View Full Version : When they ALL stay
First time in a friendly local home game. I've been introduced by a friend from my other super low stakes, silly game. Six players (including me) on this night -- I'm told there are usually seven or eight. Stakes are $1-$2 (bet either any time), $1 total ante for the table, posted by the dealer. It's dealer's choice and Omaha/8, stud hi-lo/8 and draw-roll-em hi/lo are the favorites. Here's how it plays: first to bet typically throws in a buck and all call. From there on, it's generally a max $2 bet and at least one raise. Sometimes everybody stays all the way to the river, more often one or two fold on fifth or sixth. Obviously the way to play would be pretty tight, but you'd never be invited back if you just folded your junk. After getting stuck for a buck and a half (before dragging the low end of a big one on the last of the night to cut my loss to $44), I've decided to play as follows if invited back: Raise early with good hands, call third street with almost anything, fold on fourth and fifth with anything less than the probable best hand, although if it's only $1 or $2 to stay on 4th street, I'll probably hang in with crap just for image. Does anyone have any other advice?
Hello,MRB,
Unless you are playing to socialize and have some pizzas with your buddies,I don't believe you should be playing this limit.
Sitting Bull
Well, 1/2 the motivation for playing is definitely to socialize. I'm an advertising writer and creative director with no aspirations to be a pro player. I am a serious recreational player, go to the casino about 2x a month, play in a weekly tiny game and am now adding this other small game. I'd eventually like to be comfortable sitting $10-20 in stud, Hold 'em and Omaha. But that's a very long term goal!
MRB - It's very difficult to play poker well for money if your primary goal is not to make money. Sitting Bull's suggestion, to play for less, is reasonable, except that you can't control the stakes of the game. And your opponents, despite playing too many hands and staying too long with poor chances, are interested in taking your money.
Since you recognize you are better than the other players in the game, you whould be able to control how well you do, how much you win or lose.
A way to control your losses in a casino game is to play fewer hands.
You can do this in a friendly home game too, but then you may not give enough action to satisfy your opponents. We all like opponents who give us action.
You're not usually interested in controlling how much you win in a casino game.
However, the same may not be true in a friendly home game.
A way to win more in any game is to play more aggressively when you have an edge.
In the friendly home game you have described, where your motivation is at least as much social as it is to win money, and where you neither want to take too much out of the game, nor want to play too tightly for fear of not getting invited back, a way to control how well you do is to strike a balance between how many hands you play and how aggressively you play them.
You want to fit in this friendly game, to be able to socialize. You don't want to get killed yourself, but neither do you want to play the tighter style you play in a casino. If so, I think you hit upon a reasonable solution in your first post in this thread.
Playing a few more hands than you should might take care of winning too much. If not, staying a little longer than you should surely will.
Playing more aggressively when you have an edge should increase your profit on hands you win.
I'm in a similar situation in a friendly weekly game I've been in for years. I have improved (and continue to improve), but my friends have not. I don't want to kill my friends, but I don't want to lose either. My solution has been to strike the sort of balance your first post suggested.
It works for me. Good luck to you.
Buzz
Hello,MRB,
You are already 10-20 material in stud--Unless you don't have a comfortable bankroll of 12000 to play on a regular basis or unless you are afraid to play or would become too emotional upset by the higher money "swings" of the game, there is absolutely NO reason for you NOT to play 10-20,NOW. I think you would be the "BOSS" most of the time at that limit.
Since you play in casinos about 2 times a month,be carefull not to go on the "vacation mentality".
Sitting Bull
Happy Pokering!
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