[warewulf]

I'm hosting a game after work next week. I'm the only person that plays regularly. I don't want to intimidate the people that I work with, want to keep the game fun.

The buy in is going to be $20. What do people suggest for having a game that will be fun and not burn through everyone's $20 too fast?

A no limit game is obviously out of the question. I'm thinking dealer's choice and a 25/50 cent limit structure. Or should I keep it at 25?

[VARoadstter]

For limit you probably go .10/.25. Or even .05/.10 if they are all complete novices and will call down with nothing.

[TheDuke]

I would suggest $5 or $10 nlhe sit n gos. It's cheap and will allow the newcomers' $20 to be stretched out the longest.

People who are not too familiar with poker have usually seen an episode or two of the WPT so they'll want to experience the feeling of shoving their stacks all in. Limit poker will just be a confusing experience for a table of newcomers who will continually ask 'Why can't I go All in? I saw it on TV!!'

[shadesofgrey]

Originally Posted by TheDuke

I would suggest $5 or $10 nlhe sit n gos. It's cheap and will allow the newcomers' $20 to be stretched out the longest.

People who are not too familiar with poker have usually seen an episode or two of the WPT so they'll want to experience the feeling of shoving their stacks all in. Limit poker will just be a confusing experience for a table of newcomers who will continually ask 'Why can't I go All in? I saw it on TV!!'

I would have to agree... most of them have seen poker on tv and equate poker to nlhe... couple NL $5 SnG should be good for a group of newbies...

[Irish Se7en]

I like the idea of either two $10 SNG's or one $10 SNG & a .10/.25 NLHE cash game. It all depends on how long you plan on playing and the blind schedule for the SNG.


GL



Irish

[shadesofgrey]

$5 SnG with rebuys / addons.. until the 3rd or 4th level? 15/20-minutes levels? id limit the total # of combined add-on + rebuys to 3 per player...

give each player 3 chips for add-ons and rebuys. make it a $20 game tops..

every player gets at least 60-90 minutes of play....

based on the time you want to play, adjust the # of chips you get for each rebuys & add-on.

that sounds fun!

whats the planned schedule?

can i ask what chips you plan on using?

[philhutchings]

Hey i'm new to the boards here, been reading for a while but have been playing for years now.

-Keep to just 4 chip denom's 25/100/500/1000 Denoms work great for beginners.
- you don't need fancy clay chips for beginners, they'd accept dice I bet Though chip choice is entirely up to you. Also if its the first game better not going overboard with a $1+ right away
- you will get the most versatility out of chips without printed values on them, that way in a tournery (if u have 4 or 5 colours) they can be whatever value you want, then later in a cash game you can use the same chips for 25c,$1,$5 etc whatever your stakes are.
- be sure to allow re-buys so your friends who drive out to your place can still play for a while.
- My new home games run this blind schedule and it seems to work well for everyone, can work with a $5 buy-in or $100+ stay away from ante's unless theres 20 of you or more.
Buy in "x"- 2500-3000 in chips
re-buy "x or y" 1500-3000 in chips, often better to have the rebuy slightly less than the initial buy in
Add-on, at the 1st break allow an add-on for 2x the rebuy value for anyone but chip leader and make a rule that knowone can buy chip lead so bigger stacks may only be allowed 1 add on or none
Blinds
25/50 30min
50/100 30 min
75/150 30 min
Break/Colour up/race for 25 chips (good to have food at this point) also the longer blind levels allow for more rebuys to go in the pot and everyone gets 1.5hrs of play
100/200 20 min
200/400 20 min
300/600 20 min
400/800 20 min
500/1000 20 min
1000/2000 20 min
2000/4000 20 min
*your game will most likely end att he 1000/2000 level if its there first tourney, don't bother with bounties or anything complicated like that or a bonus jar for a strait flush or better. In our games we skip from 500 to 1000 because by that point were typically down to 3-4 players from our usual 10 starters, it moves the game along and will then allow the "losing players" to stick around and get in on a cash game without waiting ages and ages. As for prize payouts think about giving 3rd place 1-2x the buy-in level then split the rest 70%/30% in a 1 table game though thats entirely up to you. Have lots of pop/beer/chips available and if you are concerned about footing the bill for everything u could ask to take a few dollars out of the pot or better yet if u want to have more games wait till the 2nd game to do this when u can raise the buy in a little. $5 to $10 buy-in would be appropriate maybe for a first buy in, i think its kind of low and u may get some irratic play from a low buy-in but its up to you. My first tourney was a $50, unlimited rebuy game (talk about pressure) and somehow i won 3 weeks in a row at those stakes (2 month drought after lol) All depends on what everyone does, if your inviting a bunch of Doctors don't be shy to have $40+ buy in, if its guys from school or mcdonalds (lol) $5 may be right.
Another tip, if you don't have denom's on your chips you can print out a sheet from word with your chip values, print the sheet with $ values with enough space to tape a chip on the paper beside the value then stick that piece of paper on a wall or stand someplace thats visible for everyone. oh get some extra towels and stuff ready for the eventual spills that will happen too.
Have Fun

[PhilLaFond]

Wow, that last post was fantastic for a detailed set-up! Just gotta add my two cents.

I host a monthly game with mostly casual players. We do a $20 buy-in sit and go no limit holdem which gives everyone the most bang for the buck. We use the T10000 blind schedule that can be found on www.homepokertourney.com Basically it starts at 100/200 blinds and we use 17 minute levels and allow re-buys for first hour. We also bump the blinds if a player gets eliminated. This allows for 3-4 hours of play with breaks for food and coloring up chips. Your tourney length can be drastically adjusted depending on the timing of your blinds and whether you allow re-buys. Just keep in mind that you should probably not go below 15 minute levels - less poker skill involved in "speed" levels.

Bottom line is have a good time. And don't be afraid to make adjustments; it took me three or four poker nights to get the structure working well.

GL

Phil

[tomb1]

Great post, philhutchings! Obviously you've worked through many of the typical issues and put together a common-sense approach. Thanks for your input!

I especially like:
- use chips with denominations on them
- allow rebuys.

[philhutchings]

when we started having games we didn't have a timer, we just increased blinds based on the number of turns around the table(pre break) then after the break we increased the blinds after 'x' people were eliminated. After one game where we got down to 4 players (4 of our strongest) we played at the same blind level for like 6 hrs before all was said and done (combo of 1 player getting a good hand and everyone else not risking playing with there garbage for 6 hours) the game went till 4 am and we all agreed we'd never do that again. I strongly reccommend getting a timer of some kind. a 60 min Oven timer will work fine but if you have a laptop or can move your computer i Highly recommend
PokerRoom.com's - Home Game Organizer
This program is free, all you have to do is sign up on there site and look it up, it allows you to set up your custom blind schedule, start/stop/pause your timer at any time. It also will keep track of the # of players, re-buy's and add-ons and the total number of chips and money in the pot. Its great for games of 1-2 tables. And best of all its free, i searched the net and got this after our ridiculous 4am game.