I want to host a game!

[knifeandfork]

thinking about hosting a nl "home game" of sorts, got the chips, the table(s), kem cards and hopefully the players. now steer me in the right direction. the do's and donts of hosting a pretty big game(5/10 blinds probably)... thank you for your time.
j

[Lottery Larry]

homepokertourney.com for structure

homepokergames.com for players

Good luck

[h_ven]

The table, cards, and chips would be the least of my worries. I host a a NL $50 max buy in. Most people buy in for $20 so I have $0.50/$0.50 blinds.

I've had many disputes with just a pot that was $20 or $30. I guess thats because I'm only 18, and most of the people I play with are in highschool.

You need to set some rules. Maybe even post them. I had to learn the hard way going through arguements with my friends.

Don't let people play on credit, like I've done in the past. Even if its just a friendly home game, only give them chips if you give them money.

With the small rake I take, I buy pop, water, and other treats that keep my friends happy.

I bought a case of 11.5 grap chips from eBay. They've done fine for me.

And the dealing, it gets pretty tiring after 2 or 3 hours. Pass the deal or switch on and off.

Good luck.

[DyessMan89]

I take it you guys are playing Texas Holdem? Im shocked and amazed.

[warewulf]

I went to a game a few weeks ago and the guys son (a 9 year old) knew how to deal Holdem, knew all the terms (turn, river), when to burn cards etc. I was impressed! His dad didn't even teach him, he learned from watching the WPT. Threw a fit when we wouldn't let him play. Maybe next time we will hire him as a dealer.

warewulf

[Texter]

Do not let Friend of a Friend guys play, they are trouble.

[Yawkey]

The biggest thing is setting your house rules right from the beginning. These can be little things like always keep the deck on the table, placing bets infront of you (not throwing them into the pot), or not touching any one elses chips or bets. Some of the important ones will be cash-out procedures. If it is a ring game a half hour announcement before you leave is a good rule.

However I would recomend tournament style (I think this is the most fun with friends). For this you will need to distinguish the payout structure before the game. If you want to allow a re-buy period incase someone looses early (usually this is only during the first hour sometimes two). And then blinds structure I recomend raising the blinds every half hour, a lot of games go by how many people are left.

The most important thing for any home game is beer. Even if you don't drink yourself, you want your friends to return next week so it's not a three person game. One of the nice things about poker games as opposed to a party is usually the people drinking your beer will chip in a couple bucks and just have a couple drinks.

[ddss6_99]

I agree, it's all about the beer. Don't buy the cheap stuff though. Nothing's worse than getting sucked out on and looking down to see a Keystone Lite staring you in the face [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[kasual]

I just started a new structure for my home game and everyone loves it, here it is:

No Limit Texas hold'em
Buy-in: Min:$10 Max: $60 anytime below $60 you can buy up to $60
blinds: $0.50/$1

I believe this structure helps promote action but doesn't allow anyone to monopolize the table with the amount of chips in front of them. Most people start with around 30 and then if someone is up they will buy up to 60.

We used to play, $20 buy-in and you can only rebuy to $20 anytime below, this caused problems because once someone was up over $100 they owned the table and basically people where just giving $20 to the chip leader. We love the new structure.

[TN_POKER_MAN]

WOW!

You're first host and its a 5/10 game.

Where I come from, that's a huge game. You definitely will want to get rules straight right from the start. We've had some semi-tense situations in a .25/.50 game.

www.homepokertourney.com

Clarify:
1. misdeals
2. showing cards at faceoff
3. one man, one hand (poker is not a team sport)
4. cut cards are a must
5. burn cards
6. show one-show all