Re: Do you keep losers happy?
It's really in your best interests to keep the losers happy, especially if they are friends.
We have an occasional home game - usually there's two, maybe three good players, and the rest donate. This is a .25/.50 NL game, and typically there's 600-800 on the table by the end of the night. Not huge stakes, but it's high enough that it matters for most of the guys.
Most of these guys are friends, people I work with, or people brought by one of the above. Most of them are going home broke, and most of them know it. Some of the biggest donators come back time after time, because we treat them right.
We don't ever berate bad play. We DO needle, but only the players that we know can take it and dish it out the same.
If I'm hosting, I make sure that there's enough food and drinks. I see a couple bottles of booze as an investment, and a lot of our players don't mind losing a couple buyins if they have a good time. Just like in Vegas - so I make sure there's booze for the donators (and a couch for them to sleep it off on). Create a fun atmosphere that your players want to play in (OMFG, I sound like Martha Stewart, LOL).
I would also watch the cutthroat plays. Heads up, some players take a checkraise personally. Same with bluffs - don't make a point of showing them.
WIth all this being said, there are lots of players who take losing very badly and won't be back no matter what you do if you keep busting them. Not much you can do except find donators who are good losers.
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