Bad/arbitrary game design.
Ex.: I was once invited to a private 1/2 PLO game. I didn’t think to ask details before game time, as I knew some of the players and was up for a low stakes game that night.
My bad for not asking in advance.
I get there to find out:
* It’s Omaha high-low no limit;
* Max buyin is $60 a pop;
* They were playing 10-handed.
So every hand for the first hour, everyone would limp until someone made it $10-15 pre. Then it would “narrow” to “just” 5-6 players going to the flop.
Then, since only a few people would have even a pot size bet to make on the flop, someone would shove... and get 2-3 callers.
This continued with countless rebuys, until finally stacks were deep enough that it became a slightly less absurd game of “all in every hand—whoever flopped best vs two people who flopped the big draws.”
The hands would also take forever, even though there were few if any turn/river decisions, because many players were terrible at both reading results and chopping pots.
I actually stayed and made about $900 just by folding pre about 80% more often than the field. But it was a ridiculous game, made for people who just want to gamble, and not be bothered with strategy.
I did suggest that maybe a bigger buyin and playing limit would make this less of a crapshoot, but no way. (“This is how we’ve always done it”—a classic homegame problem. No one wants to change, and suggested changes are like blasphemy.)