Touching the pot to count it?

[Hedge Henderson]

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Bottom line is if you can't do it in a casino, then why do it in a home game.

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Because, with a $20-$40 buy-in we can't afford to pay a dealer to do it for us.

[Stew]

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Bottom line is if you can't do it in a casino, then why do it in a home game.

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Because, with a $20-$40 buy-in we can't afford to pay a dealer to do it for us.

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What are you talking about? During the course of a game, there is no reason for someone to count the pot....Unless you are playing pot-limit. So, unless you are playing pot-limit, there's no reason to count the pot. Also, if you are playing a home game, then the only person touching the chips in the pot during play should be the "designated dealer" for that hand and if he is involved in the hand, he should not be allowed to count the pot for the reason of knowing how much is in the pot.

[TheEleven]

I do have a tendency to be anal-retentive about such things. Yeah, it is just a home game, and we're all good friends. No danger of cheating or anything. But by the same token, I guess that's what annoyed me - it's a small-stakes home game, was it really necessary to start stacking the pot to get an exact count? You can eyeball a good estimate (or just keep track). I mean would he have folded if he discovered he was getting 2.1 to 1 instead of 2.5 to 1?

I don't know, I guess I just thought it was a weird liberty to take without asking first, for no good reason to boot. But in the future, I'll try to "lighten up Francis..."

[Hedge Henderson]

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...Unless you are playing pot-limit. So, unless you are playing pot-limit, there's no reason to count the pot. Also, if you are playing a home game, then the only person touching the chips in the pot during play should be the "designated dealer" for that hand and if he is involved in the hand, he should not be allowed to count the pot for the reason of knowing how much is in the pot.

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Well, we often play pot limit, and some dealers count faster (and better) than others. We know who they are.

I'm not trying to recreate the casino experience at the game I host. We generally use casino rules, but we're not near as paranoid as the players in a casino are (not without reason, of course).

I work to create a fair, fun, and friendly game. That's all. People with varying amounts of experience play poker with us, and sloppiness is a continuum. We've had many people who've played poker elsewhere for years sit in on our game. Some complain about how much leeway we give to players who are at the cooler filling drink orders, and some of them complain about how "anal" we are. It all about finding the balance between sloppy "kitchen table" and WSOP that works for your game.

[Stew]

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...Unless you are playing pot-limit. So, unless you are playing pot-limit, there's no reason to count the pot. Also, if you are playing a home game, then the only person touching the chips in the pot during play should be the "designated dealer" for that hand and if he is involved in the hand, he should not be allowed to count the pot for the reason of knowing how much is in the pot.

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Well, we often play pot limit, and some dealers count faster (and better) than others. We know who they are.

I'm not trying to recreate the casino experience at the game I host. We generally use casino rules, but we're not near as paranoid as the players in a casino are (not without reason, of course).

I work to create a fair, fun, and friendly game. That's all. People with varying amounts of experience play poker with us, and sloppiness is a continuum. We've had many people who've played poker elsewhere for years sit in on our game. Some complain about how much leeway we give to players who are at the cooler filling drink orders, and some of them complain about how "anal" we are. It all about finding the balance between sloppy "kitchen table" and WSOP that works for your game.

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As I mentioned in my very first post...if it's a home game, then anything goes, so people can setup what sort of rules they wish for their game that fits their philosophy of how a game should be run.

Obviously, if you are playing pot-limit, then the pot has to be counted at times, so I have no problem with that. I just don't understand why there is ever a need to count the pot in any other game. That being the case, why let people count it. It's the way a casino does it, do it at your home game, that just makes life simpler. Call it anal, call it whatever you want. There's just no reason for people to be counting the pot down, end of story. Again, this is just my opinion.

As far as the fact that you have players with varied levels of experience playing and "sloppiness is a continum". If you had rules and forced them to abide by them, they wouldn't be sloppy for long and that's how I feel about that. They may complain or not understand, but if you explain it to them they will and they won't have a problem with it.