Oh god, I know. It's annoying. I've won some alright money over the last few years playing on-line so I always get challenged at a party or small get together.

It goes something like this...

"You play poker? $#!% man, I didn't know anybody played poker up in here."

At this point, you would note that every living/dining closet in america has poker set in it so...

"$#!% Dog, we got some poker chips right here dog! Who's gonna deal em out!?"

Now right about here you might hear somebody say the word "action". That's when I go grab another drink. There is nothing worse than hearing...

"Ohhhhhh buddy! I didn't think I'd see any action at the card table tonight, Yeah baby! We got some poker goin on tonight!"

The best part, is when you finally sit down at the table. Nobody knows what the [censored] is going on. Don't even say the word "blind". Just don't even try it. I've learned that you just let the dominat person at the table run the show a bit.

Usually I gotta say a few things when it comes to buying in. Did you ever notice NOBODY wants to buy-in into a common pool? It's always, "No dude, just remember that I'm in for 30." 10 minutes later 5 people are playing and there's no money on the table. Oh well, go get another drink because the next 10 are going to be spent discussing chip denominations.

Anyways, after a few hands, there will be so much confusion that there might even be someone begging for some stability. You then mention that we need to fix how the antes work (don't say blinds!) Tell them that the pros on TV use just two antes next to the dealer.

You should then hear something like,

"Yeah yeah! On TV they do blinds or something. Cause of strategee or some $#!%."

Just nod and tell them how the antes work. Don't do a big or small blind, just 2 antes left of the dealer.

As time goes on you can slowly get the game to look like real texas hold'em. The only thing you have to do is convince one person at the table that they are the next TV poker pro and they'll convince everyone else that you gotta do it like the pros... so there can be some "stratagee" involved.

Good luck....