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PhillyKev

Anyone have experience hosting a low limit poker night?

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Going to set up a poker night for co-workers. Initial response indicates about 10-15 participants. Anyone with experience hosting poker games have any suggestions?

I was thinking something along the lines of....

10 person, $10 buy in Texas Hold em no limit tournament. 1st place gets $50, 2nd $30, and 3rd $20. And while that's going on, any extra beyond 10 players could start at a separate table with .25/.50 4 bump max hold em. As players get knocked out of the tourny they could join that table.

Any other ideas? Want to keep it simple and low stakes, a few players are new to the game. Looking for fun, not max profit from the fish.

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I play in a regular game like that with a $10 buy in. You might want to allow additional buy-ins (up to a certain point in the game) to allow folks who have a bad start to stay in the game. Keep an eye on the pace of the game and how conservative (or not conservative) players are being to decide when you raise the blinds - at some point you do have to force attrition for the game or it'll never get fun.

We do that some months, other months we'll rotate through dealers and the dealer calls the game. Sometimes we play "real" poker at low stakes, other times it devolves into the dumbass stuff like high/low, acey/ducey, Indian, guts, etc. Usually the more beer that flows the goofier games we play.

Both types of poker nights have been equally fun and it's fun to mix it up.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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Kev,

One of the most inportant things is to set a Good Blind Structure to keep the tournament moving.

The format I use for tournaments that I host with less than a $20 Buy-in:
Typically Start Everyone with $1250 in chips
10 Green $25 Chips, 5 Black $100 and 1 Orange $500.
The Blinds go up every 15 Minutes.
The Blind Schedule is as Follows:
25-50
50-100
75-150
100-200
150-300
200-400
250-500
300-600
400-800
500-1000
600-1200
800-1600
1000-2000

With this format a 10 person table with a Fulltime dealer will take approxamately 3 hours to play out.

For a Side game:
If you want a Limit Game Try $.50-$1 with $.25 & $.50 Blinds. For a NL Cash Game, Set the max Buy-in at $50 and Play with $.25-$.50 Blinds.

Any other questions, Please let me know. I have been hosting Home games several years.

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Nice, thanks. I was thinking about raising blinds every 10 hands to keep it simple.


I just got in trouble for sending the email to everyone. Sigh....I cleared it with the company lawyer first. And when we organized the company football game we got flack for NOT sending it to everyone because some people felt excluded. Oh well....whatcha gonna do?

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Last Sunday's Chicago Tribune did a story about home poker games.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/premium/printedition/Sunday/chi-0412190489dec19,1,6201461.story (must login - get it from bugmenot.com)

The story referred to http://www.homepokergames.com
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I WILL fly again.....

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.25/.50 4 bump max hold em.



ROFLMAO.



What's the matter big spender, too rich for your blood?

There's going to be people playing who have never played before. One from Bulgarian and the other from India. The idea is to make it fun, not profitable. When I'm looking for ideas on how to help people enjoy themselves, don't worry, I won't come to you.

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I'm looking for ideas on how to help people enjoy themselves



May want to break out Scrabble or Monopoly if that's your goal. Poker isn't to have fun. It's to make money. I played for 2 years as my sole source of income.



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don't worry, I won't come to you.



Great!



Forty-two

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The cards speak for themselves



Actually this is the Rule in every major Poker Room in the country.

For the most complete set of Poker Rules see Roberts Rules of Poker. This Rule Book Covers almost all situations that could cause disagreements at the table. It is a good Idea to have this on hand for reference in case there is any problem at the table.
Another good source for Rules is the TDA (Tournament Directors Association).

The biggest problem newer players have is String Bets and Understanding the One Chip/Over Chip Rule. Make sure you explain these rules very well before starting the game.

No Matter how "Friendly" a Game is, Sooner or later there WILL be a disagreement on the rules. To keep it friendly, Have the rules established before the game starts.

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This Rule Book Covers almost all situations that could cause disagreements at the table.



Or you could find people who know what the hell they're doing.


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No Matter how "Friendly" a Game is, Sooner or later there WILL be a disagreement on the rules.



I played for a living for 2 years and not once did we ever have a dispute over the rules. Goes back to that thing about playing with people who know what they're doing and not complete rookies to the game.



Forty-two

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How do you host a poker game with the intention of introducing people to poker



I wouldn't. Not unless those people had a lot of money and liked to gamble. It's not fun playing with people who are not familiar with the game. No money to be made for the most part with amateurs.



Forty-two

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Fortunately I'm able to earn a good living without relying on gambling for income. I've known a few professional gamblers and they've all been degenerate losers who had no skills or ability to make a living at an honest job. Some people however like to socialize and play a game for fun. If you don't, cool, no need to participate in this thread. Getting lots of good suggestions from people. As usual, you're the exception.

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Some people however like to socialize and play a game for fun.



Great! As I stated earlier I would suggest Scrabble, Monopoly or my personal favorite, Trivial Pursuit. Those games will bring much fun.

Poker on the other hand is about money...not fun.



Yeah! Buncha Gamblers! ... blech! :P
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Explain to me with your usual logic and tact.... How do you host a poker game with the intention of introducing people to poker, while only including people who already know how to play?



The way you're doing it, $10 dollar buy-in works well, that's how I got introduced to poker and then playing online.

You could of course send everybody home with some homework to learn all the hands first, I didn't know all of them either when I first played, but you learn as you play (and often.. as you lose)

Poker is indeed all about gambling, because you can win with absolutely nothing, just outbluff your opponent.. it is handy however to know the hands.. (and I am getting better at it.. )

Iwan

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I played for a living for 2 years and not once did we ever have a dispute over the rules. Goes back to that thing about playing with people who know what they're doing and not complete rookies to the game.



I do not want to get into the usual Pissing match with you here, but I too have played semi-pro for years. I have played with the best in the world many times over I can assure you that I have NEVER played in any serious Tournament where the Floor was not called at least a few times for a Ruling.

Kev asked a simple question; If you have nothing to add other than insults and Chest beating, Why bother replying?

Keep the constant Belittlement of others and Talking out your Ass over in Speakers corner where it belongs.

If you would like a heads up game online, find me at Partypoker or UB. Easy Money, Come and get it.

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You could of course send everybody home with some homework to learn all the hands first, I didn't know all of them either when I first played, but you learn as you play (and often.. as you lose)



Yeah, I'm going to point them toward some beginner sites. We're going to stick just with Hold Em so that they don't have to learn all the different rules for different variants. And definitely having a dedicated dealer. I play in real games monthly, and on line a couple times a week. One of the guys coming plays every weekend in AC at high stakes tables, he's bringing the chips and cards. Somehow he manages to have fun at low stakes games too.

Been trying to raise the stakes, but we're sticking with whatever the lowest amount someone is willing to play with so noone gets priced out. Right now we're looking at a $25 tournament and then $1-$2 side games with about 16 people participating.

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