would you play in this live game ... how much would you buyin for

[Tim H]

I don't live anywhere near a live poker room, but a local tavern hosts a weekly tourney and after the tourney they break out the cash games. I have only played in the tourney and watched a little of the cash games for about 3 weeks now.

$1/$2 NL (usually 8-10 players) everyone buys in short (some as low as $20) but there is usually around 1k - 2k in chips in play to start the night

mitigating factors:
1. it's illegal - noone has asked what happens to your buyin cash if the cops come a knocking

2. house takes 10% of every pot with a $20 max

3. every winning hand is tipped at least a dollar sometimes 2-5 dollars (money not coming back into play and if everyone is there with their whole roll this is a problem)

4. they are all fish and they are all drunk -- ie lots of calling stations / raising with crap