Hi PCF! Advice for my first home game? (1 Viewer)

[hankiedoodle]

I've been watching a lot of poker on YouTube recently, and decided to host a game this weekend! It's been a lot of fun reading all the posts on here and I wanted to get a nice set, but my wallet and my girlfriend both made it clear that I should make sure I'll actually get good use out of them before dropping the cash on something nice.

So I got a set of Outlaws from Discount Poker Shop, and I know that they're definitely not premium, but I couldn't be more pleased! They feel worlds better than dice chips, and I'm super excited to play with them this weekend!

I also got some Copag cards, cut cards, a dealer button, and a roll-out felt table topper. Anything else I need to buy?

Everyone coming is a close friend and expectations are going to be low, as no one is a regular poker player. I'd really like everyone to have fun, so I can make it a regular thing. Any advice about how to make sure everything goes smoothly is appriciated!

 

[Bacon Dad]

First and foremost, make sure you know the etiquette and rules of the game(s) you are playing and how/when to apply them. It sounds like a social event, but you should still have basic rules.

Comfort is always a big factor if you want regular games. Are you playing on a bare dining room table or on a topper? Or are you playing on an actual poker table? Are the chairs cushioned or hard wood?

Otherwise, are you serving food? Hot dog rollers are a “thing” here.

And if you are exchanging cash, don’t get too lit to properly cash people out.

 

[demonnic]

The outlaw chips are a fine upgrade from dice chips and you should get some good use out of them.

Planning on doing tourney or cash? Makes a difference. I know the outlaw chips are cash denominated but I've also run tournaments with cash denom chips before so still seems worth asking.

I limited my intoxicant intake (liquid or otherwise) the first couple of times I hosted to make sure I was sharp enough to run the tourney and settle any disputes etc. I'd do the same for a cash game or two as well just to make sure I've got things running smoothly. And I do like my intoxicants.

If a tourney, make sure you set up your tournament software, blind levels and times, etc and let it run for a level, explore the controls, etc at least a day or two ahead of time. You don't want to be fumbling to figure it out on the day of. Prepare starting stacks ahead of time and have a plan for assigning seats (even if the plan is "just take one, eh?") as again you don't wanna have to figure it out the day of. Also, at least flip through the TDA and have an idea of the official rules.

If cash, have an idea of your 'standard' buy in (usually 100 or 200 big blinds if playing no limit) and the chip stacks you'll give for that, and prepare some ahead of time. Generally speaking in cash games you can buy in for whatever you want (between a min and max amount) but in practice at a lot of home games I've been to folks buy in for a similar amount, at least to start. If they aren't poker players already you can lead them in this direction, at least for the first game or two, to make your life easier.

You mentioned you got a rollout felt topper, that's a step up from just using the dining room table and you can always go for further upgrades if it catches on. Food/beverage considerations are a thing, if you're going to offer food maybe consider a dinner break, or offering snacks/food which aren't greasy or powdery finger foods that'll muck up your cards and chips. We usually did a pot luck and it worked out pretty well, but we do pot luck for almost everything.

We use two decks of cards and shuffle behind. After your turn as dealer, you cut the cards the person to the right of you shuffled and pass them to the left with the dealer button, then shuffle the deck you just dealt with during the next hand, and pass them to the left to be cut for the next deal. It works pretty well and keeps the game moving nicely along.

 

[hankiedoodle]

Comfort is always a big factor if you want regular games. Are you playing on a bare dining room table or on a topper? Or are you playing on an actual poker table? Are the chairs cushioned or hard wood?

Got a topper. I picked it up off amazon for pretty cheap, so if I can start doing this more regularily, I'll probably be looking for a better one. Chairs are cushioned.

Otherwise, are you serving food? Hot dog rollers are a “thing” here.

Making a big pot of chili! Hot dog rollers are a good idea though, I'll keep those in mind for next time.

And if you are exchanging cash, don’t get too lit to properly cash people out.

I'm only going to have a few drinks, so should be okay. Going to use venmo. Everyone coming is in their 20s, so not expecting any issues with that

Thanks for the advice!

 

[hankiedoodle]

Planning on doing tourney or cash? Makes a difference. I know the outlaw chips are cash denominated but I've also run tournaments with cash denom chips before so still seems worth asking.

Cash. It'll be a social event first and foremost and everyone's pretty new, and cash games are the easiest to understand the format. If everyone wants to come back, I'll definitely think about doing a tournament in the future.

I limited my intoxicant intake (liquid or otherwise) the first couple of times I hosted to make sure I was sharp enough to run the tourney and settle any disputes etc. I'd do the same for a cash game or two as well just to make sure I've got things running smoothly. And I do like my intoxicants.

Good call, yeah I'll be sticking to just a few beers. My roommate also doesn't drink, and he's happy to help keep things running as well, so we should be covered there.

If cash, have an idea of your 'standard' buy in (usually 100 or 200 big blinds if playing no limit) and the chip stacks you'll give for that, and prepare some ahead of time. Generally speaking in cash games you can buy in for whatever you want (between a min and max amount) but in practice at a lot of home games I've been to folks buy in for a similar amount, at least to start. If they aren't poker players already you can lead them in this direction, at least for the first game or two, to make your life easier.

Yeah, the outlaw chip set has no nickles, so probably going to do 25c/25c, and make the buy-ins $40. I think people will prefer lower stakes and playing with larger stacks of chips though, so I'm considering making the chips worth 1/2 or 1/4 value. So buy-in at $25 and you get $100 of chips or something like that, with 25c/50c blinds. Then cash out for the same fraction, naturally.

Food/beverage considerations are a thing, if you're going to offer food maybe consider a dinner break, or offering snacks/food which aren't greasy or powdery finger foods that'll muck up your cards and chips. We usually did a pot luck and it worked out pretty well, but we do pot luck for almost everything.

Going to make a big pot of chili! Pot luck is a good idea though, will do that in the future for sure. This time around I think I'll just ask people to bring drinks or snacky things.

We use two decks of cards and shuffle behind. After your turn as dealer, you cut the cards the person to the right of you shuffled and pass them to the left with the dealer button, then shuffle the deck you just dealt with during the next hand, and pass them to the left to be cut for the next deal. It works pretty well and keeps the game moving nicely along.

This is my plan exactly! I watched Chris Manzoni's shuffling video, the format makes a lot of sense!

 

[demonnic]

Depending on the chip breakdown treating dollars as cents works. IE the dollars are pennies, 5s are nickels, on up.

 

[QuailValley]

Yeah, the outlaw chip set has no nickles, so probably going to do 25c/25c, and make the buy-ins $40. I think people will prefer lower stakes and playing with larger stacks of chips though, so I'm considering making the chips worth 1/2 or 1/4 value. So buy-in at $25 and you get $100 of chips or something like that, with 25c/50c blinds. Then cash out for the same fraction, naturally.

So just a tip I've been running a social cash game for a few years now. Started with Monaco Casino set from Discount Poker (very similar to the outlaws), and there are solid chips for the price. I've only recently upgraded to a custom ceramic set.

On the topic of cash game. We play 0.25/0.25 NLHE with $25 buyin. Its super simple, easy to buy in and pay out. And we have enough chips rolling to play for the evening (usually 4-5 hours). I do allow re-buys, if someone gets felted, up to $25 per re-buy (but they can re-buy for only 10,15, 20, etc if they want). That way it keeps the amount of cash I'm dealing with low, and the stack reasonable. These stakes makes the chip denoms super easy as well, everyone gets a 20x$0.25 and 20x$1 chips. For the game everyone knows NLHE, and my crowd doesnt like changing the game. I do suggest maybe having a few charts on the table with hand rankings, sometimes people get a few hands mixed up in ranks.

Especially since you are just starting out I suggest keeping it as simple as possible and remove as many complications as you can. Last thing you want is confusion at the end of the night where you've had a couple beers, and everyone is tired. It gets harder to count and do math at 1130-12 at night, and I play with a room full of engineers.

Once you have a solid group going you will know more how your group likes to play, if they want to increase the stakes and by how much. Then you can start adding side stuff like bomb pots, 7-2 game, etc.

 

[Phoe9x]

I host 25c/25c game every so often. I keep a spreadsheet with how much someone bought in for and how much they cashed out for. It makes it super easy to make sure all the money is accounted for. Chips are only handed out once payment is received.

Other than that, snacks are important, and make sure to have fun!

 

[ashetoother]

How did your game go? Wanted to add, decide on music/TV. My crew is particular about music so I usually do a Spotify Jam to allow others to add their songs. I banned TV as some seemed more interested in TV versus playing.

 

[hankiedoodle]

It went alright, the topper got delayed in shipping, so we were playing on a bare wood table, which made it annoying to pick up the cards. We did $40 buy-in, which was a little too much for some people, no one bought back in after getting felted. (Except for one guy, who bought back in for $1 just for the lols, then immediately tripled it twice in a row)

Everyone had fun though! Gonna do another one in 3-4 weeks with the the lessons learned. Smaller buy in, a topper, and fewer of the smallest chip denomination.

Music was fine, I put on an indie pop mix in the background and no one mentioned it. I don't even have a TV in my house, so TV wasn't an issue.

 

[ashetoother]

Hosting can be stressful the first few times. But you have the right attitude, roll with the punches, collect feedback and adjust accordingly.

How did your chili come out? I think that's going to be my next menu item!

 

[Munchies11]

Hope the game went well and you become a regular hosting !!

 

[Colquhoun]

If everyone only bought in once for $40, you may benefit from doing a $40 tournament-style game.

 

[wootaki]

As you said most of your group are not regular poker players, how was the dealing situation? Did you do it all or was it self-dealt and yall just went through the process of learning and getting accustomed to it?

 

[awsome306]

Is there a good "one stop shop" for poker etiquette? I feel like I teach most of the players in my home game, but tbh I am constantly learning new things.

Like the 2 deck dealing system was revolutionary for us. Stuff like that.

 

[hankiedoodle]

If everyone only bought in once for $40, you may benefit from doing a $40 tournament-style game.

Yeah, I think we'll do a tournament at some point, but probably just going to play cash games for a little while. Some people weren't able to stay late, so being able to cash out whenever was useful. As soon as people start getting tired of the same old, I'll mix it up for sure.

 

[hankiedoodle]

As you said most of your group are not regular poker players, how was the dealing situation? Did you do it all or was it self-dealt and yall just went through the process of learning and getting accustomed to it?

Dealing was fine, self dealt, and we used two decks. It was a little rough getting everyone to remember to cut, remember to be consistent with burning cards, etc, but worked out fine overall

 

[springbox]

It went alright, the topper got delayed in shipping, so we were playing on a bare wood table, which made it annoying to pick up the cards. We did $40 buy-in, which was a little too much for some people, no one bought back in after getting felted. (Except for one guy, who bought back in for $1 just for the lols, then immediately tripled it twice in a row)

Everyone had fun though! Gonna do another one in 3-4 weeks with the the lessons learned. Smaller buy in, a topper, and fewer of the smallest chip denomination.

Music was fine, I put on an indie pop mix in the background and no one mentioned it. I don't even have a TV in my house, so TV wasn't an issue.

If $40 is people's limit, I would play it as a 5c/10c game with a $10 minimum and $20 max buy in. Ideally everyone at the table is willing to re-buy for their starting buy in at least once. You could do 25c/25c with a $20 buy in, but that is a little short stacked.

 

[QuailValley]

If $40 is people's limit, I would play it as a 5c/10c game with a $10 minimum and $20 max buy in. Ideally everyone at the table is willing to re-buy for their starting buy in at least once. You could do 25c/25c with a $20 buy in, but that is a little short stacked.

I find 25c/25c with a $25 buyin to be a nice spot. Easy for guys to explain they sunk $25 on a Friday night than say $40-50.

 

[Tonysquander]

Dealing was fine, self dealt, and we used two decks. It was a little rough getting everyone to remember to cut, remember to be consistent with burning cards, etc, but worked out fine overall

Most toppers are only between 2-4 mm thick. It really helps to get some extra padding, like Volara or a comparable closed cell foam, underneath the topper. It is a fairly cheap upgrade that makes a noticeable and beneficial difference in gameplay. Just cut the foam to match your topper and you are good to go.

 

[hankiedoodle]

I find 25c/25c with a $25 buyin to be a nice spot. Easy for guys to explain they sunk $25 on a Friday night than say $40-50.

Yeah, that's exactly what I plan on doing. I also don't have any nickels, so 25c/25c is a lot easier for me than 5c/10c

 

[Labrat]

If $40 is people's limit, I would play it as a 5c/10c game with a $10 minimum and $20 max buy in. Ideally everyone at the table is willing to re-buy for their starting buy in at least once. You could do 25c/25c with a $20 buy in, but that is a little short stacked.

Agree with this 100%.

You may also think about playing limit or spread limit for the first few games so everybody can get a feel for the game while controlling losses.

Then you can blindside them with PLO8.

Mmmmuaaaahahahahahaaaaa!