The 11th Player

[_TKO_]

At least one cardroom in Ontario (Casino Rama) offers 11-handed tables for fixed limit holdem. There is a noticeable increase in looseness at these tables, so the extra seat does seem to make a difference. I have no idea how to quantify the value of an 11th seat, but my question is this: what increase in rake would be the break-even point for an additional seat at the table?

[AaronBrown]

There's no obvious relation between the number of players and the profitability of the game (to the player, that is, to the house, the more players, the more profit). It's true that short-handed tables play differently than full tables, and 11-handed will be slightly different from than 10-handed, but it will be no more or less profitable to the average player. You might find the action slightly better, but there's no way to predict the amount theoretically.

[_TKO_]

Is it less expensive to play at a table with more seats? The blinds do come around slightly slower. Do you contribute less to the rake on average?

[AaronBrown]

The 11th player does make the blinds a bit smaller. That helps you if you're a tight player, hurts you if you're a loose player. So I guess a tight player would be willing to pay a slightly higher rake. But that gain is coming from other players at the table, who will want a lower rake.

[jba]

"to the house, the more players, the more profit"

this seems intuitively wrong but I assume this depends on the game texture, the client base, and the rake structure. If you assume the house needs to find seats for X number of players and the rake has a relatively low cap it seems as if they house is much much better off with 8 player tables than 11.

[AaronBrown]

I meant more total players means more total profit, not 88 players are more profitable at 8 tables of 11 than 11 tables of 8.