Denoms for a Dealer's Choice Cash Set

[checkm8r]

I'm building a denominated cash set that I'd like to be able to cover all ring games with, to include low-stakes, friendly Dealer's Choice games. I already have the $0.50 thru $100 chips on order. I'd now like to start adding the low denominations.

I'm looking for your help in selecting the below-$0.50 denoms, especially with casual dealer's choice games in mind. Casual in the sense that a $20 buy-in should last the most/all of the evening unless you're pretty unlucky. The guys I play with now only play Texas Holdem tournaments, so I need some help here from those that play these Dealer's Choice games.

- What is the normal ante that your group uses for these games? Nickel? Dime? Quarter? (Remember, I'd like to have have it such that a $20 buy-in will typically be the max needed)

- How do you limit bids/raises and what are the limit amounts you use?

- What is the best selection of denominations for these types of games? What are the recommended counts for each of these in order to cover up to 8 players?

I think I the have the higher denoms covered as the set I have on order will include 200 ea $0.50 chips and 300 ea $1 chips. I'm now trying to decide how many (if any) of the $0.05, $0.10, and $0.25 chips I need to flexibly cover these games.

Thanks to all in advance!

[extreme517]

You might want to go with just a $0.05 and a $0.25 chip and forget the $0.10...just get lots of the $0.05 chip and you're good to go.

For 8 people I'd recommend doing a $10 buy-in and issuing 30 $0.05 chips, 14 $0.25 chips, and 5 $1 chips. That should last a while and someone can always rebuy for $10...just issue them 10 $1 chips and let them purchase lower denom chips from someone with a big stack.

8x30=240 so get about 250 of your $0.05 chip.
8X14=112 so get about 150 of your $0.25 chip.
You have plenty of $1 chips to handle rebuys.

Take this with a grain of salt and do as you please!

[Dimes]

It is a good idea to limit the number of denominations. Normally you shouldn't have more than three different denominations at the table. In this case $0.05, $0.25 and $1 would be sufficient.

TT

[Q10 soooted]

We used to have $20 buy-ins with dealer's choice games & maximum bets of $2.00. The $2.00 bets usually were only made with clearly the best hand and $1.00 bets would take down most pots. Antes for most games were 0.25. When we played hold 'em, though, people thought that 0.50/1.00 wasn't high enough stakes because all the bad players were chasing. We started playing 1/2 instead and quickly the $20.00 buy-in night has turned into a $50 buy-in night.

All of that said I'd recommend antes of 0.10 or 0.25 (0.25 is probably fine) but cap the max bet of most games at $1.00. That should keep a $20 buyin going for a while barring luck or stupidity.

[PocketRocket]

As has already been covered, .5/.25/1.00 is about all you'll need. Insofar as an ante, it should be about 25% of your low limit bet. So if you're playing .25/.50 limit, you should only need 5¢ and 25¢ chips with a nickle ante. Alternatively, with games like stud you could skip the ante and just use a bring-in bet. For draw, you'd want the ante.

Generally, in a limit game, the bet is fixed at either the lower limit for specific rounds (e.g. flop) and the higher limit for later rounds (4th/5th street), there is no variation; nothing higher, nothing lower. Raises are traditionally 3 bumps, but there are variations to that as well that may apply in both cardrooms and certainly home games.

With regards to chip distribution, in a cardroom, there would only be one denomination chip in play in a limit game (as an example, at a $3/6 limit game, you'd buy-in generally for $60-$100 in $1 chips). So if you're going to play a 10¢/20¢ limit game, you'll probably want all of the chips on the table to be 5¢ chips. There is also a version called spread limit where bets can be within a certain range (you set the range) for each bet, and pot limit where no bet can exceed the amount currently in the pot, but must be of a minimum amount that is set.

If you have a cardroom or casino nearby, and are of the age of majority, you might want to visit one to get a better idea of how the games run in a limit environment.

Originally Posted by checkm8r

- What is the normal ante that your group uses for these games? Nickel? Dime? Quarter? (Remember, I'd like to have have it such that a $20 buy-in will typically be the max needed)

- How do you limit bids/raises and what are the limit amounts you use?

- What is the best selection of denominations for these types of games? What are the recommended counts for each of these in order to cover up to 8 players?

I think I the have the higher denoms covered as the set I have on order will include 200 ea $0.50 chips and 300 ea $1 chips. I'm now trying to decide how many (if any) of the $0.05, $0.10, and $0.25 chips I need to flexibly cover these games.

Thanks to all in advance!

[bromius13]

I too generally play low buy-in cash games. Here's what I do...

I purchased a 1000 piece set of Nexgens, which I've happily personalized with labels (I'll post pics sometime in the near future). This set is comprised of 250 each of four denominations: $0.05, $0.25, $1.00, and $5.00. This set can handle up to ten players with buy-ins ranging all the way up $150.00, but currently handles our typical $10-$20 buy-in games for 5-8 players like a champ.

Our typical game, which probably is in line with what you're looking to play, is $0.25/$0.50 Hold'em with $0.10/$0.25 blinds. We buy into said game with $20.00, and usually start with the following chip distribution:
20 x $0.05
28 x $0.25
12 x $1.00

I hope this helps.

[bromius13]

One other thing...

When playing a $0.25/$0.50 Hold'em game, buying in for $20.00 makes for 40 big bets. In our largely loose-passive game, this has been plenty to ensure that nobody ever has to rebuy, no matter how bad the players are or how cold the cards may be running for them.

However, I've found that 250 x $0.05 chips when playing our occasional $0.20/$0.40 game with 8 players may be a little short chip-wise. This only allows each player to start with 30 x $0.05 chips, which when betting four nickel chips for the $0.20 small bet, only allows you to make 7 bets before having to make change with other players. This isn't too much of a hassel, but it's not the "chip decadence" one enjoys when starting with a rack of $1.00 chips at the $3/$6 table in a casino either.

[jmda]

We play a lot of low limit SHOE and usually play it spread limit. We do not use anything smaller than a $0.25 chip. We are playing slightly higher stakes though $20 would not last long unless you are winning.

As for the game dynamics we do not play with an ante. 7 card stud is played with the low card bringing it in as the forced bet. We also play 2 to 7 triple draw - which is traditionally a blinds game (so you can play 5 card draw as a blinds game). If it is pass the deal delaers choice - you will need a button that only moves when a blinds game is played, if a stud game is played the button stays where it is. If one person is dealing then you need two buttons one that is the "choose the game button" and one that is the blinds button.

We play with one playing dealer usually - it is tough to see the flop at the other end of the table when playing on a full size oval table. We will tip the dealer a 25¢ (or $1 depending on the stakes) if someone wins a nice pot.

[PocketRocket]

You might want to try a couple of things
For the .25/.50 game, go with two big blinds instead of trying to use a little blind.

For the .20/.40 game, use 10¢ chips only.

You had mentioned that you were using Nexgens with a label. You might want to consider a non-denominated set of labels that will give you a lot more flexibility. In a worse case scenario, you could make all colors be worth the same value, and you'd have plenty of chips for a limit game.

And yes, it's not unusual to see someone at a cardroom with several racks of chips in front of them. I had that the other day ... unfortunately, it was winning back the racks that I had previously lost in that session .

Originally Posted by bromius13

One other thing...

When playing a $0.25/$0.50 Hold'em game, buying in for $20.00 makes for 40 big bets. In our largely loose-passive game, this has been plenty to ensure that nobody ever has to rebuy, no matter how bad the players are or how cold the cards may be running for them.

However, I've found that 250 x $0.05 chips when playing our occasional $0.20/$0.40 game with 8 players may be a little short chip-wise. This only allows each player to start with 30 x $0.05 chips, which when betting four nickel chips for the $0.20 small bet, only allows you to make 7 bets before having to make change with other players. This isn't too much of a hassel, but it's not the "chip decadence" one enjoys when starting with a rack of $1.00 chips at the $3/$6 table in a casino either.

[CaptLego]

Since you already have 200 x $.50 chips, and plenty of $1 chips, I'd suggest just getting a bunch of $.10 chips. With a $20 buyin, $.10 antes is small enough that you can last awhile, but big enough to be worth playing for. 200 to 300 x $.10 should set you up.