[JJNJustin]

I have had many private games/tournaments and here is a list of many of the problems I have encountered.

1)People bringing chips into the game. For example, you use 11.5 g heavy dice chips and at the end of the day you have 100 more chips that you started with and your money box is short. You cant believe that any of your guests would do this, but obviously someone is desperate (as gamblers often are.) Solution: a) have custom made chips that are difficult to duplicate b) have custom labels made by someone on ebay and stick them on your chips c) buy poker chips from your local casino and use them for cash games. d) keep count of your chips after every game and have your dealer/dealers keep an eye on players who pull chips out of their pocket.

2) Players bringing guests who turn out to be problematic. For example, your friend Pete brings along his friend Chris who brings in a case of beer, gets totally hammered and disrupts the game. Or Pete brings along Steve, who is paranoid and packs a gun. Solution: Nobody can bring guests.

3) Marked cards. These are a problem as someone on ebay is selling luminesence marked KEM cards for $120 a deck. With the sunglasses gimmick filter that comes with the deck (and almost all tournament players wear sunglasses) you can read the back of the card for without anyone knowing. This can create such an advantage in that with a little luck this player can clean up. Beware especially of Blue Wide Arrow KEM cards as these are the ones that are sold marked, although the bridge ones are also sold marked. It is a good idea to ask for a new or sealed deck, even if the cards are not as nice as KEM cards, unless you absolutely trust the players and the host of the game. Possible solution: buy a deck of the marked cards and keep the filter gimmick in your sunglasses, so that if the cards are marked you can tell. If they are marked, ask for your refund of the buy-in or dont pay the buy-in and casually leave. Do not shout out that the cards are marked. Most likely the operators of the tournament have something to do with it and you may be better just leaving discretely.

3) Card mechanics. Beware they exist more than you think. Signs that a guy is a mechanic is if he seems to have any information about the hand you played before he sees your cards after they are mucked. For example he says, after the hand, "I cant believe you raised that hand." with great surprise, indicating that he was caught by surprise when you raised, knowing what you held. Some mechanics are very good and you'd be surprised what they can do (I was!)
Solution: have dealers who have no financial interest in the outcome of the game or have players deal their own game.

5) Being ripped off by your partner. This is very common. The most common way is for your partner to insist upon keeping track of the money because he feels you "do an inadequate job of protecting it" and then the box myseriously comes up short at the end of the night. Especially beware if one of your partners close friends is winning or losing considerably in the game, as this may cause or be the result of your partner "dipping" into the box, and claim one of the players stole the money.

6) At tournaments make sure someone (a player)at each table keeps track of rebuys, otherwise the house may not report them all, either purposely or mistakingly.

7) Never loan money to players. you wont ever see it. No matter how much they sweet talk you or make you feel guilty. The best thing to say is "This would be unfair to the other players who have asked to borrow money."

8) Never allow a disagreement or a hostile player to escalate into a fight. If a player is acting foolishly or disturbing the game, or pissing you off, for that matter. Remember, if you give him a reason to be pissed off at you, he may hurt your game by calling the police in the future or telling other people that your game is bad/rigged/etc. The best thing to do is "grin and bear it" until the game is over and not to invite the guy back. Try to avoid asking someone to leave and making a big scene, unless it is absolutely necessary.