OK, we do play for "big" money (2 Viewers)

DrStrange

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I am gathering supplies for feeding the crew at the deli counter. (dinner is a cold cut bar + navy bean/ham soup) It is a nice pile of meat in cheese to have sliced. The store isn't very busy and I have two guys preparing my order.

They ask what I am doing with such a large amount of meat. I say its for poker tonight. One thing leads to another and they finally plead with me to invite them to the game. So I say we are playing 1-2. "What's that?" they ask. "It is a cash game - $1 small blind $2 big blind", I reply. "Typical buy in is $200, but normally a player would expect to buy in a couple of times a night."

They want to know how much someone might bet in such a game. I warn them that people commonly bet hundreds of dollars on a hand and would specifically target someone who looked weak with big bets to test their resolve.

You could see by the looks on their faces that such an idea had never crossed these guys minds. I asked, they play in free-roll bar games and $10 home tournament games. Never heard of a cash game before, never played in one either.

Perspective - - - - A typical weekly take home pay for someone like these men is ~$350 if they don't have insurance taken out. So a 1-2 game is basically buying in for a week's pay. Even a micro stakes $0.25 / $0.50 is too high stakes for workers like this.

I guess it is easy to forget that what I see as causal fun with my friends is "crazy, irresponsible" gambling for lots of other people.

I didn't invite them, it isn't appropriate to put someone at that kind of risk -=- DrStrange
 
I am gathering supplies for feeding the crew at the deli counter. (dinner is a cold cut bar + navy bean/ham soup) It is a nice pile of meat in cheese to have sliced. The store isn't very busy and I have two guys preparing my order.

They ask what I am doing with such a large amount of meat. I say its for poker tonight. One thing leads to another and they finally plead with me to invite them to the game. So I say we are playing 1-2. "What's that?" they ask. "It is a cash game - $1 small blind $2 big blind", I reply. "Typical buy in is $200, but normally a player would expect to buy in a couple of times a night."

They want to know how much someone might bet in such a game. I warn them that people commonly bet hundreds of dollars on a hand and would specifically target someone who looked weak with big bets to test their resolve.

You could see by the looks on their faces that such an idea had never crossed these guys minds. I asked, they play in free-roll bar games and $10 home tournament games. Never heard of a cash game before, never played in one either.

Perspective - - - - A typical weekly take home pay for someone like these men is ~$350 if they don't have insurance taken out. So a 1-2 game is basically buying in for a week's pay. Even a micro stakes $0.25 / $0.50 is too high stakes for workers like this.

I guess it is easy to forget that what I see as causal fun with my friends is "crazy, irresponsible" gambling for lots of other people.

I didn't invite them, it isn't appropriate to put someone at that kind of risk -=- DrStrange
I had a similar conversation with my AC guy who came by at S@P. He was horrified by how much we put on the table.
 
Wow. ....I had a very similar conversation last week with a co worker. Almost same questions as the op.
 
I almost never say how much the chips cost or what a set is worth.

Every one of my sets is worth $10,000! (I am selling, if you are buying at that price - offer good for seven days.)

There is only one guy that ever asks what my chips are worth. He always looks shell shocked when I tell him. Wait until he hears the price tag on my Casino Royale chips lol
 
Every one of my sets is worth $10,000! (I am selling, if you are buying at that price - offer good for seven days.)

Hmmm. That's an interesting impulse...

OK, I'll sell ALL my chips for $100,000.00. Offer good for seven days from now; pick-up only, when payment clears. I suspect that's a good price... :cool:
 
I make about 10x what I made while I was in grad school. I play much smaller stakes now than I did then.

In grad school I built a bank roll of about $50k starting with $25 and running it up. I put in a lot of hours.

As a working professional I keep about $3k on hand in cash for poker. I play a lot less, and my earn rate is lower, both because I play lower stakes and tougher games.

In 2006 I went to Vegas during the series and wired 10k to the cage. When I go now, I go with my $3k and my debit card.

So, sometimes the guy making $350/week can afford a bigger game than you'd think, and sometimes a guy making $3500/week (not my actual salary) won't play in games as big as the guy making less.
 
Hmmm. That's an interesting impulse...

OK, I'll sell ALL my chips for $100,000.00. Offer good for seven days from now; pick-up only, when payment clears. I suspect that's a good price... :cool:

You've got my attention. How many Highway 9 $100 chips are included? ;)
 
Hmmm. That's an interesting impulse...

OK, I'll sell ALL my chips for $100,000.00. Offer good for seven days from now; pick-up only, when payment clears. I suspect that's a good price... :cool:

If I was single and you were serious, I'd need a spreadsheet breakdown and your bank information....maybe.
 
If I was single and you were serious, I'd need a spreadsheet breakdown and your bank information....maybe.

Hey, I said it was an impulse and a gamble. If I had a spreadsheet, I wouldn't even consider selling. I'm pretty sure I'd be losing money, though.

OTOH, my wife would be quite happy.
 
Two racks. Are you that desperate for them? :)

No, not really :p

It's more that the other 1400 H9 chips I have feel incomplete without at any of their high denom big brother. In truth, I can't see any scenario now, or in the future, where I would need a bank greater than 24k that would actually require the $100 chips to be in play.


Hey, I said it was an impulse and a gamble. If I had a spreadsheet, I wouldn't even consider selling. I'm pretty sure I'd be losing money, though.

OTOH, my wife would be quite happy.

And isn't her happiness worth far more than the monetary loss you'd take on selling them for only 100k. (y) :thumbsup:
 
I have access to the funds, and I'm single. I think I could turn a quick profit here, but the in person pickup feels like the deal killer.
 
I love the look on the faces of the cable guy, AC repairman, electrician, Jimmy John's delivery guy as they enter the Club Courage basement. Have had similar chats when they ask questions about the game, but hardly ever extend the invitation.
 
...And isn't her happiness worth far more than the monetary loss you'd take on selling them for only 100k. (y) :thumbsup:

In theory. But hey, I just bought her two new tennis racquets, so she's pretty happy already.

You can't go overboard making 'em happy, or they'll milk it.
 
I love the look on the faces of the cable guy, AC repairman, electrician, Jimmy John's delivery guy as they enter the Club Courage basement. Have had similar chats when they ask questions about the game, but hardly ever extend the invitation.
I had a cable guy angle hard for an invite and I was like, "Yeeeeahhhhh....no"
 
No, not really :p

It's more that the other 1400 H9 chips I have feel incomplete without at any of their high denom big brother. In truth, I can't see any scenario now, or in the future, where I would need a bank greater than 24k that would actually require the $100 chips to be in play.




And isn't her happiness worth far more than the monetary loss you'd take on selling them for only 100k. (y) :thumbsup:

We could play these chips at the BBotB on Saturday night. That might go over $24k with 3 full tables running including the uncapped 1/1 circus game.
 
I have access to the funds, and I'm single. I think I could turn a quick profit here, but the in person pickup feels like the deal killer.

I probably wouldn't object to delivering them anywhere east of the Mississippi -- I mean, I drove most of them down here. But I thought in-person pick-up would allow a buyer to insure he was cleaning all the chips out of the house.
:cool:
 
We could play these chips at the BBotB on Saturday night. That might go over $24k with 3 full tables running including the uncapped 1/1 circus game.

I was only thinking single table when I said it'd be hard to hit 24k (as I only have 200 $1 chips, breakdown is 200/800/400). Could probably do two tables, but a third would certainly be stretching the $1 chips too far.
 
I had a cable guy angle hard for an invite and I was like, "Yeeeeahhhhh....no"
The owner of the best Chinese/Japanese restaurant delivers himself when his drivers don't show, or it gets busy. One time he came while we were playing, and he grinned ear to ear. "Oh, you play the poke?" He's a 70 year old retired engineer, born in China with heavy accent. Funny guy. I would have let him in the game, but he needed to be a little more forthcoming with his request to play.
 
Imagine their faces when you tell them how much you have spent on chips.

When I had a game 2 weeks ago one of my friends,that also hosts (he uses a set of China clays I turned him onto several years ago), realized after an hour or so that we were using casino Paulsons. He starts asking how much they cost.

I explained about what I paid for them, ($1/each way back) but that they are worth far more now.

He almost choked!

I have tried very hard to get the hosts in our group to upgrade chips, other a couple of them buying China clays, which they think are expensive, it has been an uphill battle.
 

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