OP
OP
Ya, I've read about many instances about people dropping players from their invite lists for various reasons or another, and I don't think dropping someone from an invite list is all that uncommon. I've had only three instances where I think I've "banned" someone. All of these circumstances were new to me. I'm relatively new to hosting, so I come here to ask the community for feedback. I would not call these circumstances being quick to pull the "ban-trigger"...
Of these three circumstances, one person had a history of blatant rule violations, even after being warned repeatedly, and I have had several regulars that refuse to play with him. Then this individual lies to me in order to get twice the allowed chips at buyin? He's no longer invited. No biggie.
The second circumstance involved a guy who was banned because on his first visit to my house, he was creepy with one of my regular female players (rubbing up against her legs underneath the table and touching her arms constantly). ya, he was also a douche for coming empty handed to a BYOB event, and consuming tons of beer and food without contributing. No reason to extend another invite.
The third "banned" person was a lady who was deceptive regarding her abilities, takes on a hit and run (or one and done) philosophy, and shows up to play despite not being invited or at least RSVP'ing for a seat. This was not a friend of mine, but the wife of a person who was not even a regular at my games. It was not a big deal to drop this woman from the invite list. She was not right for my game.
Otherwise, I welcome all different kinds of people and players (varying skills and personalities) to my games. I don't want to control people, but I do want to control my game in order to to ensure a friendly, fun (and safe) environment for people to play cards in. I do have to be particularly careful (more so than most) to not allow negative elements into my home. Especially when poker might be seen as not 100% legit in the eyes of the law... You can read into that what you will...
've been told by a number of my players that they don't always feel comfortable playing other games in the area that are more loose with their invitation policies (allowing some negative "thug" or shady elements to play). These players tell me they appreciate my efforts to attract quality attendees.
That all said, I don't think this is overly complicated. Douchey shady people don't get invited. If they wind up sneaking in somehow, they don't get invited back. Provide a good environment, provide a nice setup, provide nice people to play with = good.
Life is good. Poker on!
