JacNoK;340990 wroteFrom my limited experience, I find the $1 $3 plays more like a $2 $5 game. Pots are significantly bigger but not just from the higher buyin.
Have you played $2/$5? In general, $1/$3 plays much closer to $1/$2 than $2/$5. And it's almost completely driven by stack size, so I will give you that a $1/$3 on a Saturday night may play closer to a Monday morning $2/$5, depending on the tables, but a Saturday night $2/$5 game plays nothing like a $1/$3.
JacNoK;340990 wroteAt $1 $2 with a $200 max buyin, I’ve seen mostly $1 chips in play – two racks of white to buy in. So betting 3x the BB is 6 white chips, or 4x is 8 white chips - betting is precise.
Were you playing in the games room of an old folks home?
I have never seen a casino $1/$2 game play this small, except for the first couple of orbits when a new table opens, or if its all a bunch of geriatrics like comp. :) $11 - $15 minimum opening raise preflop. Late on a Friday or Saturday night it could be as much as $25.
And if you show up with 2 racks of whites the dealer will send you back to get reds.