Is this rude

[James Boston]

Many of my friends know I play poker, and I sometimes get invited to home games that I know nothing about going in. I try to find out as much as possible, but since most home games are just for fun I usually don't get solid answers regarding the stakes and what games will be played. The other night I was invited to a game and was told it was a NL tournament. When I got there, they weren't playing a tournament, but were playing what I like to call quasi-poker (stupid games with lots of wild cards that are loosely based on real poker). I hate these games, but I didn't want to be rude and refuse to play. Has anyone ever been invited to a home game and encountered anything like this?

[bisonbison]

How big were the stakes?

If it's small stakes, why not have a little fun, knowing that you're pretty much gambling?

[tpir90036]

i have definitely encountered this...but on a different level. i was invited to a home game where they claimed they were playing NL hold em'. however:

- they didn't understand how blinds worked...so they didn't use them
- they had some rule were you had to use one card from your hand becasue...
- they didn't understand spilt pots and went to a 6th or 7th card if necessary
- their betting structre was way off. they had a $0.50 ante for only a $20 buy-in. again, no blinds.
- the cards did not speak for themselves (i got yelled at about this one)
- they put a chip on top of their cards to show they were out. i found this one hilarious as it is the exact opposite of what you normally see at a casino. folding into the center of the table was too confusing for some reason.

anyway, they clearly had sort of seen poker on ESPN and had absolutely no idea what they were doing. i watched them play for a little while i bought my chips. they just dealt out cards and would all check pre-flop (since there were no blinds) and then start betting and stick around to see who had the best hand. it was more like bingo than poker. and with the ante so high people were busting out before i was done buying in.

i refused to waste $20 on their brand of "poker". they wanted me to play though and agreed to let me explain the actual rules. some of them stuck, some of them didn't. but i have no problem calling out my hand so i didn't really mind /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[SlipFits]

I encountered the same thing, show up for a night of hold'em, it turned into "Kings 'n' Little Ones", Baseball and follow the queen, then you had to win two hands to win a pot.

Thank god it was a small stake game, but I know your pain.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Those games are the best, the crazier the better. Hell I have made up games that virtually no one in their right mind would play, but people at the homes games love it. Anyone who has read theory of poker should destroy those games if they put their minds to it. That said, it is kinda rude to show then not play.

al

[Webster]

Yea- those suck. They play games that are so mind boggling stupid its silly. Try to teach them hold'm and it's like deer in headlights. Mights as well play Indian!

[exeph]

I ran into the same situation a year or so ago. What capped the night for me was this: an extra player showed up, and the dealer casually pulled out a new pack of cards, shuffled them in with the current deck *so we'd have enough cards for everyone*, and proceded to deal. I almost fell out of my chair /images/graemlins/smile.gif

To me, a "poker night" like that is just pure fun and socializing. If you want to hang out with the people there and don't mind shuffling cards and tossing some chips around, it's for you. If you want serious poker, of course it's not what you're after

[Al_Capone_Junior]

and guts, and between-the-sheets, and follow the queen, and baseball, and Dr. Pepper, and ...

al

[SevenStuda]

Did you end up playing? What is your objection to poker with wilds?

[Your Mom]

Is Dr. Pepper 10, 2, and 4 are wild? I love that game. Also, another favorite is 4's, Whores, and 1-eyed Jacks. WE used to play that [censored] when I was in high school during lunch.

[PiquetteAces]

2 or 3 years ago , I playing home game with the familly of my friend . I usually play hold'em 10-20 , but they were playing dealers-choice , limit 1$-2$ .

In one hand we were playing King&low'stud , I had KK in the hole & slowplay it . At the showdown i had the best hand and the uncle of my friend treat me of all name for not having bet my hand in the early rounds !

One hour later I was up 125$ (I recall , limit were 1-2 ) . I was catching good cards but was playing tight . Almost all other players were playing every hands and going very deep in every hands . Then , my friend ' uncle saw me folding one more hand in the 1st round ( again ) and he start to complain and scream : " I play poker for 35 years , & that is teh 1st time I see a low life dog like you , youre winning and your not giving loser a chance to make a comeback . You aren't coming here to play poker , your here to take our money ! ! ! " .

Some peoples are very emotional for small money .

- jpp

[LetsRock]

In a "friendly" home game it's considered pretty poor taaste to play ultra-tight winning poker. I'm not saying you shouldn't play to win (I always do), but it doesn't hurt to chase a hand or 2 once you're up big. You don't have to play absolute garbage, but throwing a few chips back in to the frey on marginal hands is a good gesture for a "friendly" fun atmosphere.

Now you've been uninvited from an absolute fish fry.

[CCass]

Don't forget Acey-Duecy...lol

[onegymrat]

James,

I think it would be rude, but not in a sense where these guys would be thinking about it all night. If you're uncomfortable with the game, you shouldn't play. It is in fact, a game, and you are supposed to have fun.

On the other hand, if it's small stakes (quarter, fifty-cent stuff), then why not have some fun. Have some booze (I would never drink when at the grind), play some weird games and enjoy a night off with some friends.

This actually happened to me a few weeks ago. I was invited to a home game, with which I only knew a few guys. There were about 10 people, all of whom knew very little about poker other than WPT stuff. How I got it to go my way was that I offered to deal full-time. I asked if they wanted to learn HE, and everyone was up for it. The stakes were low and everyone had a great time. Never mind the fact that I had most of their quarters, but they all learned how to play casino HE, and had a bunch of booze and lost just a little bit of money while having a great time.

This weekend, I suggested that we have a NL HE tournament. I explained that I would play dealer and tournament director, and run it like casinos do. They are up for it and hopefully, I'll make a few dollars. With these home games, I'm not there to grind out some dollars as I do normally, I'm just there to have a great time with some friends. If you keep that in mind, maybe you may have some fun also. Good luck.

[James Boston]

Wild card poker is too unpredictable. It does come down to luck in most cases, since there are too many possibilities of winning hands.

I did play. I just played much tighter than I normally would have, and ended up winning. I haven't been asked back, but I really don't care.

[Gildersneeze]

LR,

I'd say it depends. I try to play tight, solid poker against my friends on Saturday Nights. I usually end up the big winner, but to make up for it, I put the money aside, and spent around $500 of it on a hot-stamped 1,000 chip set.

Also, we have a rule of "whoever wins biggest buys the deck(s) of cards for next week." Consequently, I usually end up having to pick up a deck or two each week, but hey, it keeps everyone happy, and they're trying to learn from me.

I just can't convince them that playing any kind of paint or ace without it having a good card to complement it is a bad idea.

K3o, A7o, Q4o, all of them. I even had one guy laugh at me when the board was KK2KA because I mentioned folding K3o from early position pre-flop. "Hahaha, you threw away a KING pre-flop!?" As though a King with a crap kicker is anything to be happy about from ANY position.

Ahh, well, some of the guys there pay attention, and some of them still stay in with 83o and can't figure out why me and the guys that listen to me end up winning, while they're $60 in the hole. It's those few times where they ended up catching a perfect board all night that keep 'em coming back and hooking their wallet up to the milking machine.

I don't look at it as rude, because everyone there gets out when they feel they've blown enough money, and the one guy who consistently loses all his cash has a good job, says so, and also says he'd spend that much in a night back when he was still an alcoholic, so it's cathartic and fun for him.

I say if they're willing to risk the money, there's nothing wrong with taking it if they don't care if they lose.

[James Boston]

The best way to keep bad players happy is to take a bad beat, not loosen up. I'm "the serious poker player who usually wins." When a bad beat takes the pot from me, the guy is usually so proud that he took me down that I get plenty of future action from him

[Al_Capone_Junior]

mexican sweat

nothing wild. 7 card no peek (or ten card if you're suicidal). First player turns card over and checks or bets. Next player must beat that card. As soon as he can beat it, it's his bet. (Note that standard procedure in no peek if the player with the high hand and the action on them checks, the next player must turn cards and try to beat the high hand, no one behind can bet). Procedure continues till there's a winner.

Here's the catch. deuces are the kill card. Turn one over and you are instantly dead, gone, history, out, you lose, muck your cards you can't win.

al

[pretender2k]

My teenagers are starting to play games for money. Nickel-dime stuff but they keep coming to me to pay off their fifty cent gambling debts LMAO. I keep asking them when are you going to learn. I only play games that I have the advantage (which is why I deal Blackjack instead of playing it) unless I am learning from a better player. Even though I sometimes choose to loose to a better player it has yet to exceed my wife's 17,000 in student loans so it must be a cheap education.

Although I do agree very low stakes can be relaxing when you really want to play all those stupid cards you occassionally loose to on the river LOL.

[slavic]

We play this with a wild card and a floating Kill(it's chosen by drawing a card from the Deck) card. Since you really have no option to fold, I've never been jazzed when this game comes up. I honestly hope to be UTG and my first card is a kill card.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

the way we play you can always fold if there is a bet, whether you have seen any of your cards or not. the best position is usually determined by what cards come up early. for instance, if someone makes a pair of kings to beat an early ace, the next guy is gold because he's going to see most of his hand most of the time trying to beat those kings, and gets a good idea of whether to play aggressively or get out.

al