Buy-in Versus Blinds

[Jason]

Quick odd question: for the purpose of Bankroll Management, if there is a home game that has a $20 buy-in, but the blinds are $0.25/$0.50, is that considered a $20 game or a $50 game?

[kb coolman]

I would consider that $50NL, IMO. Is $20 the max, or minimum?

And...I tend to loosen up my BR requirements for the sake of home games, depending on the make-up. I always play to win, but a lot of times, these are just a good reason to cut up and drink beer with your buddies. For these types, I'll pay my buy-in out of my mad money, not my BR, since it's really just a guy's night out. Winnings go to my BR, I eat my loses. I usually win at these anyway, so I don't guess it matters one way or another.

[Jason]

$20 is the max buy-in. Even though that's the buy-in, the blinds make it feel like $50NL, and it can be odd trying to adjust since I feel short stacked from the start, but it's not really short stacked since everyone starts with that amount. But, yes, it is a home game and I, too, usually win those type of games, so I guess it's a moot point, but it's an interesting dynamic trying to adjust.

[spoonitnow]

$20 is the max buy-in. Even though that's the buy-in, the blinds make it feel like $50NL, and it can be odd trying to adjust since I feel short stacked from the start, but it's not really short stacked since everyone starts with that amount. But, yes, it is a home game and I, too, usually win those type of games, so I guess it's a moot point, but it's an interesting dynamic trying to adjust.

If you bought in for $20 and everyone else bought in for $50, what would that change?

[Jason]

If they had $50 to my $20, they would have 150% more chips than me and your chip stack size is a very important tool in NLHE. So, I'd say that would be a big disadvantage for me plus I couldn't get as good implied odds with a smaller stack.

But, like I said, we all start out with $20, so no one is technically short stacked until they lose it, but it plays like a $50NL game because of the blinds. It's just not how I'm used to playing and I feel like I have to be tighter than normal because when you get involved with a pot, it can grow quickly in terms of % of your stack. Say you raise 4x the BB - that's $2 and if you get just two callers, that's a $7.00 pot if the SB completes. A $7.00 pot is 35% of your stack before the flop has even been shown.

I saw and would expect a lot more players busting with this scheme.

No, technically everyone is shortstacked
basically, if you flop top pair you're going all in because after you raise and put in a flop bet you're pot commited

not so if you had .1/.2 blinds and the same $20 stacks