Hosting NL game - Newbie questions

[ShannonRyu]

[ QUOTE ]
Would .25/.50 be too big? Buy in would be $20-$50?

Looking at some other threads I've noticed people increasing the blinds during the night. I know it's not required but is it the norm? What's the reasoning?

Finally, What's the reasoning behind limiting the buy in, more specifically having a max? Is it just to protect the big stacks? Do smaller stacks (in the 40-80 bb range) encourage more play?

[/ QUOTE ]
In my game, we play .25/.50 NLTH, $40 max buy in OR up to the largest chip stack*. We play that way from about 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., but at around midnight there tends to be $400-600 in the bank and everyone has $40-100 in chips and added to the drinking and the desparation of the night ending, the standard preflop raise changes from the usual $1-2 up to $4-6, so I have considered raising the blinds at midnight to .50/1.00. As the night progresses, raising $2 means less when there is $300 more in the bank than the $100-$200 that it starts at.

*We play a tournament first, then open the cash game as losers pile up, but when the tournament is over, about midnight, there can be a cash game player with as much as $100+ so we allow players to buy in for up to the tallest stack. It rarely happens, most players buy in for $20 to start, $40 if they bust out and up to $60-80 if they join after midnight, typically.