[checkm8r]

Thanks for all the responses. The NL aspect does kinda scare me so maybe we'll give it a run with $0.10/0.20 NL, $15 buy-in until everyone's comfortable with it. That way, a swing of 4 buy-ins limits the loss to $60, which wouldn't be too excessive.

[bolgenmod]

Originally Posted by checkm8r

Thanks for all the responses. The NL aspect does kinda scare me so maybe we'll give it a run with $0.10/0.20 NL, $15 buy-in until everyone's comfortable with it. That way, a swing of 4 buy-ins limits the loss to $60, which wouldn't be too excessive.

What about trying Pot-limit? Combines the big-bet aspect of NL with the more limited exposure of limit. Just a thought.

[checkm8r]

Originally Posted by bolgenmod

What about trying Pot-limit? Combines the big-bet aspect of NL with the more limited exposure of limit. Just a thought.

I haven't played PL before, but it seems like keeping track of pot size to the exact amount would take away some of the fun. Or maybe my friends and I are just math-challenged. LOL

[Captn_All_In]

How about a spread limit? .05/$2 spread with blinds at .05/.10, with a 3 bet/raise max, 1st bet post flop min of .10

Then you get some higher action at times, but you don't need to keep track of pot sized bets.

Just a thought.

[checkm8r]

Originally Posted by Captn_All_In

How about a spread limit? .05/$2 spread with blinds at .05/.10, with a 3 bet/raise max, 1st bet post flop min of .10

Then you get some higher action at times, but you don't need to keep track of pot sized bets.

Just a thought.

Thanks, I guess this would work, too. This is how we used to play all of our dealer's choice games back in the old days prior to Holdem catching on...

[Cytoviper]

Hello........ just an FYI about running NL ring games that I have about once a month, I cap the buyin for a $.25/$.50 blinds game at $40 this seems to be about right for everyone that plays....... some will buy in for much less as low $5 at times but usually most are between $20 and $40.

I have not set a max number of rebuys though........ everyone is comfortable at this level and everyone usually has about $100 to $200 with them for the evening. This amount varies by player and what they are comfortable with. The rebuy limit is still $40 even if most people at the table have much larger stacks, another game I have been to will let you rebuy upto the median (not the average) $ chip stack in play.

We usually have a $20 NLHE tourney first that usually lasts around 4-5 hours for 24 players and for those who get busted early I have another table to start ring game on because they dont really want to leave that soon This ring game usually lasts several hours (3 to 6) after the tourney so I must be doing something right

Regarding chip quantity tho......... my personal experience is that you should have at most 3 colors in play for a ring game, usually only the $.25 and $1 chips for my games are needed, having enough $1 chips is key. In other games I have been too the higher ($5) colored chips tend to be hoarded by players not wanting to lose them. So by having only 2 colors in play this is not a problem and most people arent hoarding them

For computation sake take the number of starting chips/player you plan to use and multiply the number of players you will have, then I recomend at least 2x that to cover rebuys, this seems to work well for me. However you could make a case for not needing that many low ($.25) chips and just make table change too

[Nugzy]

If players are uncomfortable losing their entire stack of real money on one hand, just set a cap. Lately I like to play mixed games, but we have a couple guys who dont like NL so to accomodate them we set a cap for NL. For the limit rounds we play $.50/$1 (blinds are $.25/$.50). For the NL we have $.25/$.50, and the most you can lose in a NL hand is $15. The guys in the big game set a cap also, I think its like 25 big bets. Im not sure, but I think I remember DN mentioning that during NL Holdem, they go down to $2000/$4000, with a $100,000 cap. The max buyin in our $.25/$.50 game is $50, the minimum is $10. We also allow a player to add to their stack as long as it doesnt go over $50. For example, if a player is down to $30, they can buy another $20 in chips to make their stack $50. This must be done in between hands when no cards are dealt. While no one ever does this, the option is there.

[Nugzy]

Also, we use $.25/$1/$5 chips. I usually start everyone with 24 $.25, 24 $1, and 4 $5 chips if they buy in for $50. Some players are weird and request different breakdowns for superstitious reasons, if I have the chips available I will accomodate them.