Cash Game I've hosted 100+ live games with friends. Here are our house rules. Thoughts? (2 Viewers)

[edwardstarcraft]

Feel free to adopt under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Logistics

Buying In
You may buy in up to the table max for any hand before cards are dealt. Where the table max is a “match stack” game, the organizer will approximate the buy cap to the best of their ability.

The organizer keeps track of buy-ins using Regroup Poker Tools (iOS, Android). You will get a notification after every buy confirming your buy amount. If you do not get a notification, or it is incorrect, it is your responsibility to notify the host immediately.

When you cash out, you will get a notification with your net win / loss.

Trust
This is a game between friends, so we trust everyone to pay each other after the game ends. If you are new to the game, we may ask you to directly settle with the organizer or another player on the day of the game. In other cases, we may ask the person who invited you to vouch for you.

If you are a player who has concerns about another player, please bring it up privately with the organizer.

Payments
The organizer will send a message telling the winners who to request. The players may decide how to settle, but by default we use Venmo. The person who won money should send a Venmo request to ensure that no typos or other mistakes were made. Please do not include anything gambling-related as the message, as sometimes Venmo will get trigger-happy with banning gambling related payments.

We expect payments to be made within 3 days. If someone is unable to pay within 3 days, we expect you to privately notify the organizer. This is so that the group can (1) enforce payment if necessary and (2) prevent the person from attending future games, and (3) decide how to take the loss if stolen from. If you decide to pay each other later because you are friends or for any other reason, you implicitly take personal ownership of the debt and can no longer hold the group responsible for enforcing payment.

If you do not have Venmo or have run above Venmo limits, popular methods of payment are Square Cash, Messenger Pay, PayPal, Zelle, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. You may also bring cash to a game and pay the organizer directly.

Errors or Theft
While the organizer will do their best to ensure that there are no errors, there is always a possibility for error or theft.

If there are more chips on the table than buy-ins recorded, we will split the losses evenly between all players, winner and loser alike. If there are multiple tables, we will try to isolate the table that the loss occurred on, otherwise distribute the loss according to average table buy in size.

To minimize error, the organizer sees the expected bank chip count in the poker tools app. Before and after each buy-in or cash-out, the organizer will verify that the bank chip count matches the expected chip count, which should ensure that no buy-in goes unreported.

The Game
We generally follow Robert’s Rules of Poker when playing the game. The floor person is the organizer. However we do deviate!

Dealing & Shuffling
To speed up the game, we usually designate a volunteer player or two in the middle to deal the game. Everyone else should participate in shuffling, but there is no particular order in who should be shuffling.

To ensure a fair game, the dealer should always:

• Cut the cards when receiving them
• Use the cut card to protect the bottom of the deck
• Burn a card only when action is complete on a street
• Keep the stub above the table at all times

Anyone shuffling is encouraged to learn the tabled riffle. If you have any objections to the dealer or shuffler’s technique, please speak up.

Straddle
Straddle is in UTG positions only. Minimum straddle where the big blind is $2 or $3 is to $5, and max straddle is half your stack. Multiple straddles are allowed, and are live.

A player may announce that they are “permanently straddled”. This means that they will always straddle UTG, and shall be enforced by other members of the table.

When a straddle is announced, and someone attempts to raise to an amount that is valid for a non-straddled pot, we assume good faith and allow the player to change their raise sizing. For instance, in a $1/2/5 hand, if a player attempts to raise to $6, we assume that they meant to raise to 3x bb and allow them to raise up to $15.

Run It Multiple Times
We run a maximum of two times.

Any heads-up pot over $100 may be run multiple times by the agreement of both players.

Any multiway pot over $2,000 may be run multiple times. If a player objects but is not in a side pot, the side pot may be run multiple times.

Bomb Pots
We play a double board bomb pot when we see a monotone (three of the same suit) flop. Players must ante for bomb pots. If they do not wish to play the bomb pot, they may fold their hand on the flop. Players may agree to play more bomb pots, but any other bomb pots are optional.

Bomb pots are played Pot Limit, even for NLH.

To play a double board bomb pot, everyone antes 5 big blinds (3 bb for PLO) and play proceeds directly to the flop. At showdown, the pot is split between the best hand on the first and second boards. We do not run double board bomb pots multiple times, as there are already two boards.

Posting
You do not have to post to join the game. You also do not have to post when away from the table for a moderate amount of time, or are doing something for the benefit of the game (like grabbing food, etc).

If, however, you are away for a short duration and miss the blinds, you must post the blinds missed. A small blind posted is live.

When a player busts or sits out, we use a “dead button” for button advancement.

Ratholing
Ratholing (taking money off the table) is not allowed.

Chopping
Chopping is not allowed. Chopping makes sense in raked games (especially in California) where there is a flat drop, but there is no rake at these games so there is no reason to chop. Play the blinds!

Multi-Tabling
Playing in an app game while at a live game is not allowed. This slows down and distracts players from the game.

Thanks for reading!
Feel free to comment with any feedback! I'm working to put together a guide with everything I've learned for running a great game. If you're starting to host your own games, let me know if you have any questions! Would love to help out and add it to my guide.

 

[Eriks]

I agree with most of that. Couple of things I do differently:

- Dunno if there is tax reasons to not to it where you live, but I take in all buy-ins through a Venmo-like app in real time in exchange for chips and send back at cashout. Seems like the most hassle free way.

- As host I handle buy-in/rebuy chips and am also responsible for any potential discrepancy.

 

[edwardstarcraft]

I agree with most of that. Couple of things I do differently:

- Dunno if there is tax reasons to not to it where you live, but I take in all buy-ins through a Venmo-like app in real time in exchange for chips and send back at cashout. Seems like the most hassle free way.

- As host I handle buy-in/rebuy chips and am also responsible for any potential discrepancy.

Thanks!

Venmo used to have a $3k weekly send limit when we started playing this game, so it was impossible for a host to collect / return $$ for a typical $1/2 game, especially if you hosted more than once a weekly. Now the limit is higher so it's easier, but it's still hard to reconcile $$ received via Venmo, cash, and other payment methods with chips on the table. That's why we use the app to keep track of chip & bank count to ensure the count is correct, and settle afterwards.

While I don't really make errors with the bank (also have a camera to catch mistakes), it has happened before and without a rule like this players are basically free rolling the organizer (they'll catch mistakes if they're shorted but not the opposite way). The organizer is already putting in a lot of work, so making this rule upfront makes it so that everyone will try to catch mistakes, and communicates the expectation upfront. IMO mistakes happen, and if it's every once in a while, if you don't know who specifically benefited, technically all players benefit from the mistake. If someone hosting frequently makes mistakes, people shouldn't attend the game.

 

[Terrys394]

Great rules except the "I'll pay you within 3 days" rule. I hope you guys are really close because this sort of set up almost always ends up with someone welshing. It's not like they intend to but it eventually happens. One thing I've learned over the years is loaning money to other people to gamble is a bad policy.

 

[upNdown]

I’m an old grump and who prefers cash. Still, I can see buying in and cashing out with Venmo if that’s the custom of the group. But leaving a game with nothing, waiting for instructions, then having to chase down somebody else for the money? I would hate that.

And if I lost money that night and you told me I actually lost even more than I bought in for because somebody screwed up the accounting? No I wouldn’t like that either.

I appreciate your post because it’s always good to learn how other people are doing things.

 

[detroitdad]

I’m an old grump and who prefers cash. Still, I can see buying in and cashing out with Venmo if that’s the custom of the group. But leaving a game with nothing, waiting for instructions, then having to chase down somebody else for the money? I would hate that.

And if I lost money that night and you told me I actually lost even more than I bought in for because somebody screwed up the accounting? No I wouldn’t like that either.

I appreciate your post because it’s always good to learn how other people are doing things.

I am 100% in agreement with you. I probably wouldn't play in this game because of this

 

[edwardstarcraft]

Great rules except the "I'll pay you within 3 days" rule. I hope you guys are really close because this sort of set up almost always ends up with someone welshing. It's not like they intend to but it eventually happens. One thing I've learned over the years is loaning money to other people to gamble is a bad policy.

Yep, it's a game with friends. If someone walked into your game and robbed the cash in the bank -- do you have procedures on what to do? How would you split the losses? In this case we'd treat it the same way as if the game was robbed, except that we know the robber.

If it's a new player we usually would settle up before they leave, and the app recalculates the suggested payments.

I’m an old grump and who prefers cash. Still, I can see buying in and cashing out with Venmo if that’s the custom of the group. But leaving a game with nothing, waiting for instructions, then having to chase down somebody else for the money? I would hate that.

And if I lost money that night and you told me I actually lost even more than I bought in for because somebody screwed up the accounting? No I wouldn’t like that either.

I appreciate your post because it’s always good to learn how other people are doing things.

Thanks! I personally have a camera so that I can review footage if my bank is off, so it doesn't actually happen but I write the rules to clarify what happens in extreme cases.

 

[lane_robert_s]

a typical $1/2 game

I was wondering what the stakes were.

What is the original max buy in?

How many tables and players do you usually have?

 

[edwardstarcraft]

I was wondering what the stakes were.

What is the original max buy in?

How many tables and players do you usually have?

I'm mostly hosting $2/3 ($100-500/match) now, but I think at the time we were doing $1/2 50-300max/match stack.

Let's say you have 8 players who buy in:
- 2 short stackers who buy in $50 thrice = $300
- 3 regular stackers who buy in $200 twice = $1200
- 2 guys who aggressively match stack for a total of maybe $800 = $1600
- 1 guy who punts 5 buy ins of $200 = $1000

That's $4,100 on the table. Without short stackers or with more action / agro players and it can definitely be a lot larger.

 

[DoubleEagle]

Payment rules leave the door open for major problems. No way would I play in this game.

 

[lane_robert_s]

I like all cash too but our games are closer to $1000 on the table. Much smaller. Idk what it's like to have 5 grand in the house and what risk there is to people leaving at the end of the night in your neighborhood.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Beyond my usual copyediting nitpickery, a few things in your rules piqued my interest.

Payments
[e-wallet process details]. You may also bring cash to a game and pay the organizer directly.

I see you make an accommodation for cash, but I'm assuming that players must accept e-wallet payments if there's not enough cash to cover. Not a fan of this for a live game. I guess if it works for you, it works for you, but this would dissuade me from playing in your game.

Errors or Theft
While the organizer will do their best to ensure that there are no errors, there is always a possibility for error or theft.

If there are more chips on the table than buy-ins recorded, we will split the losses evenly between all players, winner and loser alike. If there are multiple tables, we will try to isolate the table that the loss occurred on, otherwise distribute the loss according to average table buy in size.

To minimize error, the organizer sees the expected bank chip count in the poker tools app. Before and after each buy-in or cash-out, the organizer will verify that the bank chip count matches the expected chip count, which should ensure that no buy-in goes unreported.

I think I found this part the most interesting.

I've always banked live games on a cash-only model with strict access control, i.e., only one banker and no one else touches a thing. As such, any errors belong to the banker and the banker alone.

This makes sense to me, but it does also feel a little unfair, especially as someone who does the banking with some frequency. I'm volunteering to do a lot of work, and usually it's either break-even or at a loss. (It's exceedingly rare for the bank to be over.)

In that vein, I like this rule. It shields the banker—who is working for free for the whole duration of the game—from liability.

On the other hand, I would hope this rule is only ever invoked once in a blue moon for a tiny sum. It would be weird if results are being adjusted up or down with any regularity.

I've never been one to count up the remaining bank between buy-ins, but if you find it manageable, it's a pretty solid mini-audit that should minimize error and theft potential.

Straddle
Straddle is in UTG positions only. Minimum straddle where the big blind is $2 or $3 is to $5, and max straddle is half your stack. Multiple straddles are allowed, and are live.

A player may announce that they are “permanently straddled”. This means that they will always straddle UTG, and shall be enforced by other members of the table.

When a straddle is announced, and someone attempts to raise to an amount that is valid for a non-straddled pot, we assume good faith and allow the player to change their raise sizing. For instance, in a $1/2/5 hand, if a player attempts to raise to $6, we assume that they meant to raise to 3x bb and allow them to raise up to $15.

I'm guessing you have a lot of wild players who like to bet blind. Good for you!

I like this rule about mistaken raises in a straddled pot. The standard rule, as I'm sure you know, is to hold the player to a min raise, but that has always left a bad taste in my mouth. We should honor the player's intention whenever it's plausible and doesn't expose the game to angle-shooting, and this seems to handle that well.

Bomb Pots
We play a double board bomb pot when we see a monotone (three of the same suit) flop.

Does this mean that a DBBP is triggered mid-hand, at the moment the flop comes out?

My understanding of a bomb pot is different than this, but it seems fair to everyone and potentially fun.

Multi-Tabling
Playing in an app game while at a live game is not allowed. This slows down and distracts players from the game.

Good rule.

I know this would be a tough sell in 2022, but I feel like it would be an even better rule to ban phones from the table entirely while in a hand.

On the low-frequency end, it prevents tech-enhanced cheating or collusion.

On the high-frequency end, it keeps the damn game moving. I've played with a fair number of phone addicts, as have most of us, and having to constantly cater to their inattention is maddening. It's so rude and disruptive.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Payment rules leave the door open for major problems. No way would I play in this game.

What do you take issue with, specifically?

 

[trever]

Everyone plays on credit and then the winners have to chase down the losers in order to get paid? That works amongst reliable friends (until it doesn't), but really limits your ability to grow the game.

Eventually you'll get a new player who plays along but bails forever after a big losing night.

 

[edwardstarcraft]

I see you make an accommodation for cash, but I'm assuming that players must accept e-wallet payments if there's not enough cash to cover. Not a fan of this for a live game. I guess if it works for you, it works for you, but this would dissuade me from playing in your game.

Yeah, depends on the demographics of the players but works for us. If someone wanted to be paid out in cash I'm sure we could accommodate it, but ironically it's more common that someone with excess cash (from a good session @ casino, returning from Vegas, etc) will want to pay losses in cash and we'll use the app to adjust/recalculate payments.

I think I found this part the most interesting.

I've always banked live games on a cash-only model with strict access control, i.e., only one banker and no one else touches a thing. As such, any errors belong to the banker and the banker alone.

This makes sense to me, but it does also feel a little unfair, especially as someone who does the banking with some frequency. I'm volunteering to do a lot of work, and usually it's either break-even or at a loss. (It's exceedingly rare for the bank to be over.)

In that vein, I like this rule. It shields the banker—who is working for free for the whole duration of the game—from liability.

On the other hand, I would hope this rule is only ever invoked once in a blue moon for a tiny sum. It would be weird if results are being adjusted up or down with any regularity.

I've never been one to count up the remaining bank between buy-ins, but if you find it manageable, it's a pretty solid mini-audit that should minimize error and theft potential.

I keep my chips nicely racked, and the app tells us how much we should have in the bank, so it's easy to verify. But if I make a mistake and we can't resolve it immediately, I personally have a camera so I can review chips put in play after the game. These two controls help keep errors to a minimum.

For casual/tiny stakes games I've been to, I always caution hosts against using the blue denomination dice chips. They look almost identical to the white chips from the sides so it's really easy to sell / cash a dirty stack!

Does this mean that a DBBP is triggered mid-hand, at the moment the flop comes out?

My understanding of a bomb pot is different than this, but it seems fair to everyone and potentially fun.

It's triggered for the next hand!

Good rule.

I know this would be a tough sell in 2022, but I feel like it would be an even better rule to ban phones from the table entirely while in a hand.

On the low-frequency end, it prevents tech-enhanced cheating or collusion.

On the high-frequency end, it keeps the damn game moving. I've played with a fair number of phone addicts, as have most of us, and having to constantly cater to their inattention is maddening. It's so rude and disruptive.

Yes, and especially if an action player is in the app game -- suddenly everyone on the table wants to join and then we have two simultaneous games with the same people

 

[Jimulacrum]

Everyone plays on credit and then the winners have to chase down the losers in order to get paid? That works amongst reliable friends (until it doesn't), but really limits your ability to grow the game.

Eventually you'll get a new player who plays along but bails forever after a big losing night.

That's a fair point, yeah. This is one of my main objections to running anything on credit.

My club does use a ledger system, but only out of necessity, and I know the player pool to be good for it.

TBH sometimes I'd rather have a pay-in, pay-out system for my club. It would take a lot of the work out of managing settle-ups, and it would enable me to run a game with a broader group of people (and potentially rake), should I want to do that someday. But as things now stand, it would expose me and the players' funds in way that I'm just not comfortable with.

 

[Marc Hedrick]

There are few things I don't like. You asked for opinions, and these are just mine. If what you have works for you over that many games, I wouldn't change it -- But for ME....

1-- Agree with the sentiments on the Venmo/E-transfer. Unless you guys are playing for tens of thousands of dollars, I would much rather buy in and cash out with cash.

2-- You as the host should be responsible for all shortages, theft, errors, etc. If someone doesn't pay, that's on you. If you fail to collect a buy in and the bank doesn't add up, that's on you. You've said that it's a game among friends...but you have a section in your rules for stealing that says if someone steals it's all split evenly. Just having those words there means you know there is a chance of it happening.

3-- Straddling. Why can you straddle up to half your stack? If you're going to allow straddles above the standard 2x, no point in capping it especially if the cap is that high. They could always just announce all in blind pre-flop and they've essentially straddled their whole stack.

4 -- Running it multiple times. Why cap it at two? Even if they ran it out the maximum times the deck would allow, it would take maybe a minute. Or it should, anyways. A lot of people prefer three times so there is a 'winner'

5 -- Bomb pots. Maybe I'm misunderstanding here, but the wording is confusing to me. It seems that you put out a second board immediately after the first board of a flop containing three of the same suit. I'm assuming this is wrong. Also, it says that if a player doesn't want to play a bomb pot they can fold their hand on the flop. Again just assuming this is worded weirdly, but they shouldn't be dealt a hand if they aren't involved in the hand.

6 -- Chopping. Good luck enforcing that. You're right that there is no reason to chop. There's also no reason to not. Let the players do what they want.

I think most of my criticisms come down to those last words. It's a cash game, let the players handle it.

 

[edwardstarcraft]

3-- Straddling. Why can you straddle up to half your stack? If you're going to allow straddles above the standard 2x, no point in capping it especially if the cap is that high. They could always just announce all in blind pre-flop and they've essentially straddled their whole stack.

This a rule that is common in Reno/Sacramento area casinos. Half stack, because if it's more then it's considered a blind raise and not live. Let's say someone's stack is $60 and they want to straddle to $40. When it gets back to them, going Allin is a raise to $60. But if another player wants to raise the straddle, a minraise to $80. So the straddle is forcing them to risk more to other players if they want to minraise and isolate, while the straddler has the option to jam if there's a limp, which is unfair.

4 -- Running it multiple times. Why cap it at two? Even if they ran it out the maximum times the deck would allow, it would take maybe a minute. Or it should, anyways. A lot of people prefer three times so there is a 'winner'

Just to keep the game running faster, since counting stacks to do a 1/3 chop is annoying.

5 -- Bomb pots. Maybe I'm misunderstanding here, but the wording is confusing to me. It seems that you put out a second board immediately after the first board of a flop containing three of the same suit. I'm assuming this is wrong. Also, it says that if a player doesn't want to play a bomb pot they can fold their hand on the flop. Again just assuming this is worded weirdly, but they shouldn't be dealt a hand if they aren't involved in the hand.

Bomb pot on the next hand. If they don't want to play the bomb pot, they're still required to ante. (Player-initiated bomb pots can be sat out, but flop-triggered bomb pots can't).

The idea is like the 7-2 game -- one person can't sit out of the 7-2 game saying "well I wouldn't try to win a pot with 7-2 so I don't want to pay if someone else wins a pot with 7-2". Same with bomb pots -- players like the big pots that are triggered on a monotone flop, so all players have to contribute to it.

6 -- Chopping. Good luck enforcing that. You're right that there is no reason to chop. There's also no reason to not. Let the players do what they want.

I guess that's possible, but it just sets the norm that "hey in general we discourage players from chopping the blinds" for players that are used to chopping ettiequte at casinos.

 

[glynn]

I’m an old grump and who prefers cash. Still, I can see buying in and cashing out with Venmo if that’s the custom of the group. But leaving a game with nothing, waiting for instructions, then having to chase down somebody else for the money? I would hate that.

And if I lost money that night and you told me I actually lost even more than I bought in for because somebody screwed up the accounting? No I wouldn’t like that either.

I am younger than you at least by heart, and these procedures are insane to me. Not just chasing down your money, but the shifting of responsibility of miscounts and theft from the banker to the players. I've never heard of such a thing outside of a few exclusive online games where the invitation is considered to be worth the risk and hassle.

We generally follow Robert’s Rules of Poker when playing the game. The floor person is the organizer. However we do deviate!

This is a small thing since house rules ultimately control, but card rooms are trending away from RRoP and toward the applicable TDA rules as a base for their cash games. The TDA duties have evolved beyond the 'TD' in their name. You might be surprised to find how familiar the TDA rules are to how you are used to playing (and how foreign RRoP rules are).

I always like pulling this one out:

You must declare that you are playing the board before you throw your cards away. Otherwise, you relinquish all claim to the pot.

 

[TheRealTeddyKGB]

If you've played 100+ games you've already gravitated to what works great for your group which is awesome!

Would it work for me & my game? No. CA$H in & CA$H out for me. I take full responsibility for the bank to be correct & to pay out all players before myself that night. Have yet to be off by even $1 without having cameras, spreadsheets or any other "paper" trail in 20 years & I'm not even a math major. (Watch for Dirty Stacks when cashing people out yo!) If players need extra cash they can venmo/PayPal/make payment plans or whatever to each other (or even me) as long as the $ on the table matches what's in the purse in real time.

7-2, straddling, Bomb Pots etc. have to be agreed on by all at the table otherwise NO DICE CHIPS. (pun intended)

Again sounds like you're fine with what you are doing. You probably should ask them for feedback on how you are running things if you are still concerned.

 

[edwardstarcraft]

This is a small thing since house rules ultimately control, but card rooms are trending away from RRoP and toward the applicable TDA rules as a base for their cash games. The TDA duties have evolved beyond the 'TD' in their name. You might be surprised to find how familiar the TDA rules are to how you are used to playing (and how foreign RRoP rules are).

I always like pulling this one out:

You must declare that you are playing the board before you throw your cards away. Otherwise, you relinquish all claim to the pot.

Good point -- I haven't really looked through TDA recently but I know we've referenced it when RROP is ambiguous.

But for the thing you quoted -- isn't that a standard rule at most casinos? If it gets to showdown, you still need to table your hand to play the board. If you muck the pot will be pushed to the player that tabled their hand.

 

[edwardstarcraft]

I haven't been replying to the cash-in / cash-out comments since I think I've responded appropriately above, but happy to reply if there's more substance to the comments.

To be clear, the venmo handles / etc are collected upfront so it's more of "hey, request from this venmo handle, and let me know within 3 days if there are any issues" than "hey, reach out to this person and figure out how to pay each other".

I honestly was a bit hesitant about this system when I first started playing poker and attending games at friends' places. But the majority of games I attended had players/host writing down their buy-ins on a whiteboard or notepad. When I started hosting I adopted this system for my own games and it's honestly worked very well.

Happy to share what we're doing so that others can see what works and doesn't.

 

[glynn]

But for the thing you quoted -- isn't that a standard rule at most casinos? If it gets to showdown, you still need to table your hand to play the board. If you muck the pot will be pushed to the player that tabled their hand.

If you table your cards, then your cards speak. You mustn't declare shit, nor would you be "throwing your hand away", which is a phrase used in numerous other spots by RRoP to describe mucking without tabling. That rule allows you to play the board without tabling your cards, so long as you declare that you are doing so.

The point is that RRoP sought to be a descriptivist document in the absence of anything like it at the time, but it hasn't evolved with the game. TDA is more like a living specification.

 

[bergs]

I don’t understand why people want to track people’s wins and losses. I get tracking buyins if you want, just without identifying who rebought, but tying a person publicly to a figure just seems like you’re limiting your game unnecessarily.

Examples: I’m a new player in the game and in for 3 buyins when nobody else has rebought. If it’s on some whiteboard somewhere I’m going to feel like a jackass for everyone to see. Probably not coming back.

Also: I’m a reg but I’m stuck 5 buyins. Shit, this happens all the time to me. I usually rebuy the max and forget what happened up to that point and try to get even. But if it’s on a board somewhere I can see constantly than I’m either playing horribly or running bad, I might just rack up and leave.

I generally try to do things the way the casino does with a couple really specific variations that accommodate a home game (don’t need to post, circus games, rebuy for 1/2 biggest stack, etc). But it’s cash only, table stakes, no going south, and it’s on me as banker and host of I’m off with the bank. And I don’t track what people buyin for the same way the casino doesn’t track your buyins.

The other thing that would tilt the fuck outta me and cause me to never return to your game would be if I were stuck a few buyins and your bank was off and you wanted money from me to make it up. That’s insane. Think about how it feels to be stuck early and leave down $600 and the host calls up the next day and says hey the bank I was managing was off I need another $50. Yeah, not paying and never coming back.

The banker manages the bank. Literally that’s what they do. It’s on them if it’s off

I’ve been off a couple times (drunk AF obv) and almost every time the big winner for the night offers to cover some of it - which I appreciate the hell out of - but I’m never asking or expecting them to.

Just seems like you’re potentially limiting the appeal of your game with some folks that could otherwise be really happy playing there and getting to know everyone.

 

[74suited]

I don’t understand why people want to track people’s wins and losses.

This.

The banker manages the bank. Literally that’s what they do. It’s on them if it’s off

And this.

I’ve been off a couple times (drunk AF obv) and almost every time the big winner for the night offers to cover some of it - which I appreciate the hell out of - but I’m never asking or expecting them to.

and, finally, this.

Bergs and I are cut from the same cloth.

 

[74suited]

Just to be clear, you're not, like, printing these rules off and handing them to your players, are you? They're awfully formal and rigid, I think you've just written them down for this forum and had a little fun getting technical, but no home game would have such a thing, right? At least, none that I've been part of in 20 years. Don't get me wrong we have rules, like max buy-ins, but wouldn't feel the need to explain every rule to a new guy, just the things that may be a little different house to house, and ultimately if we need a ruling the then host will make the ruling and everyone will oblige. For example, we shuffle behind, and we do a $10 double board bomb every time an As shows on the board. We do crazy pineapple when Kh shows, and $10 double-board crazy pineapple when both show. That's about all you need to know, we can assume you know the rest or we'll explain them as they come up in play - but for damn sure you owe what you buy in for today, and you settle your own debts!

 

[Jimulacrum]

I don’t understand why people want to track people’s wins and losses. I get tracking buyins if you want, just without identifying who rebought, but tying a person publicly to a figure just seems like you’re limiting your game unnecessarily.

Examples: I’m a new player in the game and in for 3 buyins when nobody else has rebought. If it’s on some whiteboard somewhere I’m going to feel like a jackass for everyone to see. Probably not coming back.

Also: I’m a reg but I’m stuck 5 buyins. Shit, this happens all the time to me. I usually rebuy the max and forget what happened up to that point and try to get even. But if it’s on a board somewhere I can see constantly than I’m either playing horribly or running bad, I might just rack up and leave.

I have this same reservation about the results emails I send out for my club, but there I treat it as a necessary evil.

Results bulletins are great for tournament leagues and stuff like that. Not so much for cash games IMO. Cash games are more like we get together, we play, everyone has a vague sense of how everyone else does, but no one can say for sure what people are winning/losing or at what rate. It's healthier for the game that way.

The other thing that would tilt the fuck outta me and cause me to never return to your game would be if I were stuck a few buyins and your bank was off and you wanted money from me to make it up. That’s insane. Think about how it feels to be stuck early and leave down $600 and the host calls up the next day and says hey the bank I was managing was off I need another $50. Yeah, not paying and never coming back.

The banker manages the bank. Literally that’s what they do. It’s on them if it’s off

I find myself mostly on your side but leaning toward the spirit of OP's rule.

As banker—not to mention host—you've spent all night working, effectively. It's never sat well with me that hosting regularly means you're inevitably eating some amount of loss from banking errors or even petty theft. Poker games can be chaotic and mistakes will happen, and it's kinda unfair for the guy who put in all that work to have to pay for the privilege (in an EV sense), even if only a small amount.

That said, you know my hedge for this: tip the host on the way out. Hosts put a shitload of time, money, and energy into their games, and if I win will generally kick back a convenient/proportionate amount to the host. I figure it balances out to adequate compensation in the end.

I don't hate OP's way of doing it, but I agree that it could lead to nasty surprises and be off-putting for some players. Also agree it might be better without the word "theft" in the verbiage. Even the mere appearance of impropriety is not good for a game.

 

[edwardstarcraft]

Just to be clear, you're not, like, printing these rules off and handing them to your players, are you? They're awfully formal and rigid, I think you've just written them down for this forum and had a little fun getting technical, but no home game would have such a thing, right? At least, none that I've been part of in 20 years. Don't get me wrong we have rules, like max buy-ins, but wouldn't feel the need to explain every rule to a new guy, just the things that may be a little different house to house, and ultimately if we need a ruling the then host will make the ruling and everyone will oblige. For example, we shuffle behind, and we do a $10 double board bomb every time an As shows on the board. We do crazy pineapple when Kh shows, and $10 double-board crazy pineapple when both show. That's about all you need to know, we can assume you know the rest or we'll explain them as they come up in play - but for damn sure you owe what you buy in for today, and you settle your own debts!

It's in a google doc linked in the event description for the invite I send out. Most people don't read it, but we update it every once in a while when things come up. Multiple people in my friend group host games so we just refer to this collectively.

I don't hate OP's way of doing it, but I agree that it could lead to nasty surprises and be off-putting for some players. Also agree it might be better without the word "theft" in the verbiage. Even the mere appearance of impropriety is not good for a game.

Ah, there used to be a few sentences in there about duplicate chips / robberies but it was removed so I guess that's why the heading is confusing. Those have never happened to me but I think it's worth addressing.

Let's say someone introduces a few extra $25 chips into your game. How would you deal with it? Would the host eat the loss or would it be chopped among players until you can figure out who the culprit is?

 

[74suited]

That said, you know my hedge for this: tip the host on the way out. Hosts put a shitload of time, money, and energy into their games, and if I win will generally kick back a convenient/proportionate amount to the host.

at least the winners should do this, it's the least they can do, especially if food/drink are provided.

 

[74suited]

Let's say someone introduces a few extra $25 chips into your game. How would you deal with it?

This is why I buy unique chips that aren't widely available from PCF! If you're hosting with Milano's, that's the risk you take!