for limit so 7 players max is what I'm going for on a mixed game night.

We've played NLHE for years. I'm just hoping this could turn into something great with hopefully interest in other games as time progresses.

its a lot of fun and feels more social. I know @SteveEH is a big proponent of it lol but I'll agree. Good players will still be able to use their edge and should win most nights but the swings are far less and one deep pocketed player can't drastically change the environment like in NL.

I'll add: I don't know your situation but the set you have would work totally fine, it would just require more change making if you have the big bet lower than $1. It would jsut be less sexy than an ocean of the same chip flooding the table.

 

[SteveEH]

Some folks are newer to stud so they like the lower limits, that's why it's appealing when I presented the stake format. They wish to learn but don't like the idea of "losing too much" to a game they don't know.

Still think .50/1 may be good.

My group used to play $25 NL, and players are expected to bring 3 buy ins ($60 min for the night) and win/lose one or two buy ins on average.

When we switched to fixed limit hold'em (only hold'em), .50/1 was a little low. There were a couple of outlier nights where people won/lost close to $40 (the 2 min buy in equivalent of $25 NL), but other than that it was more like win or lose about $25.

After moving to mixed games (stud, razz, Omaha, and hold'em) we've tried .75/1.50 and 1/2 fixed limit. 1/2 fixed limit is cutting it close, especially with Omaha in the mix, once I had a player down to $5, but he came back.

Your current set will work no problem, but in a casino style fixed limit game, each player will start with at least a rack of the workhorse. For example, a rack of quarters for a 2 chip 4 chip .50/1 game.

 

[SteveEH]

Oops...one thing I forgot to mention that is significant, we have a 3 bet cap (most common is 4 I believe).

 

[BonScot]

We each start with 2 or 3 racks of workhorse chips for our 4/8 game.

Plus I have a couple of racks of value chips.

 

[JustinInMN]

5c ante
10c bring in, complete to 25c
50c on later streets

I currently have 2 racks of nickels and 4 racks of quarters in my set.

How many more nickels (if any) and quarters would I need to optimally sit 7 people and account for some top ups/rebuys?

Honestly 10 nickels per player or 70 in total would suffice for these stakes. Round it to one rack if you want to deal in racks.

Even if you went to 10¢ ante, 20¢ bring in with 50¢/$1 limits, you are probably good with a rack of nickels.

As for quarters I think I would add 2-4 racks to get to a total of 6-8 racks.

8 racks mean 7 players can each start with a full rack if they buy in for 25, plus one extra buy in.

With 6 racks then your 7 players can buy in for 20 each and then get the rest of their buy in with value chips.

Oh and make sure you have fives available for value chips, (not singles). Fives enable trades for whole barrels of quarters.

So if you do 600 quarters I would set up $25 buy-ins like this.

Host 80 nickels ($4), 84 quarters ($21)
6 other stacks 80 quarters ($20), 1 five ($5)

Have each player trade 2-3 quarters with host for nickels.

Leftover, 36 quarters ($9)

If you do 800..

Host 80 nickels ($4), 84 quarters ($21) same
Other players 100 nickels ($25)

Leftover 116 quarters ($29).

Hope this helps.

 

[Quad Johnson]

Honestly 10 nickels per player or 70 in total would suffice for these stakes. Round it to one rack if you want to deal in racks.

Even if you went to 10¢ ante, 20¢ bring in with 50¢/$1 limits, you are probably good with a rack of nickels.

As for quarters I think I would add 2-4 racks to get to a total of 6-8 racks.

8 racks mean 7 players can each start with a full rack if they buy in for 25, plus one extra buy in.

With 6 racks then your 7 players can buy in for 20 each and then get the rest of their buy in with value chips.

Oh and make sure you have fives available for value chips, (not singles). Fives enable trades for whole barrels of quarters.

So if you do 600 quarters I would set up $25 buy-ins like this.

Host 80 nickels ($4), 84 quarters ($21)
6 other stacks 80 quarters ($20), 1 five ($5)

Have each player trade 2-3 quarters with host for nickels.

Leftover, 36 quarters ($9)

If you do 800..

Host 80 nickels ($4), 84 quarters ($21) same
Other players 100 nickels ($25)

Leftover 116 quarters ($29).

Hope this helps.

This is exactly what I was looking for. I'll plan to add 4 more racks of quarters into my set up.

Question for 25c/50c and 50c/$1 in the future (I hope it grows to that), can my set still accommodate it? Do I ever incorporate $1 chips or is it still just going to be $5 and 25c chips?

 

[Natskule]

So I'm looking to expand my cash game set to be able to do limit games. Particularly 7 stud.

Everyone interested wants to play traditional with antes. We play 10c/25c NL so we're doing similar for limits.

5c ante
10c bring in, complete to 25c
50c on later streets

I currently have 2 racks of nickels and 4 racks of quarters in my set.

How many more nickels (if any) and quarters would I need to optimally sit 7 people and account for some top ups/rebuys?

Thanks in advance! I never had to consider a fixed limit setup but grateful my guys want to try some different games so I want to make it happen.

You've got plenty to play limit at the stakes you state. 400 chips for a 7 handed 1 chip/2 chip limit game will play fine. I'd skip $1s and use $5s as a value chip. It's not ideal, but it won't greatly effect play. I wouldn't buy anything at this point in time. Try it out a couple of times, you might end up adding a rack or 3 of quarters, or the stakes may go up a bit as others have suggested and you need to get some $1s or 50¢.

Bottom line is you have plenty of chips to start a limit game then you can adjust to what works best for you and your group, if you even continue to play it.

 

[Nine_high]

So I'm looking to expand my cash game set to be able to do limit games. Particularly 7 stud.

Everyone interested wants to play traditional with antes. We play 10c/25c NL so we're doing similar for limits.

5c ante
10c bring in, complete to 25c
50c on later streets

I currently have 2 racks of nickels and 4 racks of quarters in my set.

How many more nickels (if any) and quarters would I need to optimally sit 7 people and account for some top ups/rebuys?

Thanks in advance! I never had to consider a fixed limit setup but grateful my guys want to try some different games so I want to make it happen.

I'm not an expert on building limit sets but I will say this. If you're used to .10/.25 NL then .25/.50 fixed limit will feel tiny.

I'd skip right to .50/1 and plan to play .75/1.50 or 1/2 fixed in terms of building a set for long term. Quarter ante, I wouldn't even bring nickels out. Maybe use nickels once or twice to test the waters and learn stud or whatever but you shouldn't buy more of them for this IMO.

You're probably fine for testing it out at .50/1 with what you have. If it's gonna stick you might want a few more racks of quarters long term but IDK.

For reference we play .50/.50 NL & PL mix games and when someone calls stud it's .50 ante, 1 bring in, 2/4 fixed and that feels about right if not a little small.

 

[JustinInMN]

This is exactly what I was looking for. I'll plan to add 4 more racks of quarters into my set up.

Question for 25c/50c and 50c/$1 in the future (I hope it grows to that), can my set still accommodate it? Do I ever incorporate $1 chips or is it still just going to be $5 and 25c chips?

I would definitely want to be on the 8-rack side for 50¢/1 limits. I wouldn't use $1 chips at all if you can help it. With limit poker, there can be complications with single chip bet sizes. (What happens if they drop two chips, etc...)

Also if you have 1s on the table you will make change way more often than if you only have fives and every change transaction was always for a full barrel and hopefully as a result, less frequent.

 

[Labrat]

So I'm looking to expand my cash game set to be able to do limit games. Particularly 7 stud.

Everyone interested wants to play traditional with antes. We play 10c/25c NL so we're doing similar for limits.

5c ante
10c bring in, complete to 25c
50c on later streets

I currently have 2 racks of nickels and 4 racks of quarters in my set.

How many more nickels (if any) and quarters would I need to optimally sit 7 people and account for some top ups/rebuys?

Thanks in advance! I never had to consider a fixed limit setup but grateful my guys want to try some different games so I want to make it happen.

We play .25/.25 NL and have switched to a lot of 7 card stud 8 games and started with those limits, but they were too low. Everybody stayed in with anything. What worked for us was .25 ante, .50 bring-in, and $1/$2 for the streets.

 

[Quad Johnson]

We play .25/.25 NL and have switched to a lot of 7 card stud 8 games and started with those limits, but they were too low. Everybody stayed in with anything. What worked for us was .25 ante, .50 bring-in, and $1/$2 for the streets.

Seems I'll need more quarters regardless so definitely getting some. The goal is to make it cheap to learn and eventually expand.

Would you suggest I plan to add more $1 chips later on?

I was planning to add 4 more racks of quarters as that seems inevitable. I assume the stakes you presented, I would need another 4 racks of $1's as well.

 

[Labrat]

I'm looking to bring my total $1 chips up to 400. I have 250 right now which works, but if you play heavy limit games mixed in, I'm finding more singles is more better at that level of play.

Personally, I think your 4 racks of quarters and 2 racks of nickels are plenty for now. 8 racks of .25s seems excessive. I'd look at beefing up your 1s and maybe even your 5s for the future. I'm strictly talking stud games, here. Flop games are a whole nuther beast.

Then again, I'd like to eventually get up to 700 $1s for my set, so...whatever works for you.

Pretty sure an excessive amount of chips isn't the end of the world.

 

[JustinInMN]

Personally, I think your 4 racks of quarters and 2 racks of nickels are plenty for now. 8 racks of .25s seems excessive. I'd look at beefing up your 1s and maybe even your 5s for the future. I'm strictly talking stud games, here. Flop games are a whole nuther beast.

Yeah I am going to actually agree with this and walk my opinion back a bit. Since 25¢ / 50¢ limit is a 1-chip, 2-chip structure, 4 racks is probably enough to start if you play in quarters. Buy ins of $15 represent 30 big bets which is a pretty healthy limit buy in.

That said, I am also going to echo what's already been said here, it's fine to start small, but realize the limit pots are going to be smaller than in 10¢-25¢ blind NLHE. To keep pot sizes similar, my rule of thumb to mix NL and Limit is the small limit should be double the BB and the large limit should be 4x the BB. Definitely go to 6-8 racks if you see the stakes going to 50¢ / 1 or 75¢ / 1.50 limits, and I think chances are they will after a session or two depending on how the players feel about the pot-sizes.

 

[Moxie Mike]

I'm looking to bring my total $1 chips up to 400. I have 250 right now which works, but if you play heavy limit games mixed in, I'm finding more singles is more better at that level of play.

Personally, I think your 4 racks of quarters and 2 racks of nickels are plenty for now. 8 racks of .25s seems excessive. I'd look at beefing up your 1s and maybe even your 5s for the future. I'm strictly talking stud games, here. Flop games are a whole nuther beast.

Then again, I'd like to eventually get up to 700 $1s for my set, so...whatever works for you.

Pretty sure an excessive amount of chips isn't the end of the world.

We play $4/$8 with a 1/2 kill on flop games. My limit set consists of 2 racks of $1s; 2000+ $2 as the workhorse and a rack of $20s for dealer and house color ups. There's usually $2500 or so on the table by the end of the night.

We also occasionally play $3/$6 with a full kill when the lineup wants it, for that game I have 700 $3 chips which is plenty.

The ante in the stud rounds is $1. $2 bring-in.

The $1s are used for the stud bring ins, as well as dealer/house tokes and when splitting the pot.

Most people buy in for $200 - and a few will come in for more and take some $1s to keep the game flowing. 2 racks is plenty.

 

[Quad Johnson]

Yeah I am going to actually agree with this and walk my opinion back a bit. Since 25¢ / 50¢ limit is a 1-chip, 2-chip structure, 4 racks is probably enough to start if you play in quarters. Buy ins of $15 represent 30 big bets which is a pretty healthy limit buy in.

That said, I am also going to echo what's already been said here, it's fine to start small, but realize the limit pots are going to be smaller than in 10¢-25¢ blind NLHE. To keep pot sizes similar, my rule of thumb to mix NL and Limit is the small limit should be double the BB and the large limit should be 4x the BB. Definitely go to 6-8 racks if you see the stakes going to 50¢ / 1 or 75¢ / 1.50 limits, and I think chances are they will after a session or two depending on how the players feel about the pot-sizes.

I was figuring we'll raise eventually. I just need to get everyone comfortable with the new games.

 

[Labrat]

We play $4/$8 with a 1/2 kill on flop games. My limit set consists of 2 racks of $1s; 2000+ $2 as the workhorse and a rack of $20s for dealer and house color ups. There's usually $2500 or so on the table by the end of the night.

We also occasionally play $3/$6 with a full kill when the lineup wants it, for that game I have 700 $3 chips which is plenty.

The ante in the stud rounds is $1. $2 bring-in.

The $1s are used for the stud bring ins, as well as dealer/house tokes and when splitting the pot.

Most people buy in for $200 - and a few will come in for more and take some $1s to keep the game flowing. 2 racks is plenty.

View attachment 1351837

You just wanted to flex those chips.

 

[JustinInMN]

You just wanted to flex those chips.

It is the name of the forum.

 

[warma]

Seems I'll need more quarters regardless so definitely getting some. The goal is to make it cheap to learn and eventually expand.

Would you suggest I plan to add more $1 chips later on?

I was planning to add 4 more racks of quarters as that seems inevitable. I assume the stakes you presented, I would need another 4 racks of $1's as well.

Honestly, don’t buy quarters. Don’t buy anything right now. Play with what you have.

I shifted a game from 10¢/20¢ NL to 50¢/$1 limit and it was an easy transition as the 50¢/$1 limit buy in ($25) was less than the 10¢/20¢ NL buy in ($30). We moved up to $1/$2 in four or five games. Even the stingiest guy wanted to move up.

Moving up for you might happen sooner than you think, so I would be careful investing in denominated chips for a new game now. Even if you start at your planned 25¢/50¢, you may hit $1/$2 before you know it, leaving you with a ton of quarters. Hell, they may hate it. I’d wait until it settles out before buying chips.

Given your set, there’s nothing wrong with making change until then. I used to play 5¢/10¢ limit with 5¢/10¢/25¢/$1/$5. It worked.

Each person buys in for 50 small bets. One table is 7 x 50 = 350 small bets. You have 400 quarters, so you’re good with a 1 chip/2 chip game 25¢/50¢ game using nickels for the 10¢ bring-in. Re-buy with the extra $1s and $5. You won’t have stacks, but the point is to see if there’s interest without investing too much.

Another option is the convenience of a table ante. Have the dealer throw in 35¢ for the table and call it even. Then you’ve suddenly got a ton more nickels than you need (ante quarter & 2 nickels) and no chips to buy.

Even if you shift to 50¢/$1 (25¢ bring-in), you can still cover it. Give everyone 52 quarters ($13) and 12 $1.

If the gang loves it, see where it settles out. If you start to get serious, think 50¢/$1 is right for you, and want to buy a massive limit set, I’d still recommend a non-denom set, which would allow you easily move to $1/$2 without buying another 1000 chip set.

I know, moar chips, rah! But seriously, I’d suggest you play it safe given that you’re starting a whole new game. (Just remember how you evolved in your NL set approach.)