what's the vibe in your home game? (1 Viewer)

[LeCoq]

Hey PCF.
I was wondering how your home games are going?
What's the vibe and play style?
Funny thing about my home game is that I wanted a low stakes friendly game where friends could get together and eat, drink and gamble and we could shove $25 or so back and forth between friend group weekly.
My buy in is $25 and the blinds are $.25/$.50 on the table. In actuality it is half that for cash value because you get $50 in chips for $25 so we have 100 BB.
Anyways we had 10 players at last night's game and a record of 28 buy ins for $1400 on the table and $700 actual cash value.
It was fun, but what a bunch of degens. Almost every hand ended up all in and pre flop was rediculous, you couldn't see a flop without a considerable investment and if you were on a draw it was gonna cost you like probably your whole stack.
I'm not sure why all these rascals get so crazy. We actually only had one hand that went to the flop for $1 bet.
Is this the norm? Are your home games like this too or are they more conservative?

 

[LeCoq]

 

[iLogik]

My games are similar $20 buy .25/.50.
It starts of very friendly typical raises 3x/4x and there is plenty of fish and call stations that like to gamble so it’s pretty fun.
Last hour or so once only the gamblers are left (complete degens) we just start flipping for $5 - stacks at a time lol
Last time we played 6 card pineapple and you get rid of a card (blind) at pre flop, flop, turn, river. It was kinda fun lol.

 

[drdr]

Shouldn't stereotype and all that. Table looks young and trendy with a dose of testosterone. My game never plays that way, but the crowd is definitely a bit older, nerds, who like to think. I have a theory a balanced game is achieved by having a variety of people types. But if everyone's having fun, who cares!

 

[LeCoq]

My games are similar $20 buy .25/.50.
It starts of very friendly typical raises 3x/4x and there is plenty of fish and call stations that like to gamble so it’s pretty fun.
Last hour or so once only the gamblers are left (complete degens) we just start flipping for $5 - stacks at a time lol
Last time we played 6 card pineapple and you get rid of a card (blind) at pre flop, flop, turn, river. It was kinda fun lol.

I wish it were more friendly at my game. I'm folding a lot of hand that I relly wanted to play, but knew it was going to cost me for every card I wanted to see.

Shouldn't stereotype and all that. Table looks young and trendy with a dose of testosterone. My game never plays that way, but the crowd is definitely a bit older, nerds, who like to think. I have a theory a balanced game is achieved by having a variety of people types. But if everyone's having fun, who cares!

We have a mixed crowd from too young to drink to 60's about 40+ different players in all, but only 10 at the game.

 

[drdr]

Interesting. Maybe the stars aligned to a table of similar play style.

 

[LeCoq]

Interesting. Maybe the stars aligned to a table of similar play style.

Not sure what it is, but I actually folded AQo last night. I knew it was too expensive to find out. Good fold actually.

 

[BarrieJ3]

Sounds like you need to switch to non hold em.

 

[LeCoq]

Sounds like you need to switch to non hold em.

interesting thought. I never considered playing something else. I bring it up to the other players and see what they think.

 

[tabletalker7]

Maybe the issue is your stakes. You said you buy in at $25 with blinds at 25¢/50¢. At those blinds I want to buy in at either $50 or $100, so I can easily see how it turns into a jamfest. If you want a friendly, lower cost game try $20 buys with 5¢/10¢ blinds, or up your buying to $100 and see if the jamfest continues.

 

[Bacon Dad]

^^^ agree. Buying In for only $25 is apparently not that much money to them so they go all in a lot.

 

[drdr]

What's the skill level of the players? If low they may not know enough to play more varied. If higher skilled they may be bored at the lower stakes/buying, as others suggest.

Could just ask them?

 

[tabletalker7]

^^^ agree. Buying In for only $25 is apparently not that much money to them so they go all in a lot.

It isn't just the "not much money" issue. His buy-in is 50BB. At a casino I buy 100BB. My house games people buy 200BB. Only 50BB is encouraging the jamfest.

 

[LeCoq]

Maybe the issue is your stakes. You said you buy in at $25 with blinds at 25¢/50¢. At those blinds I want to buy in at either $50 or $100, so I can easily see how it turns into a jamfest. If you want a friendly, lower cost game try $20 buys with 5¢/10¢ blinds, or up your buying to $100 and see if the jamfest continues.

intersting point. I will ask around to some of my players and get their opinion. jamfest LOL.

^^^ agree. Buying In for only $25 is apparently not that much money to them so they go all in a lot.

I like the small buyin to be able to go all in and reload if you miss, but not every friggin hand.

What's the skill level of the players? If low they may not know enough to play more varied. If higher skilled they may be bored at the lower stakes/buying, as others suggest.

Could just ask them?

mixed skill levels. We have some tight players, but the trouble makers are pretty loose. I cringe when I see the hand they are playing sometimes. rag rag offsuit???

It isn't just the "not much money" issue. His buy-in is 50BB. At a casino I buy 100BB. My house games people buy 200BB. Only 50BB is encouraging the jamfest.

We are 100BB.

 

[demonnic]

I think folks are skipping over or forgetting the bit in the OP where you say you give $50 in chips fore a $25 buy-in.

I do wonder though, why not just use the chips 1:1 and play $0.25/$0.25? Then a $25 buy in is 100bb naturally and nobody has to do extra math when banking.

 

[DaMrkstr]

You can try $.25/$.25. I did that at my last home game for the first time, and I really liked it, and for the $25 buy-in, that helps give you the 100BB. However, this may still not help the "jamfest." I think this is generally a function of the players themselves. My game is a group of close friends, and not all are seasoned players, so it is generally a friendly hangout, eating before, and drinking throughout. Generally starts slow and the pots obviously get bigger near the end, but I notice the group is pretty conservative and only buy in once or twice so far. But I feel as we start to play more frequently, guys are getting more interested in putting more money on the table. I am not against that, so I can use more of my new Tina chipset arriving in December! But, I am with you about wanting to be able to see the flop without being all-in already!

 

[DaMrkstr]

I think folks are skipping over or forgetting the bit in the OP where you say you give $50 in chips fore a $25 buy-in.

I do wonder though, why not just use the chips 1:1 and play $0.25/$0.25? Then a $25 buy in is 100bb naturally and nobody has to do extra math when banking.

you beat me to it! I agree on the .25/.25!

 

[gnasher]

At my home games we do a £25 buy in and play 0.25/0.25

 

[TheRealTeddyKGB]

Vibe/play style is as fluid as your player pool is. If the same group is always attending then the vibe/play style is gonna be pretty consistent. If it's a diverse player pool then some weeks may have more of a circus atmosphere. In a perfect world I want close to as many NITS at the table that I have crazies to help balance the game.

I also think 200bb is key. When my game was .25/.50 $50 max it was a jamfest because people were pot committed too quickly. Now that it's $100 max people can splash around w/o losing 1/2 their stack causing them to reload sooner.

The other thing I'm not a fan of is 10 players at a table for a cash game. If I want to play that tight I might as well be playing in a tournament. Which could actually be a solution to your problem as people do less crazy things when they can't rebuy...

 

[LeCoq]

I think folks are skipping over or forgetting the bit in the OP where you say you give $50 in chips fore a $25 buy-in.

I do wonder though, why not just use the chips 1:1 and play $0.25/$0.25? Then a $25 buy in is 100bb naturally and nobody has to do extra math when banking.

I know you and other do wonder about this. I will bring it up to my players and see what they want to do. I am flexible on this.

 

[LeCoq]

Vibe/play style is as fluid as your player pool is. If the same group is always attending then the vibe/play style is gonna be pretty consistent. If it's a diverse player pool then some weeks may have more of a circus atmosphere. In a perfect world I want close to as many NITS at the table that I have crazies to help balance the game.

I also think 200bb is key. When my game was .25/.50 $50 max it was a jamfest because people were pot committed too quickly. Now that it's $100 max people can splash around w/o losing 1/2 their stack causing them to reload sooner.

The other thing I'm not a fan of is 10 players at a table for a cash game. If I want to play that tight I might as well be playing in a tournament. Which could actually be a solution to your problem as people do less crazy things when they can't rebuy...

It is a pretty diverse player pool. We do have about half regulars and half from the pool each week. But for some reason it always feels like the circus is in town regardless of who's at the table.
200BB is interesting. I will ask my players what they think of this.
In regards to the 10 players, I am OK with having less. I like to have 10 people on the list because people sometimes flake or life gets in the way and I want to have enough people for a game.

 

[ItsAlwaysLupus]

Hey PCF.
I was wondering how your home games are going?
What's the vibe and play style?
Funny thing about my home game is that I wanted a low stakes friendly game where friends could get together and eat, drink and gamble and we could shove $25 or so back and forth between friend group weekly.
My buy in is $25 and the blinds are $.25/$.50 on the table. In actuality it is half that for cash value because you get $50 in chips for $25 so we have 100 BB.
Anyways we had 10 players at last night's game and a record of 28 buy ins for $1400 on the table and $700 actual cash value.
It was fun, but what a bunch of degens. Almost every hand ended up all in and pre flop was rediculous, you couldn't see a flop without a considerable investment and if you were on a draw it was gonna cost you like probably your whole stack.
I'm not sure why all these rascals get so crazy. We actually only had one hand that went to the flop for $1 bet.
Is this the norm? Are your home games like this too or are they more conservative?

View attachment 1399282

View attachment 1399280

In my exp the $25 buy-in (without match the stack) just turns into people blasting off stack after stack.
We do .25/.50 with a $50 buy in with match the stack. We also do 2bb dealers choice bomb pots that can get silly. It ends up playing relatively big still but it kind of levels out.

 

[Munchies11]

Nothing like a good ole poker game with 20 rebuys !!! Nothing wrong with that. It brings excitment and juices up the pots. Home games are supposed to be for fun and to chirp each other ! Well mine are lol

 

[DeadheadDave]

My game is going well, after being mothballed for the past 7 years. lol. Players are having fun, PCF people convinced me that a hot dog roller IS a good idea. I bought one, the players will meet it next Friday night.

I only do tournaments, with cash games for the losers table... if they desire.

 

[Jeevansluck]

At present ….

I’ve been working hard to find some of my old card club, and haven’t been able to land a game, but I’m not gonna give up. It could take a long time, but perseverance paid off before.

Also working closely with another club director, who needs to use my space, and I’ll run some inter league games possibly at my place and rebuild a network of players.

Can’t wait to establish a vibe!

 

[WideRange]

We try to do a couple things in our NYC home game: (i) most important thing is to keep it light - everyone invited has to be a good hang and comfortable in the environment; (ii) no one should be getting too hurt in this game, so bomb pots / stand up game / etc occurs maximum once an hour (iii) we enjoy playing deeper stack; some of us are ok playing a variety of stakes, so we try to chose blinds based on who’s coming, (iv) good pizza and beer.

 

[jxfan]

Soju shots every time it comes back to whoever starts as dealer or when there’s occasion to celebrate, at the halfway mark too. Your game sounds pretty degen; need more of those guys over in DC

 

[BatteredAggie]

We are more friends playing poker than poker players being friendly. It’s micro stakes (5c/10c $10 max buy-in) and we mostly play for bragging rights of who was up most by the end of the night. It’s fun memories with friends more than very strategic poker playing.

 

[ontheriver51]

This is likely stemming from the tiny buy in. Give out chips at $1 for $1 in chips instead of 2-1 and either lower the blinds or increase the buy in. The best way to prevent a jam fest is to be at least a couple hundred big blinds deep. The challenge is finding a sweet spot between players not caring about the money and the caring too much about the money. You want it to be slightly unpleasant for the losers, but not so bad that they can’t afford to play the following week

 

[LeCoq]

In my exp the $25 buy-in (without match the stack) just turns into people blasting off stack after stack.
We do .25/.50 with a $50 buy in with match the stack. We also do 2bb dealers choice bomb pots that can get silly. It ends up playing relatively big still but it kind of levels out.

I am embarrassed to say I have heard of match the stack, but do not really know how that works.

Nothing like a good ole poker game with 20 rebuys !!! Nothing wrong with that. It brings excitment and juices up the pots. Home games are supposed to be for fun and to chirp each other ! Well mine are lol

It was fun and wild, but I ended up playing really tight for survival. I folded AQo which I knida wanted to play.

My game is going well, after being mothballed for the past 7 years. lol. Players are having fun, PCF people convinced me that a hot dog roller IS a good idea. I bought one, the players will meet it next Friday night.

I only do tournaments, with cash games for the losers table... if they desire.

I do free tournaments during the week in 2 leagues so I like a small cash game to keep it interesting.

At present ….

View attachment 1400377

I’ve been working hard to find some of my old card club, and haven’t been able to land a game, but I’m not gonna give up. It could take a long time, but perseverance paid off before.

Also working closely with another club director, who needs to use my space, and I’ll run some inter league games possibly at my place and rebuild a network of players.

Can’t wait to establish a vibe!

It's not easy to keep the game going. I have a small regular pool and a larger extended pool from the 2 leagues and my work. About 40 players total. So far I have only not had a weekly game about 3 times in 3 months.

We try to do a couple things in our NYC home game: (i) most important thing is to keep it light - everyone invited has to be a good hang and comfortable in the environment; (ii) no one should be getting too hurt in this game, so bomb pots / stand up game / etc occurs maximum once an hour (iii) we enjoy playing deeper stack; some of us are ok playing a variety of stakes, so we try to chose blinds based on who’s coming, (iv) good pizza and beer.

Agreed. I have stand up game buttons, but I have only used once for free to teach the table the game and I ended up with 3 buttons and the table did not want to play. Honestly there is so much action that this has not been necessary.

Soju shots every time it comes back to whoever starts as dealer or when there’s occasion to celebrate, at the halfway mark too. Your game sounds pretty degen; need more of those guys over in DC

Let's party. Prefer sake over soju.

We are more friends playing poker than poker players being friendly. It’s micro stakes (5c/10c $10 max buy-in) and we mostly play for bragging rights of who was up most by the end of the night. It’s fun memories with friends more than very strategic poker playing.

This was my original intent. I had to open up in order to keep the game going. It's all good, making more friends.

This is likely stemming from the tiny buy in. Give out chips at $1 for $1 in chips instead of 2-1 and either lower the blinds or increase the buy in. The best way to prevent a jam fest is to be at least a couple hundred big blinds deep. The challenge is finding a sweet spot between players not caring about the money and the caring too much about the money. You want it to be slightly unpleasant for the losers, but not so bad that they can’t afford to play the following week

I agree about the tiny buy in. I am willing to raise it, but still afraid some people will jam. Some of my players own their own businesses so $25 or $50 or $100 is probably not a deterrent. It's challenging just fielding a group of players to make the game happen. It's a different roster each week. There is a core of 4 or 5, but life happens and not everyone can attend every week.