The Perfect Home Poker Game - Players, Stakes, Starting Chip Counts & More

[kraemer]

What ever You do... don't do it like the guys in the image above...
The one to the left is already in the process of throwing over his beer...
Or like my good friend Alister once said:

No drinks on the felt shall be the whole of the law!

 

[Shady Slim]

What ever You do... don't do it like the guys in the image above...
The one to the left is already in the process of throwing over his beer...
Or like my good friend Alister once said:

No drinks on the felt shall be the whole of the law!

Nice catch! Did you also notice that they are not even playing on a regular table too. It looks like a table for two from a Japanese restaurant. Now that I look at that pic again, it is just all sorts of wrong.

 

[akmost]

Bookmarked too , I don't think that something is missing from the list. I don't think that many wannabe home game hosts would buy a poker table. A big table with a decent felt on it is just fine

As I mentioned to a previous comment I really like the heavier chips and not the plastic super light ones, Do invest in a good quality plastic card deck , I bought one and it is immortal, plus you can shuffle the cards for the next round way easier compared to a paper made.

I have a little disagreement about the semi-pros that you say not to invite. I for one prefer playing with some players better than me in order to improve than some beer comers

ps. What about the dealer? We have to brainstorm the game I don't thing that we should deal the cards as well

 

[ammje]

Very good article, this will help me a lot when rearrange a game at home, I like to play texas holdem with my family and friends, even if you have some badbeats, and lose some money, the end is funny,

 

[Tony Vayer]

Hello Tony,

I think if you click on the link and read the article, you will find no mention of Pokerstars in the article or in the post you are quoting. Take one more look, read the article and comment again, I would like to hear your thoughts.

Good luck to you,
Brian

ONLINE HOME GAMES

While the live format is probably what most people think of when they think of home games, there are a number of online poker sites that offer the ability to host games.
PokerStars led the way with their Home Games function. The software will be familiar to anyone who's played on the poker site. However, with Home Games you are in charge of the blind structure and buy-ins.
You can set up your own 'Home Poker Club', invite PokerStars players and friends to join, and schedule tournaments whenever you like. An easy-to-use tournament set-up page lets you plan the payouts too and winners are paid out automatically after the game ends. You can even program bounties into your games so that players are awarded each time they knock someone out.
PokerStars aren't alone in offering a home game format. 888 Poker introduced an interesting twist to this with their software: they offer games that utilize your computer's webcam so that your opponents can see you as you play (and you can see them).
While this may not appeal to everyone, it is certainly an innovative and intriguing mix of live and online. As with PokerStars's games, 888's PokerCam offering is only good if you live in a jurisdiction that allows legalized online poker.

 

[Bricxjo]

Hi Tony,

You're right, my mistake. I apologize, please forgive me. You quoted the whole section from the article. Thanks for not being offended and writing a big rant. I saw that last bit in the article as advertisement inserted at the end, kind of a "brought to you by" and so I didn't actually consider it part of the article. Kind of like a commercial in a TV show where you use the time to make a sandwich, I guess my brain was out to lunch. Interesting. I guess now I see why Mack mentioned it; but like Shady, I thought he didn't read the article. Thanks for the comment. Sorry for my confusion.

Good luck to you,
Brian

 

[vovqa93]

Hope 1 day I'll host my home party

Allright. First impression from article came when i read "Just as you don't want some online nerd there who can barely keep eye contact with anyone" roflmao..Actually it is not easy as we think to organize cool, comfortable home games.


I think the main thing is players must be on the "same wave", in same statement when they come into cardroom with comfort and want get fun/talk/drink/enjoy poker, like we can see into famous cash games reviews into YouTube etc. Home games should be just something more, not just playing poker, more fun i guess

 

[DiegoRamos]

Home games are perfect.
The biggest problem at certain times is finding a good amount of money so that there is a more competitive and extensive game.
In my case the biggest difficulty was organizing the bets, as many wanted only fictitious bets and other low games.
After consensus and a lot of talk we organize in a good way and for all budgets. Really an excellent article, will evolve games a lot.

 

[ZenGreen]

Was talking to some dude playing poker who I thought was just normal goes into this long story about how the cops kicked down his door and raided his home game and he said he got tipped off so he left the aera when this went down. So about 2weeks later some other poker guys talking bout this very game and how it sucks its gone HOW DID I NOT HEAR ABOUT IT hate being out of the loop . Home games are fun

 

[Bev]

Week 2 , Task 3. Strategy article discussion threadThis article covers a lot of things that are pretty obvious , especially for people who play games period at home - or have payaed at community centers or other public places.
Making sure you have enough room , the right table and chairs so that your guests are comfortable and can enjoy sitting for any length of time.
The details for how much to buyin is an important factor - and notifying people by email/call is the best before they come. No one likes surprises , and if it is agreed on before the game then everyone coming will come and be prepared.
For setting up a game online - that is just eliminating the steps you need for the tables , chairs , room refreshments etc.
People can then just decide to play according to the buyin price pretty much.
Anyone attending a live game or online will have expectations for your hosted game and will likely be disappointed if you didn't cover all the steps to make the game go smoothly. So, like the article says - the worst that can happen is they leave , and not show up again for you !
Hey , you tried !

 

[Shady Slim]

New"ish". Within the last few months.

The article mention finding players on Facebook without really explaining how to do that. You can spend days searching.

While answering a post in another thread, I found a great resource for finding poker groups, meetups, games, etc. on Meetup. They wanted to find people in Boston, I got to searching and found Poker Meetups in Boston. You can change the city, distance parameters. Most metropolitan cities are covered, but smaller cities not so much.

 

[Tammy]

What ever You do... don't do it like the guys in the image above...
The one to the left is already in the process of throwing over his beer...
Or like my good friend Alister once said:

No drinks on the felt shall be the whole of the law!

Nice catch! Did you also notice that they are not even playing on a regular table too. It looks like a table for two from a Japanese restaurant. Now that I look at that pic again, it is just all sorts of wrong.

Excuse me, are you guys questioning my skill of picking out stock photo poker pics??? :laugh:

 

[whiskers77]

Excuse me, are you guys questioning my skill of picking out stock photo poker pics??? :laugh:

Haha, it seems like they do so, Your comment gave me a smile.
Well, it really looks a bit, I dunno how to say.... hmpf

 

[Helloween]

Me and my friends, by the way, have never played a cash game at home. Worth a try. We only need to consider the amount of blinds that fit all and into battle!

 

[Shady Slim]

Award Winning Imagry

Excuse me, are you guys questioning my skill of picking out stock photo poker pics??? :laugh:

Not at all. The photo was very feng shui. I loved the symmetry and strong lines of diagonals.

 

[jerlasvegas]

The article seems very comprehensive and informative. I haven't personally desired to set up my own home game, but if I do, this is a great reference.

The starting stack sizes, chip denomination suggestions and blind structure is very helpful. Also a good idea to print out a blind structure for your guests.

 

[Tammy]

Haha, it seems like they do so, Your comment gave me a smile.
Well, it really looks a bit, I dunno how to say.... hmpf

Not at all. The photo was very feng shui. I loved the symmetry and strong lines of diagonals.

I felt it really conveyed the image of a "home made" poker table.

 

[Shady Slim]

I felt it really conveyed the image of a "home made" poker table.

That's the kiddy table! All the gals are at the grown up table drinking mojitos out of fine glassware.

 

[XYZ2123]

I got into poker online and have never played a live poker game. Honestly at this point the idea of playing with actual human beings sitting around a table makes me kinda nervous. I think the hardest thing to adjust to would be having to maintain a poker face. I'm so used to sitting alone, playing online, and being able to think out loud and talk myself through hands that I feel like I'd be at a disadvantage in a live setting. Maybe that's all the more reason to start the transition by playing in the fun, friendly atmosphere of a home game. I guess I'll never know unless I try.

 

[chicopaw]

I got into poker online and have never played a live poker game. Honestly at this point the idea of playing with actual human beings sitting around a table makes me kinda nervous. I think the hardest thing to adjust to would be having to maintain a poker face. I'm so used to sitting alone, playing online, and being able to think out loud and talk myself through hands that I feel like I'd be at a disadvantage in a live setting. Maybe that's all the more reason to start the transition by playing in the fun, friendly atmosphere of a home game. I guess I'll never know unless I try.

..


must agree, have only played in a small bar,in a small village.total capacity of the bar about 30 patrons and found it exciting ,Only problem after 3 weeks ,the police came around and the owners were fined, ba-humbug. it was great to socialize and win a few $$.,I enjoy playin alone,but to get out and walk to a venue ,i would not hesitate for a second and play, The pokerfac is definitly something to work on

 

[CRStals]

For me, what made my home games and tournaments fun, enjoyable and quite popular involved several things:
- I used a rec room that was big enough to comfortably sit 18 people
- I invested in a large number of chip sets so I could easily handle a small or medium sized group
- I have a poker table top used for the final table and other felt that was used to cover the other tables
- I bought tournament software that helped me manage the tournament while still playing
- Food and drink is key - I had an area set-up for that away from the table to ensure nothing spilled on the cards or chips
- Music was always playing in the background
- I had a system for breaking the tables down - #3 always broke first and we drew cards to determine who went where at the other two
- Chips were raced off, and not rounded up to give it a more pro feel

For cash games I would establish the buy-in based again on the number of people coming and made sure that we'd use as many chips as possible so we all had big stacks of chips but may only be a few bucks. It's more fun playing with 40 chips than 10!

 

[nml]

I thought the part about raising the blinds was interesting - in every home game I’ve ever played, we always just raise the blinds each orbit. My guess is the timing is pretty similar, but I’ve never even thought about using software for it.

One thing I did to get a good group of players - I had a handful of friends who wanted to learn after hearing I play online, so I basically did a free night for them (7 of us total). I got beer and food, which they covered with $5 each, then I had a $5 pot with winner take all to get their money back.

We probably spent 8-10 minutes going over basics (betting, blinds, etc), I had a chart of hand rankings blown up, and spent just a couple minutes over basic strategy.

I probably lost a few bucks that night, but I’ve more than made it back since the game started.

 

[sryulaw]

This is something we already practice, these tips are great, and tutorials for beginners who want to start poker games at home. Whenever I played at my condo, we met at whatapps before and decided the buy-in amount, it was always $ 2 to $ 5 so everyone had fun without worrying about money, we still split the food, we each paid a little for the pizza which can not be missed on home game nights at home.

 

[eggtart]

Homegames are great way to play with friends and hangout. Watch out for the maniac, always a pleasure to have some loose donks in the crowd that gives away chips.

 

[Andrew Popov]

let's get into the nitty-gritty of making your home poker game the best in town!

LOL

For organizing a similar game for money in my city, up to three years in prison (or a fine or something like that) is threatened. Legislation in my country prohibits the organization of the game for money without special permission. Even if you play conditional chips - this can be a problem. As far as I know, this problem exists in some other countries.

I would like to see recommendations on the legal aspect of organizing games at home.

Undoubtedly, we are not doing anything wrong, and it does not harm any person or nature. But the laws are ridiculous ...