Poker Nazi = Fun Poker

[Khabbi]

Someting occurred to me while I was reading some posts in this forum today. Here are my thoughts about peoples' misconceptions about "poker nazis".

It's funny how a lot of people are afraid to properly enforce the rules of poker because they are playing in a "fun game" and don't want to be a "poker nazi".

We see so many stories about other games where the rules are ignored because it's a "fun game". Then something stupid happens (maybe not every time, but eventually) and the atmosphere at the game takes a nose dive.

Why can't people see that the rules of poker are there to make if fun?

I bet most (if not all) the home game hosts on here have been called a "poker nazi" at some point. Probably early on when the game started and our players were adjusting to the "rules of poker". Then after some good rulings made by the host, the other players all started to respect the game even more.

I would also bet that their players probably respect the game and have more fun than players at games where the host doesn't know the rules or let some things "slide". In these situations someone is going to feel cheated because there is no respect for the decision.

I know I used to get called a poker nazi until time after time I've displayed the knowledge to be able to handle the "hard rulings" fairly. Now all the players at my game respect the rules and we probably have a better time consistently because people are doing stupid things anymore.

This occurred to me because at our last game I had to make two rulings on stupid behavior. We had two new players at our game last time and each of them did something that my regular players just don't do that resulted in their hands being declared dead. It wasn't fun to have to declare their hands dead, but I explained the rules to them and they accepted the ruling.

If you've read this far, thanks for reading.

[Slow Play Ray]

while i understand your point, in my personal experience, some people take it way too far for a friendly game. i've had to take people off my invite list for this annoying behavior. hopefully you're not that bad [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Grasshopp3r]

No, in my opinion, if you don't run a consistent game with established rules, you will have chaos and angle shooting. The rules have been developed over a long period for good reasons.

[obiedman]

hi i'm going to the wawa, would you like anythign?

[Lottery Larry]

That really depends how it's being used and what the goal is.

Generally, structure is good. However, rules for the sake of rules are NOT good.

[ApeAttack]

You should wear an arm band that looks like the Nazi arm band except it has a playing card on it instead of a swatztika... speak in a German accent too.

[Baby Mantis]

I think Op is right on, and if enforced correctly but not with the hand of God then it makes the game run smoothly and people will respect you.

[deucethree]

There's a drunk guy in one of the home games I play. "Drunk Adam". Guy is a joke. Will flop two pair and bet like 1/10 of the pot then be obnoxious to the guy who hits his nut flush and stacks him. He's just laughably bad. For the most part it's "don't tap the aquarium" with this guy, but he's also just a horrible cheat. String bets. Trying to weasel out of verbal action. He can't even shuffle cards. Has the annoying habit of shuffling with the cards upside down. Yes, upside down, with the faces showing. Takes offense when told not to do that and gives the explanation "they get cut anyway". Lol. I do think that type of guy makes the game much less fun than the supposed "poker nazis" who usually are just trying to keep the game fair for everyone.

[TexRef]

Agree with OP that we need rules enforced when decent money is at stake... If you're playing a $5-10 buy-in nickle/dime game with buddies, no one is really going to care too much probably ... but once people have $200-500 sitting on the table they are going to get pi$$ed when something goes awry. Thus, we need the regularly accepted rules of poker enforced. Most times, I've found that the newbies just need the rule explained to them -- i.e. Why you need to STFU when other players are in a hand, one player to a hand, etc, etc.

[deucethree]

The one to a hand rule is big. "Drunk Adam" is good for that one too. All in pots with 4 to a flush on the board and he'll let everybody know he folded the ace. It's like are you that brain dead to where you don't understand how much that effects the game and what a douchebag doing so makes you? That stuff is worse than the worst rule nazi.