Home game question

I host a good portion of the home games that I play in with my friends, which means I am always providing food and drink. We don't play for that much so the cost of food and drink in relation to the stakes is worth considering. I understand that this is not much, but when I host a good portion of the games this adds up and becomes somewhat of an annoyance. Whenever I ask for 50 cents for a pop, I usually get told that I am making money off of them (if I charge 25 cents, I still lose money). Pretty sick, huh?


Well anyways does anyone have any suggestions? Should I just provide regardless since I beat the game? Thanks in advance.


js in mn

At the home game i play ($1/$2 and $2/$4) the 2 hosts (alternate weeks) charge a $2 manatory 'donation'. This works well considering they bought nice chips, tables, etc, and that we make a hell of a mess of their bathrooms /images/smile.gif


Whoever hosts should at least be reimbursed for the food they supply and the overall hassle of hosting a game (setup, cleanup, etc). if these guys aren't willing to give 50cents then they must be severly interpersonally chanllenged.


aces!

I have been hosting a game for a couple of years. If poker for money is not legal or is only legal if no rake or charge to play where you live, be very careful about charging guest or requiring money to be taken off the table to compensate "house expenses."


Here is what I do: buy just enough refreshments where you think that all will be consumed that night and have a rack, tray, or plate next to the table. Remove a quarter chip from every pot until your expenses have been recouped. Have the receipt right there and stop when it has been covered. Be sure to tell everyone that you will be doing this a week in advance and if anyone complains, simply tell everyone to bring their own, as you will not be able to buy for all anymore. I got sick of spending $20 for food and drinks just to provide a place where people can play cards. There is no reason for you to have to pay for everyone; unless you are winning many more time your investment to get them to come over by providing refreshments (hey, works for the casinos).


If the players do not understand why this makes sense, make sure they are hosting their share so you can mooch off the free refreshments and mess up their homes. The above rule helps out a bunch, as the better player you are the fewer pots you win overall and will have the quarter removed. Good players don’t often win the most pots, so have them contribute to the food they will consume.

js,


didn't you recently post about this same game where players were complaining about side pots?


sounds to me like the guys you play with are a bunch of whiners, and are real sensitive about every little thing. be careful, this sounds like a precarious game. it could break at any second, and with guys like these, maybe friendships could be lost as well. (i don't know if they are your friends or not)


find another game, possibly in a casino/cardroom near you. that is unless these arae the only guys you can beat. then buy the pop, and consider it an investment in getting these guys money in the long run. at least until you can beat casino poker.

everyone is responsible for bringing one snack for all (you'll have a host of things to eat).


As far as beer, etc, we used to have everyone contribute a few dollars to the host to offset.. now we're just rotating the host and the host pays for beer.

Stop spending your money to buy them food and drink until you know you'll be reimbursed.

done and done.