Home Game vs Cardroom/Casino (1 Viewer)

[Meddler2]

I've been playing in either a casino or cardroom and hosting a regular 1/2 game for 16 years. I can safely say poker books and ABC strategy don't apply at our home game. Has anybody else experienced this? It's likely due to playing with the same basic cast of characters, famaliarties etc at the home game.

I don't have any specific recent examples but has anybody else experienced this?

 

[manamongkids]

casino/card room, i put headphones in and just sit there and grind to maximize my profits while in that setting, rarely drinking

home game - no headphones, constant chatter, sports, politics, news, and lots of drinking.

 

[Meddler2]

Zero drinking at our home game so alcohol is not a factor. Chatter yes.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Home game with regulars is definitely a different animal than a casino game.

I think most of it has to do with knowing the players, having lots of hand history with each other so players tend to play a more exploitative style than a standard game.

Another reason home games are so different is that the players know there is a hard end time. Knowing you only have an hour to get even when stuck makes for interesting dynamics late in the night.

That doesn't happen in the casino as the game never ends.

 

[DrStrange]

Math is always your friend - casino or home game.

Yes, a home game with regulars requires a different style of play than casino games. Yet, an ABC strategy is even more effective at a wild and crazy home game than at a casino game. How you apply strategy concepts to actual play will vary greatly.

Example - My home game often gets to being a 1-2-15 game. So your $600 stack isn't a 300bb stack, it is a 40bb stack. I sit to the right of the crazy men not the left. I limp 100% of my range, especially the top of the range. I know I am going to limp / fold and burn two dollars a lot but there will be a reward.

Actual hand from this week's game - Hero has been beaten to a pulp and is playing $350, the short stack at a seven handed game. Hero holds sitting UTG and limps for $2. Crazy Jr makes it $15 to go and gets three callers. Hero three bets to $75 and ends up in a five way pot - $375 pot vs Hero's $275 stack. Hero jams the flop, gets one caller who has a gut shot + runner runner flush who actually misses this time - it has been that kind of night. Hero almost triples up having taken only a modest risk relative to the profit.

Strategy concepts that applied are; 1) Low SPRs are the domain of top pair / over pair hands. So hero doesn't raise his aces, he has to go for a limp / raise to get the low SPR that makes the rest of the hand carefree. 2) Hero is pot committed on almost every flop with AA even in a multi-way pot because the SPR is less than one. 3) Short stacks have an edge over the big stacks. The big boys have to watch each other, protecting their $1,000+ stacks and tend to disregard the shorter stacks. 4) Meta game matters more in home games. Hero has to sacrifice dozens of $2 limps to get a couple of big check raises. When we play thousands of hours together, even the least observant players begin to notice the other players and adapt.

Most important of all, the home game is more fun and a lot easier for everyone since there isn't a rake to beat -=- DrStrange

 

[Jimulacrum]

Strategy books are great way to fill out a player's toolkit of approaches to various situations, and to help you think through the situation when you find yourself confused or veering into unprofitable play. What is not covered as much in books is exploitative play—how to use the detailed information you have learned about your opponents to adjust your play from a merely winning approach to a weapon tailored to extract money from specific opponents.

As you learn more about your opponents, and they learn about you, having a good "by the book" strategy matters a lot less than a strong knowledge of your opponents and awareness of how they perceive you. That doesn't mean the books are useless in a home game, but you have to adapt the ideas in them to the wealth of knowledge you have about your regular crew.

It's less common to have this kind of long-term observation of casino patrons, so the "by the book" strategy matters more (though you should develop a solid profile of each opponent as well).

 

[Skeeter]

casino/card room, i put headphones in and just sit there and grind to maximize my profits while in that setting, rarely drinking

home game - no headphones, constant chatter, sports, politics, news, and lots of drinking.

100% correct. There is no friendship in the casino/card rooms, just people trying to win. Strategy books and videos are great for this, not necessarily the home game.

 

[jbutler]

Just as @DrStrange and @Jimulacrum allude to above, it is a massive mistake to think that the knowledge gleaned from traditional strategy advice "doesn't apply" to a home game. You have to fill in the details a bit more proactively and be willing to modify your strategy, but if you don't know the underlying concepts you'll be incapacable of effectively using the deeper facts available to you.

 

[Skeeter]

Just as @DrStrange and @Jimulacrum allude to above, it is a massive mistake to think that the knowledge gleaned from traditional strategy advice "doesn't apply" to a home game. You have to fill in the details a bit more proactively and be willing to modify your strategy, but if you don't know the underlying concepts you'll be incapacable of effectively using the deeper facts available to you.

This is 100% accurate. My personal opinion, based off of my home games, if you get used to the competition, so it's easier to relax and do not have to rely on the tools as much as you would in a casino. That being said, I'm definitely not a professional, so take any advice I give with that understanding. I'm still learning.

 

[Mental Nomad]

I can safely say poker books and ABC strategy don't apply at our home game.

I disagree for all the good reason so saliently noted above.

In addition, the rake makes a big difference, even beyond that fact that it's not sucking money out of the table... the "break-even" pre-flop holding at a home game is lower than the "break-even" pre-flop holding at a raked game, even if you were seated with your same buddies at the casino.

But just slightly lower.

Like everything else in poker, people tend to take a valid idea and apply it much too strongly! (Like the one player at my Thursday night game who, if he's not the first caller, will say, "pot odds!" while tossing in his chips, even when he has no idea what's in the pot.)

Also, I find home gamers more likely to gamble, based on the idea that they'll see these players again and can "win it back" some other time... and on the idea that if they do lose, at least it's "all in the family." It seems to make things looser. I see fewer outright bullies at home - you know, the kinda person in the casino who buys in big and thinks poker is about pushing everyone off the pots. (I love that kind of asshole at the casino, but I just don't see them at home games.)

If you're a good player who udnerstands the ABCs, as written in "the books," this can all work to your advantage... as long as you don't make the same mistakes the other home gamers do!

 

[Mark Sieczka]

I've been playing in either a casino or cardroom and hosting a regular 1/2 game for 16 years. I can safely say poker books and ABC strategy don't apply at our home game. Has anybody else experienced this? It's likely due to playing with the same basic cast of characters, famaliarties etc at the home game.

I don't have any specific recent examples but has anybody else experienced this?

I feel poker books and strategies at the card room/casino differ from home games with friends. Remember, you're playing the person, not always the cards. In my case, my home games have a "river rat" and he uses that to his advantage all the time. It's demoralizing losing to him, but he leverages it to his benefit. Therefore, the strategy has to integrate that "new fact" into the game. Makes it much more fun imo.

 

[onerand]

Just as @DrStrange and @Jimulacrum allude to above, it is a massive mistake to think that the knowledge gleaned from traditional strategy advice "doesn't apply" to a home game. You have to fill in the details a bit more proactively and be willing to modify your strategy, but if you don't know the underlying concepts you'll be incapacable of effectively using the deeper facts available to you.

Whoa, this is deep knowledge.

 

[Mr Shifty]

i noticed that at casino (at least from my experience), everyone plays much tighter. home games on the other hand is more relaxed

 

[upNdown]

At the risk of sounding like a twat, I think one mark of a good card player is the ability to adapt his style and strategy to his table.