What's 1/3 No limit holdem?

A friend of mine recently told me that some No Limit games are 1-3. Does that mean the small blind is 1 dollar and big blind is 3 dollars? I've never heard or seen this blind structure before.

Updated Feb 2018:

You won't find 1/3 games online but they are quite common in live casinos, usually in place of 1/2 games. The first number represents the amount of the small blind and the second number is the amount of the big blind.

As you can see in the comments below - the skill level will vary depending on where you play. In some casinos it is very similar to 1/2 games and in others it is more like the 2/5 games.

It is advisable that you know which stakes to play before you show up at a casino or log in to play online:

Bankroll

Thats exactly what it is, very odd. Kinda like 2/5 NL on ft.

Yes, I play that live. They have 1/3 and 2/5 where I play.

^ as above. Dunno why it happens but it's common for live games to have odd blind structures. My local casino spreads $2/$3 for example.

So buy ins for these 1/3 games i'm assuming would be 300 dollars?

There is a 1/2/4 (the 4 being a straddle) that runs at Harrah's Chester in PA.

crabby4 said:

So buy ins for these 1/3 games i'm assuming would be 300 dollars?

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Maybe but not necessarily. Weird things happen in live games. The $2/$3 game I mentioned above allows buyins between $50 and $200, for example.

OzExorcist said:

Maybe but not necessarily. Weird things happen in live games. The $2/$3 game I mentioned above allows buyins between $50 and $200, for example.

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Definitely depends on the casino... Some will let you buy in for 20k in 1/2 game if you want...

crabby4 said:

So buy ins for these 1/3 games i'm assuming would be 300 dollars?

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250 in my casino

crabby4 said:

So buy ins for these 1/3 games i'm assuming would be 300 dollars?

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Played 1/3 last year at Ceasar's Palace in Vegas and they let you buy-in for any amount between $100 and $500.

If you're any good, playing 1/3 is often a really good deal as it's just as soft as 1/2 (smallest limit of the room in both cases) but plays slightly bigger which means more profit if you're +EV in the game.

crabby4 said:

So buy ins for these 1/3 games i'm assuming would be 300 dollars?

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yes the 1/3 games at the casinos here have a 300 max buy in

Honestly I've not seen a 1/3 game before. Im gonna have to check out these casinos in Wisconsin next time I pass thru. I don't recall the horseshoe having it in Indiana either...

The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh has 1/3. Min buy-in is 100 and max 300. The 2/5 game is min $200 but you can buy-in equal to the biggest stack for the max. So if someone is sitting with $1000, You can buy-in for that amount.

BelgoSuisse said:

Played 1/3 last year at Ceasar's Palace in Vegas and they let you buy-in for any amount between $100 and $500.
If you're any good, playing 1/3 is often a really good deal as it's just as soft as 1/2 (smallest limit of the room in both cases) but plays slightly bigger which means more profit if you're +EV in the game.

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When I played 1/3 at Aria in March, it felt more like a 2/5 game. 4-5x preflop raises... $40 continuation bets... Yeah, I was able to run it up good, and run it into the ground just as fast...

got some 1-2-3 games over here
where the BB=3 SB=2 and button=1 with 300 buyin max

arahel_jazz said:

When I played 1/3 at Aria in March, it felt more like a 2/5 game.

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Not uncommon - most of the 1/2 and 2/3 games I've been in have played a lot more like a shallow-stack 2-5 game.