Attended my first home game...

[ChessMan]

I played in my first home game tonight. We played no limit hold em. Blinds were $0.5/$1. Buy ins were $20.

All these fellas were completely new to the game. I tried to tell them we should play limit, but they wouldn't have any of it.

So anyway, I've never seen such bad playing before. Me and one guy traded raises back and forth preflop until I was all in. He had J3 offsuit. I had QQ.

I only broke even though. I can't see this continuing. Surely I'll turn a profit eventually. I have to figure out how to play against these guys. Perhaps I should fold less and try to outplay them on the flop and turn.

[SCfuji]

showdown the best hand. dont get caught up in the newb only-bluff mode.

[Popinjay]

blind vs buyin ratio is waay high

play at least 50bb buy-in imo

[grandgnu]

[ QUOTE ]
I played in my first home game tonight. We played no limit hold em. Blinds were $0.5/$1. Buy ins were $20.

All these fellas were completely new to the game. I tried to tell them we should play limit, but they wouldn't have any of it.

So anyway, I've never seen such bad playing before. Me and one guy traded raises back and forth preflop until I was all in. He had J3 offsuit. I had QQ.

I only broke even though. I can't see this continuing. Surely I'll turn a profit eventually. I have to figure out how to play against these guys. Perhaps I should fold less and try to outplay them on the flop and turn.

[/ QUOTE ]

You should "fold less"???? Uh, no. You should fold MORE. These idiots will not fold, they enjoy action. This means they will call you down and chase to the river and bust your A/A when their 2/6 flops a 6 and despite high cards on board they remain for the 2 to arrive on the river. Wait until you have a very strong hand and make them pay to chase you. Do NOT attempt to bluff these type of players, they aren't intelligent enough to lay down any hands (they'll think that with A/10 and the board has K/9/2 they have a straight draw, even though they need runner-runner, seen it all before man) Good luck, enjoy the profits!

[Dean]

Gotta echo the Gnu's post here. My buddy dropped $2000 on a poker table a couple months back and we played one night. I was the only one with significant experience and I just played tight and aggressive. I folded plenty of hands that were probable winners and held out for the "nut" hands and made them pay. All 5 of the other players had to rebuy 4 times before we called it a night.

Remember that new players or crappy players can not be bluffed. I found that I could have AK and the flop was AK6 and they would still call it down to the river trying to hit a something with a Q6o. Just be patient and extract money from them bit by bit. Your K with the A kicker will win you alot of smaller pots turned big because of 2-3 people calling down to the river. And if you are with really bad players and you have the nuts, I find that small bets along the way keeps them in the hands even when you go all in after the river. They just don't want to lay anything down.

[ChessMan]

I told them that too. At the time, I knew it was too high, but I couldn't recall what the proper ratio ought to be. I'll inist on the proper ratio next time. With the blinds so high, it makes entering the hand an almost all-in decision.

[PhatPots]

I have played in games like these. The way to play them is simple, you show them a hand! You don't bluff or anything, you just show them a good hand. When you get a hand like Aces or Kings, or you flop a set, you make the other players Pay! MUAHAHAHAH

[ChessMan]

You mentioned that you've played in games like these before. Any idea on how long the softness will last? They are lawyers, accountants, and technologists. Perhpas they'll smarten up within a few weeks? Maybe this will go on for a year or more? Wow wouldn't that be nice. I better practice up on my conversational skills so that they keep inviting me!

[legend42]

[ QUOTE ]
You mentioned that you've played in games like these before. Any idea on how long the softness will last?

[/ QUOTE ]

It might last quite awhile, especially if the other players view the game more as recreation than as a competetive or monetary venture.

As far as keeping the invitation, just be friendly and modest. If you play tight like everyone here has (correctly) advised, and they're the casual type, they'll probably be slow to recognize how often you're winning, and won't mind too much anyway. If they're the alert, competetive type, then they'll want you back to try to win back their losses.

Soft, friendly home games are one of the joys of life. Congrats on finding one!