Asking your players to participate in offsetting the costs to any degree is perfectly reasonable and if they object - they obviously don't appreciate the opportunity you're providing.
When it comes to game infrastructure, unfortunately most poker players don’t necessarily care about stuff like high-quality chips, cards, tables, seats, etc. Games can be pretty basic and even a bit gross, and people will still play, unless they get so substandard as to be truly unbearable.
How many times have I played on a bare kitchen table, with dogs and kids running around, everyone squished up against the cabinets, with injection mold chips? At the time it was fine, I was just looking for more games.
Or how many times have I seen 80+ people playing all-day tournaments on under- or oversized resin tables, squatting on metal folding chairs, under neon lighting, using dice chips and grocery store cards, eating Dominos pizza or low-end Chinese food, crammed into a social hall… happy as pigs in shit. Sad but true.
Now in my experience when you furnish players with better options, they will usually be unconsciously glad you did. Most will notice that you’re running a nice or cool operation… but often not realize what exactly makes it better. And certainly wouldn’t agree to spending $4K+ on chips alone.
So if asked in advance to front the cost, most are not going to want to pony up for it. Better food? Sure. Pay yo upgrade from dice chip to Paulsons? They don’t even know what that name means.
I had a player invite me to a game where they used “real clay chips,” because he heard me talking about collecting… Of course it turned out they were ABS, not even China clays let alone Paulson. Oh well.
Bottom line, if you want a better-appointed game (as I do), that is 98% of the time going to have to be at the host’s initiative *and cost*.
I also don’t ask players to fund my gear because honestly most of what I now choose to purchase either retains value, increases in value, or depreciates so slowly that the effective long-term cost to me is trivial.
My regs would be shocked what I spent in time and cash and labor on a custom spotted
THC set, and never would have splurged for it. Now that I have it some—but hardly most—think they’re cool. But if I switched to Milanos they probably wouldn’t care.
As I’ve grown older (and able to afford better stuff) I’ve realized that economizing isn’t always a money-saver, because cheap options are disposable—while quality things last, and even can be good investments. It’s worth getting better stuff if you can float it, sincr the more basic options quickly become worthless yardsale junk.
By now TBH I have a small fortune into my table, chairs and chips alone. (And I never in a million years would have believed that if I had heard myself saying that 20 years ago.)
But if I quit hosting tomorrow I could sell most of my game gear for as much or more than I paid. They are storing, not losing value.
There’s no upside for me to make the players front my coats. I’d feel obliged to then also profitshare on any gear sold, an accounting nightmare. And all that a demand for funding these purchase would accomplish is to drive off some of the cheaper players.
