List all things that make a home poker game good , or better

[OnlinePro]

1. Nice poker table.
2. Comfortable chairs.
3. Air conditioned room.
4. Quality chips.
5. Profesional atmosphere ( no fooling around )
6. Food and drinks on demand.
7. Fishy, action players.
8. Good deck of cards.
9. Tv in same room ( watch games )
10. New players every week.



Am I missing anything here ? I basically want my home game to be the most enjoyable home game anyone every goes to. What else would I need besides those things listed above ?

Is it legal to have a bad beat jackpot if everyone agrees to it and we take money out of pot and save it and accumulate every week ?

[Javanewt]

In addition to your list:

1. List the house rules
2. No jackasses (unless they are ATMs)
3. No smoking

I think a bbj is legal -- as long as the house doesn't take a rake, you should be OK.

[ShipitFMA]

I think this really depends on what you're looking to get out of the game, i think some of the things in your list are kind of unrealistic for a home game, but yours may be very different to mine...

I generally play with my mates as a kind of break from online, casino so i guess i'd be looking for things like:

Drinks, TV, no [censored] (even if they are complete donaters) and i guess just a moderate level of seriousness

I think you're looking at it from a different perspective however, and whats been listen above sounds pretty good as a whole...
All i can think of is MAKE SURE your chips are not easy to duplicate and only one person EVER touches the bank...im sure you'd already have thought of this but im just making sure [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] good luck

[Slow Play Ray]

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5. Profesional atmosphere ( no fooling around )

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this hurts a home game, in my opinion. i play home games to goof around with my friends. if i want a serious atmosphere, i can drive to a card room.

[Mazzinger]

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5. Profesional atmosphere ( no fooling around )

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this hurts a home game, in my opinion. i play home games to goof around with my friends. if i want a serious atmosphere, i can drive to a card room.

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I agree. I see the home games I played at as "quite, no stress, no work night out" or simply just to goof around. Seriousness and focus are good things, but it's also good to be relaxed and have a good time. Too uptight is not good for a home game.

[PantsOnFire]

5. Profesional atmosphere ( no fooling around )

I agree somewhat with some previous posters. If you want fish to continue to visit your game, you want a happy go lucky atmosphere.

However, you can still run the game in a professional manner. You can have rules posted and such. But I would not apply the letter of the law to every situation. Things you are going to encounter with fish are:

1. String raises. Really, this is not a serious violation.

2. Acting out of turn. Let the fish take back his action.

3. Showing your buddy your hand. You might want to let this go if it is not really getting out of hand.

4. Talking about the hand during the hand. I think maybe a mild warning that if you are not in a hand, don't talk about it.

5. Exposing cards at showdown. Personally, I like the rule where everyone exposes their hand if they are at showdown, no asking what you got and mucking face down if you're bluffing. Fish like to see all the cards and really do you think they are going to exploit this knowledge?

So I don't really mind a professionally run game but if the rules are uptight and strict, I think it is -EV regarding the fish.

[pfapfap]

I have one house rule: Don't Be An A-Hole. This pretty much takes care of everything else.

Here's what makes a home game good:

1. People

You need the right people. I got lucky that I knew enough people in a copule of other games I played in, then put out some online feelers and found some folks that have the proper attitude. From there it was just a matter of encouraging the good folks to invite more folks.

I think I have a pretty darn good game going, and I feel blessed to have it, but I can't think of a straight up list that makes it what it is. It's a combination of everything. Be a good host. Introduce new people all around, keep an eye out for their comfort all night. Be gentle when explaining a rule violation to someone (especially a new person). Be consistent and fair with rulings. Keep your space clean. Have good music (I've found TV to be too distracting). Go around and clean up empty bottles and trash from time to time. Be a nice person. Diffuse problems before they start. Thank people for coming.

For my games I've strived for that balance between professional and casual, and I feel I've hit it fairly well. It's no one thing, it's everything combined. You can't be too loose with keeping the game moving, but you don't want to be too nitty either. You want a nice quality environment, but you don't want to be too stuffy.

But really, what makes it is the people. You have a good group of people in your game and everything else becomes easier. And to that end, it's a matter of scoping out your own games and keeping an eye and ear out for people who would be appropriate. Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd, so once you get a good solid base, encourage the people you like to invite people they like. I worked hard to get my game going, and I work hard to keep it going.

[Bluegrass Poker]

I agree with 1,2,3,4,8 and 9. Not so much with the others. They aren't bad ideas at all; they just don't suit my homegame. My home games are usually a chance for me and my buddies to play some cards, shoot the [censored] and hang out. I'm not providing food and drinks for all of them, esp on demand. I usually provide a case of beer, soft drinks and chips but we mostly observe byob just to make sure you have something.

I'd like for them all to be fishy action players instead most of them are all good action players.

We follow the rules but it definitely isn't a professional atmosphere; we would be thrown out of most card rooms for the language, the rabbit hunting, etc.

As long as folks have a good time that makes a good home game to me. We have a couple donators in the game that allow the rest of us to make some money.

[chillrob]

I think having a TV in the room makes the game much worse. You can't hear what is going on at the table as well, and it slows action way down if someone is paying attention to the TV instead of the action.

[D-FENS]

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the rabbit hunting

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QFT. Rabbit hunting is essential for a quality home game.