Starting up a home game conundrum
 

Hey all, I have finally mustered up the resources to start up a home game at my new house. I have 1000 chips and a 10 person hold'em table on the way, and have begun putting out feelers to friends whom I think would play. I plan on starting off as a low-stakes game and hopefully can raise the limits a bit as people become more comfortable with playing in the months ahead.

My conundrum is this: in the process of contacting people, my brother, who has been a chief supporter of getting this game together, mentioned that he would like to invite his wife to play in this game. Now, my sister in-law is a great person, but I'm not sure I (or others, for that matter) would be comfortable playing poker with a pregnant woman on what is historically supposed to be "guys night out". Wondering how to handle this situation. Am I being a misogynist? I wonder how this game could be taken seriously outside of a small inner circle if a pregnant wife is allowed to play (again, my plan is to expand to a full 10-person bi-monthly game at some point). How do I balance the gaining of credibility amongst serious players without being an a-hole? Thanks.

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

I'd reccomend inviting anyone who will play to get the game going. Unless you really fear that a "girl" (she won't be pregnant forever) will completely wreck the "guy's night" that some would need, it really isn't a big deal. WE have a couple of women who play in our home game and it's no less of a "guy's night" with them there. They give and take the crap just like the rest of us.

It really depends on her personality. Can she hang with the guys? Will she be offended by some probable lude comments? Can she take the good natured BSing that goes on in a poker game? If she can handle it, the game will be fine. If she's not able to give and take a little grief then it probably would be no fun. The only reason I could see this being a problem is if she really doesn't play poker (every action has to be explained to her all night long) - then she will be an unwelcome guest in the game - it looks like she's there just to keep an eye on the hubby. (I would feel this way even if it were a guy!)

When I'm playing with a "couple", I'm more concerned that they'll soft play each other and that is not good. They need to be willing to bust each other out or else there will be some game problems. That would be my biggest issue with your brother's request to include his wife.

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

What's the problem with having a woman at the table? There are women at B&M casinos and guys still go. If you're all smokers then she probably wouldn't want to come anyway.

The only way she will ruin the game is if you and your friends are the types who haven't accepted the fact that girls don't have cooties. Or if she can't play and is just annoying to be around, but you wouldn't want a guy who was like that either.



PS make sure she's actually pregnant and not hiding a ton of aces under her shirt.

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

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When I'm playing with a "couple", I'm more concerned that they'll soft play each other and that is not good. They need to be willing to bust each other out or else there will be some game problems.

[/ QUOTE ]

Last home game I was at the board was something like 37AAA and I had AT. My girlfriend had QQ. It wasn't pretty.

Even if a couple doesn't slowplay eachother, there's still a problem with collusion, since they're basically playing from the same bankroll.

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

I play with my long time girlfriend nearly every week at my home game. She is very weak tight, and I enjoy bluffing her out of large pots and then showing her. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Anybody I need to worry about colluding I don't want to invite to my home game anyway.

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

good point ^^^

Can you outplay her? And if you do can her kids still eat?

Those are the ???s you should be worried about.

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

I agree that you should invite anyone that wants to play. My sister in law and her husband play in our game and they do enjoy busting each other out. As for your pregnant sister in law, especially if this is their first child [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img], will not be available to play once your new neice or nephew arrives. Most likely, your brother won't be playing much after that either. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Good Luck,
Gurney

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

I guess I will take a shot at being the bad guy here. We have never had a woman play for more than an hour in our home game, and probably never will. This is gonna sound terrible, but we all like the 'guys night out' thing. It's like having a girl come out with you to a bachelor party.. well SOME girls might be ok, but you know what I mean [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] The times that a woman has played with us, she gets busted, and sits there distracting the person she came with. Once again, I am not trying to sound mean, but that is just what I have seen in our home games.

For the situation your in, I would just let them come, probably no good way out of it. Maybe it will work out. If she is one of those woman who can hang with the guys, great. Otherwise, it will probably be HER that wouldn't want to come back.

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

Brunson said at first he never liked playing with women. When he beat them he felt bad and when they beat him he felt stupid and embarassed. Of course when skilled women started playing in high limit games, he got over it quick.

I don't think you should ever feel like you have to take it easy on someone when you're playing poker, even in a home game.

Re: Starting up a home game conundrum
 

We had this come up at my home game as one or two of the guys didn't like women at the table. We told them to get over it. Most of the wives who have shown up could take the crap and dish it right back. The one or two who didn't like it didn't come back. Most days they just aren't as interested as the men in playing and our games are ovary-free about 80% of the time. Lucky for us, one of the best three players at our table is due to give birth Friday, so we will all have a chance to win with her on maternity leave.