Problems in Home Games/Tournaments

[JJNJustin]

I have had many private games/tournaments and here is a list of many of the problems I have encountered.

1)People bringing chips into the game. For example, you use 11.5 g heavy dice chips and at the end of the day you have 100 more chips that you started with and your money box is short. You cant believe that any of your guests would do this, but obviously someone is desperate (as gamblers often are.) Solution: a) have custom made chips that are difficult to duplicate b) have custom labels made by someone on ebay and stick them on your chips c) buy poker chips from your local casino and use them for cash games. d) keep count of your chips after every game and have your dealer/dealers keep an eye on players who pull chips out of their pocket.

2) Players bringing guests who turn out to be problematic. For example, your friend Pete brings along his friend Chris who brings in a case of beer, gets totally hammered and disrupts the game. Or Pete brings along Steve, who is paranoid and packs a gun. Solution: Nobody can bring guests.

3) Marked cards. These are a problem as someone on ebay is selling luminesence marked KEM cards for $120 a deck. With the sunglasses gimmick filter that comes with the deck (and almost all tournament players wear sunglasses) you can read the back of the card for without anyone knowing. This can create such an advantage in that with a little luck this player can clean up. Beware especially of Blue Wide Arrow KEM cards as these are the ones that are sold marked, although the bridge ones are also sold marked. It is a good idea to ask for a new or sealed deck, even if the cards are not as nice as KEM cards, unless you absolutely trust the players and the host of the game. Possible solution: buy a deck of the marked cards and keep the filter gimmick in your sunglasses, so that if the cards are marked you can tell. If they are marked, ask for your refund of the buy-in or dont pay the buy-in and casually leave. Do not shout out that the cards are marked. Most likely the operators of the tournament have something to do with it and you may be better just leaving discretely.

3) Card mechanics. Beware they exist more than you think. Signs that a guy is a mechanic is if he seems to have any information about the hand you played before he sees your cards after they are mucked. For example he says, after the hand, "I cant believe you raised that hand." with great surprise, indicating that he was caught by surprise when you raised, knowing what you held. Some mechanics are very good and you'd be surprised what they can do (I was!)
Solution: have dealers who have no financial interest in the outcome of the game or have players deal their own game.

5) Being ripped off by your partner. This is very common. The most common way is for your partner to insist upon keeping track of the money because he feels you "do an inadequate job of protecting it" and then the box myseriously comes up short at the end of the night. Especially beware if one of your partners close friends is winning or losing considerably in the game, as this may cause or be the result of your partner "dipping" into the box, and claim one of the players stole the money.

6) At tournaments make sure someone (a player)at each table keeps track of rebuys, otherwise the house may not report them all, either purposely or mistakingly.

7) Never loan money to players. you wont ever see it. No matter how much they sweet talk you or make you feel guilty. The best thing to say is "This would be unfair to the other players who have asked to borrow money."

8) Never allow a disagreement or a hostile player to escalate into a fight. If a player is acting foolishly or disturbing the game, or pissing you off, for that matter. Remember, if you give him a reason to be pissed off at you, he may hurt your game by calling the police in the future or telling other people that your game is bad/rigged/etc. The best thing to do is "grin and bear it" until the game is over and not to invite the guy back. Try to avoid asking someone to leave and making a big scene, unless it is absolutely necessary.

[Scotty O]

don't host

[TenPercenter]

A note from the player's POV: Be open about any rake, splits, dealer's fees, food rakes, etc. In short, don't hide from the players what you do with the money. The players will wonder about it, and will talk about it among themselves. If you're not open about the calculations, you'll have people that never come back and never mention why.

Ten

[ThinkQuick]

thanks for this contribution,
a lot of people aren't aware of what to look for

welcome to 2+2 and keep posting

[slamdunkpro]

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1)People bringing chips into the game. For example, you use 11.5 g heavy dice chips and at the end of the day you have 100 more chips that you started with and your money box is short.

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We saw this when we were using non-denomination chips. People would pull them from the 1/2 game and bring them back to the 6/12 or 10/20 game and try to cash them in.

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2) Players bringing guests who turn out to be problematic.

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Our rule is: you have to be sponsored to play, the first 3 times you show up you are on probation: any "regular" can request that you not be invited back.

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3) Marked cards.

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Never had this issue

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Card mechanics.

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Again - we use dedicated deales so this has not been an issue

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5) Being ripped off by your partner.

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Invest in a casino drop box. All the money goes in that. It stays locked until people are ready to cash out, then it's opened in front of everyone.

[JJNJustin]

More problems I thought of

1) If you have expert dealers they are very adept at somehow getting the rake money over to their tip money. Dont fool yourself and think they wont, because they all do. Especially if they keep the tips and rake in the chip tray as whites and are constantly breaking up reds and whites. Who knows where the dollars are going. Solution: have a rake box installed on your table and have the rake set to $5 a pot. That way when the pot is finished they drop a five. No if/ands/buts. Have a seperate box for them to drop their tips. Players who have just tipped them will be aware if they drop any more. Or alternatively/have your dealer bring the rake and tips every hour and monitor what is coming out of the game.

Being busted: the easiest way to get trouble from the police is to have a bunch of cars parked in front of your house or in your driveway. Insist that guests carpool and dont get gready and try to run two tables. The more tables you run the greater chance of trouble/getting ripped off. If you must run a small multitable tournament it is best to do it at a small hall such as KofC or veterans. Dont play for big stakes where fights may break out. Dont invite players prown to fighting. Keep the game inside the house, where traffic will be consealed. Have the game begin in the afternoon when cops are less likely to suspect anything. Big college towns where late night parties are commonplace are good cities to have games and also big farmhouses out in the boondocks are good. Do not advertise, only invite close friends and contacts. Have quickly collapsable equipment so that if you suspect police are driving around the block slowly you can get everything put away quickly.

3) Complaints that you are ripping from the prize pool or general complaints from stingy people. In general, if there are some guests who are constantly complaining they are being ripped off, you might not want to invite them back, but as said never kick anyone out that given night if you can help it. Make sure rebuys and tournament payouts are printed out for them to see and make sure they all know how much the house is taking before they buy-in for the tournament. If anyone gets out of line during the tournament, try to smooth it over and dont be afraid to give a little back to appease this person. Of course, never invite this person back.

Dont go overboard on food and drinks. In general, poker players dont care about this sort of thing and would rather you take less out of the game and serve nothing then if you served a 10-course meal which made you have to rake or cut quite a bit more. However, if you are raking a full amount, it is always nice to spoil your players once in a while.

Good atmosphere: I feel this is extremely important. Players want to feel relaxed when they play. relaxed and safe. For example, dont put your table out on the front lawn. Finished basements are great because players feel removed from the outside. Lofts are also good. If you plan on squeezing 50 players inside your tool shed for a tournament, dont expect to rake much. This is absolutely fine if you arent raking, but if you take money from the game, players must be comfortable. Nice chairs are worth investing in, in reality they dont cost much more than folding chairs. Large leather arm chairs sell at office supply stores for about $100 and will really make the difference in your game. Folding chairs are $20. If you must use folding chairs, make sure you have cushions and pillows. Also, make sure you have a nice, adjustable height dealer chair, at least.

If you do run a 2 or more table tournament, make sure you have everything completely organized before people arrive. It is best to have a guest/players list and take the appropriate entry fees ahead of time to make sure your guests arrive. Have the chips counted and bagged up (I use ziplock bags). Have rebuy cards with the guests name in the bag as well as "Hello my name is" stickers. Do not mix tournament money with cash game money, despite temptation. Make sure that every player pays you. Sometimes I have had players take racks but try to skate out of paying the buy-in. The most important thing is to plan ahead. If you know you are coloring up after the first hour, have dealers equiped with the chips and empty racks to do so. Also, if you must start a cash game for busted players ( I prefer them to just go home) leave a few racks of cheap chips out. Let them run their own cash game and do their own banking/etc. Do not get involved in the cash game while you are trying to run the tournament. Have a fixed blind schedule (preferably from tex's tears). Make sure that the tournament will end timely (4-8 hours). Do not make it seem as if you are rushing the blinds to get the thing overwith so you can start your cash game and make more money off the rake. If you are running a tournament, take the time to run a good one.

Finally, if you can make $500 running a certain game twice a month, but $500 running a different game once a month, always chose the later.

My final thought is this: running home games really sucks and is a big headache, and if you dont desperately need the money it is not worth doing. Too many things can happen and backfire on you. If it were legal, this would be something else, but the fact that it remains illegal in most states make it an endeavor almost never worth bothering. Even if you love to be the host with the most, in this case, let someone else run the poker tournament. It is worth the peanuts he may make off of the players for the hassle he goes thru. If you dont believe me, try hosting a game yourself. It is really an awful way to make a buck. Probably worse than playing for an hourly rate.

-J

[slamdunkpro]

Are these issues that you have actualy had happen or just things that keep you up at night?

[27offsuit]

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Are these issues that you have actualy had happen or just things that keep you up at night?

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No sh*t, dude. Unsolicited = unwanted. Advice, that is.