Hosting NL game - Newbie questions

[Small Fry]

Some quick background info: I've done numerous tourney's ($25 buy ins) and limit cash games (1/2) but going to do NL. Expecting the same players at NL as I get at the other cash games. Typical buy in for the cash game is $40-$50.

Looking at some other threads the following seems to fit:

Blinds of .25/.25 with buyin of $10-$25.(40-100 bb's) Buy in levels appropriate? Is having SB and BB the same okay? (Really don't want to go with a chip smaller than .25 but if I should then I will)

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?

Any other thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for the help.

Pat

[psandman]

[ QUOTE ]
Finally, What's the reasoning behind limiting the buy in, more specifically having a max?

[/ QUOTE ]

Their are two reasons for the max buy-in

1) Keep the fish from blowing there bankroll to quickly. This is of concern to a casino because if all the fish dry up there is no game and they make no money. This is of concern to a home game because if your players all bust its hard to get a game going.

2) Many players incorrectly apply tournament pricncipals to cash games and believe that they are somehow disdvantaged if someone with more money then them puts a million dollars on the table.

[pfapfap]

I find $20-$40 buyins and 25c/50c blinds to be fairly common for home games around here. It's enough that you can get some money on the table worth playing for the average shmoe, but not so much to limit it only to those who have half a clue what they're doing (ie, attracts fish).

[jdeane]

I host a weekly .50/1 NLHE cash game. Here is how I set it up, it seems to work out pretty well.

Blinds: .50 / 1.00 (obv.)

Min Buy In: $20 (usually make concessions if someone wants to buy in shorter, but it's discouraged)

Max Buy In: $100 ($100 is large enough to play deep, but not large enough to run over whole table)

The average buy in is from $40 - $60, with some $20's and usually 1 $100.

We normally get around $400 - $700 in the pot by the end of the night, plenty of action.

[Small Fry]

Thanks guys.

This is more of a friendly game than one strictly about the money so one of my concerns is having too much money in play. Not sure how the regular group would handle the increase in betting and pot sizes. So the thought with dropping to .25 /.25 is to try to keep pot sizes in line (somewhat???) to the old limit structure of 1/2. Plus if somebody is forced to dig in their pocket 3-4 times at the $25 max then they're not that far off an additional rebuy at the limit game (say a $40 buy in and rebuy).

Maybe my real question is what NL level is comparable to the 1/2 limit level? I want decent money but don't want everyone playing scared. So where's that comfort level, that happy medium?

Thanks again for the advice

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks guys.

This is more of a friendly game than one strictly about the money so one of my concerns is having too much money in play. Not sure how the regular group would handle the increase in betting and pot sizes. So the thought with dropping to .25 /.25 is to try to keep pot sizes in line (somewhat???) to the old limit structure of 1/2. Plus if somebody is forced to dig in their pocket 3-4 times at the $25 max then they're not that far off an additional rebuy at the limit game (say a $40 buy in and rebuy).

Maybe my real question is what NL level is comparable to the 1/2 limit level? I want decent money but don't want everyone playing scared. So where's that comfort level, that happy medium?

Thanks again for the advice

[/ QUOTE ]

Limit and NL are such different concepts that you might find with such a low buyin ($25) that there are more all ins than you expected. I feel that if people are used to playing 1/2 limit then they should be OK with a NL buyin of at least $60.

[grebe]

i think you will find that .25/.25 or .25/.50 with a max of $20 or $40 respectively will fit your crowd just right. If most of your guys are friendly types, dont set a minimum buy-in, and just set the max.

[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.