Two Plus Two Older Archives  

Go Back   Two Plus Two Older Archives > General Poker Discussion > Home Poker

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-08-2005, 10:24 AM
RollaJ RollaJ is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 1,695
Default Home Game Guilt

Anyone ever have this feeling?

I never feel guilty winning online, and have only felt guilty winning at a casino once.

But playing in a home game with the same people about once a week has me feeling a bit guilty. I have known all the players since high school, though not close friends of mine, I feel kind of bad winning. There are 2 guys who lose everytime they play, one will drop $2-300 the other has lost up to 800 a few times. Its gotten to the point where I will even review hands with them and tell them what they should have done differently (when they ask).

Am I alone in these feelings
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 08-08-2005, 10:53 AM
FouTight FouTight is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 0
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

for the amount of money you are playign for in this case, no. Because they know what they are getting into, and there has to be an expected level of play with that kind of money. If it was $20 every time and it was someone's gas money, that may be different, but this seems to be a more serious game then that.

Bring some beer, it will help you play worse, and make everyone happy (and also everyone else play worse)

also, I kept reading the title as "Home game GUILD"...
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 08-08-2005, 11:33 AM
dtbog dtbog is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 19
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

[ QUOTE ]
Am I alone in these feelings

[/ QUOTE ]

Not at all.

I took up poker during my freshman year at Cornell, and we had a regular game on our hall in my dorm.

A few of the players were decent -- (one, in fact, set up the game to try to take all of our money [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]) -- but I quickly joined the ranks of the one or two people who had most of the chips at the end.

I never felt bad winning against the decent/good players, but there were a few regulars at the game who would donate, rebuy, and donate again. I'd probably walk away with $30-$60 profit on any given night of this $5 or $10 buy-in game with 30BB stacks.

Sure, it got me into poker, and I had some more spending money to play with... but something didn't sit right about going and knocking on everyone's door (with a group), getting them to come to the study lounge and play poker, and then quickly putting their $10+ in my pocket every day.

Yes, yes, I know it's their money and it's their decision to play, but it doesn't mean you can't think about it.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 08-08-2005, 11:49 AM
MagicMan08 MagicMan08 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 300
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

Dammit I wish I woulda done that in my dorms...
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 08-08-2005, 11:58 AM
Lottery Larry Lottery Larry is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: northwest of Philadelphia
Posts: 289
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

"Its gotten to the point where I will even review hands with them and tell them what they should have done differently (when they ask)."

Bring them over on a special night for a training/strategy session (maybe include bankroll mgmt) Teach them how to play so they aren't chum.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 08-08-2005, 12:32 PM
RollaJ RollaJ is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 1,695
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

[ QUOTE ]

Bring them over on a special night for a training/strategy session

[/ QUOTE ]

But then I run the risk of alienating people, and I dont want to come off as if Im trying to tell people I am better than them. Also, they do generally have fun playing, so I dont want to ruin that for them.
1 or 2 have been known to drop 5-10 thousand in a 3 day trip to the casinos (playing BJ), a substantial amount of money for them. So In general they take it in stride when they lose, but I still get a feeling of guilt [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 08-08-2005, 01:00 PM
Rosencrantz1 Rosencrantz1 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 186
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

[ QUOTE ]
Also, they do generally have fun playing

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, that's the important thing. You could recommend some reading (I just turned a beginner in our home game on to GSIH) and I think it's generous of you to offer some additional tips/coaching (we will usually discuss a few hands that have played in our game for the benefit of the beginners in the group).

I don't think you should feel out-and-out guilty, though. They are obviously aware of the stakes, of how they are doing, etc. If they are enjoying themselves, then that's the important thing.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 08-08-2005, 01:03 PM
sully4321 sully4321 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: franklin, mass.
Posts: 239
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

Yes. I dominate my home games ($10-$20 buy-in, but many reloads... usually $200 pot for 7-8 people) and feel guilty when I win. I feel especially guilty when I play with one certain kid: his name is Dave and he is one of the nicest people I have ever known. He is AWFUL at poker and loses every time (mostly because he is painfully shy so he hates raising because it puts attention on himself). Oh, and did I mention he is going to West Point? Yeah, taking money from a future officer in the US Military and defender of our nation doesn't sit so right with me.

That said, I need gas money.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 08-08-2005, 01:10 PM
maryfield48 maryfield48 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Posts: 144
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

Be mindful of projecting your motivations on to other people. People don't play for the same reasons you do.

I have some habitual donators at my weekly home game. These are all friends, and the stakes are not big enough to hurt anyone that badly. My only worry is that they go on a long enough losing streak that they think about dropping out of the game. The following comments are of course based on my experience, and YMMV.

I have realized that they regard every hand as a lottery ticket, with greater or lesser chances of winning the jackpot. They will stay in with a gutshot regardless of pot odds, in order to have a chance to win the pot. Any application of pot odds is done in the grossest terms - such as "The pot is big, I have to call", or "That bet is too high, I fold". There is certainly nothing like knowing a gutshot is 10 to 1 and using that knowledge in deciding what to do.

We play dealer's choice, and the weakest players almost invariably select Omaha-8. I recently figured out why - it lets them stay in the game longer, and it awards two pots for the price of one. They don't think they have any advantage at O/8, they just like winning pots, and more pots = better.

The other day we played a mixed game tournament, and I noticed that in the third rotation, playing Stud, the players were folding much more readily than usual for just one bet. It was four-handed and I kind of wondered why they had gotten more cautious when I thought they should have opened up. Then one of the players said something to the effect that people weren't willing to stay without a hand for $150, unlike in the first round when the bet size was $25. The fact that the $150 was at that stage a smaller percentage of their stacks than the $25 was at the start didn't seem to matter. It was the absolute size of the bet that mattered. This in a tournament, where the chips have no cash value. I found it a very revealing comment.

I've strayed a bit, but bottom line is, what your friends are looking for when they play may be to have fun and drag a few pots (the longer the odds the better), without much regard for the final result. Admittedly the size of the losses is greater (in absolute terms) than those that occur at my home game, but if they're not losing their rent money/child support/other essentials, then it's just the price of entertainment to many casual players.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 08-08-2005, 01:29 PM
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Home Game Guilt

I sympathize, too. I routinely beat the game I play (for MUCH lower stakes- $70 win for a seven-man tourney), but the players at the game have made it clear they don't like it when I mention the odds, etc. I'm not overbearing about it (at least, I think I'm not) and it usually stems from guilt after taking someone who has no business holding hole cards. But hey, if they are comfortable losing it, that's their fault. There are plenty of books out there; hell, that's how I improved from the fish I once once to the amphibian I now am. Mammaldom, here I come!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:13 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.