What makes a good home game?

[djhjf21]

Hey just looking for some opinions here. I'm in Atlanta and run one of the larger home games out here. Just curious what's going on in other regions and what types of ideas and such have made for successful homegames.

Here's a little info on my game and some of the things we do and some of things players have said that set us apart from other local games.

First off a run a game twice a week, I've been running games for about a year now and been playing locally for about a year and a half. I'm pretty well versed in running a game, and seem to have a very organized and professional game in comparison to others out there. We run a 3/6 limit game with 6/12 and/or No Limit overs on Mondays and on Fridays we do a 3/6 limit, 1/2 NL, 5/10 limit and a $50.00 tournament.

Top 3 responses to my players interview on what they like about my game are...
1) Social, Friendly atmospher: We have a great group of regulars that are really friendly and a very entertaining yet professional and experienced dealer that helps set the tone
2) Our dealers are top quality: they keep the flow of the game going and keep it organized and efficient and the rulings consistent
3) Comfortable seating: We ditched the folding metal chairs and upgraded to some nice quality office chairs. I got most of mine used in the 20-40$ range but I had a few good hookups. Most will cost you in the 40-60$ range and it's a big investment, but your players that play 10 hour stretches will love you for it.

Changes we've made to benefit the game...
1) High hand of the night jackpot instead of bad beat jackpot... people are familiar with bad beat jackpots, but if you do the classic A full of 10 beat using 2 cards from each hand, it may never hit in a home game. This can lead to the house hanging on to a lot of money before their game dissolves. Players have been much happier with a high hand jackpot (usually pull 1$ out of every pot over $50.00) that pays out each night. Only one card from the hand must play, and hand does not need to be shown down or completed. You flop a straight flush and everyone folds you're probably going to get the high hand. The high hand will more often go to a looser player giving them a little extra bankroll to keep coming back to the game.
2)Good food, I used to play 6 nights a week at various games. I swear after 3 months I didn't want to have another slice of pizza for the rest of my life. If you can try cooking sometime, we grill shiskabab and polish sausages and burgers, we also do Stouffers lasanga which is real easy and pretty cheap, still have the pizza and chinese on occasion, but it's nice to have the variety.
3)Beer Fridge- we offer wider selections of drinks than some bars. I don't keep any hard liquor tho you are welcome to bring you own, however we do have over 20 different choices of soft drinks and beer available.
4)Consistently having a game... being consistent is important, if you have to cancel a home poker game because of participation it's a horrible sign. A good game consists of a solid player base, we have between 20-40 players throughout the night and I have a mailing list of over 600 players I e-mail each week with game announcements. I constantly try and get new players into the game along with offering promotions for bringing a friend and bonuses for our long term regulars or players that havne't been back in a while.
5) Rake: Most players don't really notice the rake or how it affects the game. I've played games where more than 1/2 the money is raked off the table in a course of 10 hours. That's ridiculous, these games come and go so fast, players don't keep coming back to games where they don't win. I keep my rake lower than most other games around and lower than most casinos would be just so more of my players can win and keep coming back. Just from adjusting my rake from a 10% to a 7.5% max it added about $25.00 an hour to the table for players to win. It means less profit for the night, but with out players coming back your game won't last.

Other things important to a game in my opinion:
Friendly, safe area
Organized, professionally run game
Game hosts available to take care of things and not busy dealing/playing
Easy to find location, close to main road, easy to get to
Variety of games offered to appease the social and serious gamblers
Overs - allowing the game to change to a higher stakes game when only certain players are left in the pot
NL increased buyins - Our max buy in is $200.00 to start, but after 12am we allow players to buy in for up to $300.00 to have a more reasonable stack size versus the table average.

Now tell me what you do in your games that your players enjoy or that you feel makes your game stand above the rest...