[SteveA]

I ususally run .25/.25 $20 buy in (and the rare .25/.50 $40 buy in) NL holdem cash games.

A couple of guys we play with are maniacs: raising, reraising, calling with any two cards. This style of play pisses the other players off, and I'm concerned I will lose some of my players. One of them announced their objective was to "rebuy as many times as possible and break even at the end of the night."

Increasing the stakes would help get the maniacs under control, but the other players aren't interested in higher stakes. Because of this I'm considering spread limit.

Can anyone recommend a spread limit structure for a $20 to $40 nightly buy in?

Thx

[Vince]

I think spread limit is a great way to have something more like a pot limit game without having to count the pot all the time... I hope that makes sense.

I haven't acually played SL so far, but a max of maybe 1/3 of the pot or even half the pot might be nice. based on your average pot.

[abby99]

I've played spread limit HE in a casino and don't recall the details exactly, but it was something like 1-2 blinds with a 2-6 spread limit. In practice, this means that bets can be anywhere between 2 and 6 on each street. As in other games, each raise must be equal to the previous bet or raise. The usual limit cap of three raises per round applied. I don't know whether spread limit would effectively curb your maniacs.

Good luck!

[wafflestomper]

How about you only allow people to rebuy once? That way people stop playing STUPID. Or they can only rebuy at half the original buy in (although that may not help the issue at all). Or quit inviting the PITAeseses.

I play with 2 different groups, one where pretty much anything goes (style, atmosphere, conversation...) and the other one with a bit more conservative friends (read church friends) who like a fun evening of guy time, but don't need the stripclub and one night stand stories...

[Zentish]

One home-game I play in is .25/.50 with a $6 per hand limit, that is that a player can bet or raise any amount over .50 but we leave each player's chips in front of them. Once a player has $6 in front of them we're "all in" and play the hands face up with all the callers from there on. I've recently introduced a kill-button to the game, we don't always use it but it was a fun addition.

The structure rewards early aggression, but tends to encourage tight play. Maniacs tend to be thwarted as it's hard to price someone out that has a good hand.

I played at a local mini-casino in a $1/$2-$40 spread limit game. I liked it a lot but watched another table where the maniacs were having a field-day. I don't think spread-limit will slow them down much - maybe a little - but not a lot.

[pkf655]

My suggestion would be to just put a cap on each hand. Say it is No Limit until $6-7 is reached then it is as if both players were all in. So you can lose no more than $6-7 in each hand.

[MeridianFC]

Originally Posted by SteveA

Can anyone recommend a spread limit structure for a $20 to $40 nightly buy in?

Thx

.25/.50 blinds
$1 max raise to flop
$2 max raise to river

[hachkc]

Originally Posted by pkf655

My suggestion would be to just put a cap on each hand. Say it is No Limit until $6-7 is reached then it is as if both players were all in. So you can lose no more than $6-7 in each hand.

I play in an occassional NL/PL cap game and it seems to work fine. Just set an upper threshold like 20bb or so as the cap. To keep track of the betting, just keep a separate betting stack in front of you for the $10 so folks know how much betting is left in the hand.

[blobe]

Shouldn't the maniacs be loser in the end ?

I mean, if your other player are "good" enough, they should fish them happily ?

[Harlequin011]

I would love your game as is. But as a good host I see the need to try to make everyone happy. What it sounds like is... You've got some limit players in your mix.

Try spreading a 1/2 or 2/4 limit game. You may have some people that like the no-limit pots but don't like getting bullied or making big decisions. We all know that NL demands that you play more deliberately and big decisions are a part of the game.

Offer a limit game.

Or for 20-40 dollars, you can spread a 1- 3 anytime. That's how I started playing. .50/$1 blinds.