Are your friends idiots, like mine? (1 Viewer)

Pinesol13

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Last week I hosted a poker game for the first time in over a year. We had less players than usual (5 players), some guys still aren't comfortable b/c of COVID.

We usually pay 25c / 50c cash game. But because we had less players, I suggested reducing the stakes a little because players will be in the blinds 40% of the time. So we did 10c / 20c. I think this was also a subconscious act on my part, because I bought nickel chips and they've never seen the felt, and I really wanted to get them in to play.

Anyway, I was blown away by how confused everybody was with the 5c chips and the blinds. I have no explanation, but it was like it was everyone's first time playing poker. Every hand someone was saying "wait, how much do I owe?" , "what are these chips?"... When I raised to 75c and it got around to the big blind, it was like he was doing advanced calculus trying to figure out what chips he needed to call. At one point I yelled "just take your chips back and put in three quarters!".

Anybody ever have a similar experience when introducing new chips, or new denoms? I'm pretty sure the answer is just that my friends are stoopid.
 
I only run 5/5 where 25s are the work horse and I have to limit the number of 5s in play or some players will spend a minute counting 5s to pay a 100-bet. Idiots comes in all shapes and variants. :)
Edit: Also I limit the chips to just 5s and 25s to make it even easier.
 
I think this was also a subconscious act on my part, because I bought nickel chips and they've never seen the felt, and I really wanted to get them in to play.
"Subconscious." Riiiiiight.

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All humans are idiots, including ourselves.
Other than that, if it gets 5-handed or less, I 'd do away with the small blind and have just a single blind (rather than reducing stakes).
this does nothing to get the nickels in play
 
I will just say that we played this week for the first since Covid and everyone was super rusty on the execution of basic mechanics. We weren't even chatting that much because it took us a while to get back into the rhythm.
 
I will just say that we played this week for the first since Covid and everyone was super rusty on the execution of basic mechanics. We weren't even chatting that much because it took us a while to get back into the rhythm.
We played poker at lunch at work yesterday for the first time in forever, and we were super rusty too. At one point @justsomedude dealt the flop without giving us hole cards first. The action was on me, so I went all in.
 
I have one idiot in my game who couldn’t make proper change when calling bets to save his life. Painful to watch
 
I can't tell if this a rendering or an actual photo... but amazing nonetheless! :)

I stole it from the pr0n thread, I think it's an actual photo.

All humans are idiots, including ourselves.
Other than that, if it gets 5-handed or less, I 'd do away with the small blind and have just a single blind (rather than reducing stakes).

Interesting idea. Hopefully more people are willing to play in the not too distant future. But changing to 25c / 25c , or just a single blind might be a better solution for my challenged friends. The sad part is, the nickels will probably never see play again.

I will just say that we played this week for the first since Covid and everyone was super rusty on the execution of basic mechanics. We weren't even chatting that much because it took us a while to get back into the rhythm.

Didn't think about rustyness being a factor. I think as host, I am naturally more in tune with the game, so I didn't feel that rusty. Except for my shuffling, which was piss-poor at first.
 
I’m so glad to hear of the rustiness. A few years ago I was out of the loop with my group and when I rejoined them I dealt completely backwards (counter clockwise) and had everyone just stare back at me in disbelief.
 
More frequent blinds shouldn't matter, as players are more likely to win a hand with fewer opponents.

I bought and relabeled Empress Star chips as nickels, and have a second set of chips built around the 5¢ chip, only to have everyone decide they'd rather play 25¢-50¢ so I feel your pain.

But Base 5 is not easy for a lot of people to comprehend. People use quarters and dollars, so they think that way. Trying to introduce something "new" like a 5¢ chip or a T2000 chip is always going to cause you unnecessary grief.
 
But Base 5 is not easy for a lot of people to comprehend. People use quarters and dollars, so they think that way.
I bet that's not as true nowadays as it used to be.

I grew up feeding quarters into arcade machines, but I haven't handled coins in years - everything is just a credit card swipe. I bet that Today's Youth are used to thinking in terms of dollars, and rounding or ignoring anything to the right of the decimal point.
 
Well, as the old saying goes, if you want to appear smarter, hang around with dumb people.
And, if you don't speak at all during a symposium (meaning a fellow-drinking event):
-If you 're stupid, you acted like a wise person.
-If you 're wise, you acted like a stupid person.
 
Sadly, since I've spent so much time around stupid people, all I know for sure is...

stupid is contagious. :cautious:
 
There is a nice theory (can't remember the author) about stupidity being inevitable, however you may divide mankind.
Most men are stupid. Most women are stupid.
Most employees are stupid. Most employers are stupid.
Most servicemen and civil servants are stupid. Most leaders, including Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers and Generals, are stupid.
Most students are stupid. Most teachers, including University Deans, are stupid.
Most street cleaners are stupid. Most Companies' CEOs are stupid.
:(
 

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