Home Game "Fee"? (1 Viewer)

For me,

I am trying to start a new group to enjoy a social game of poker. I decided to put it together and so I alone plan to inject my own cash into providing refreshments and snacks. I've promised drinks, nuts, chips, ice and water..along with access to my fridge and toilet.

I expect no return. Just a happy group of people who want to enjoy fun poker.

I accepted from the start that to form a group would set me back a minor amount of a grocery bill. No big deal.

I figure if my dream comes true, and the game takes off and grows to solid MTTs then I can get creative with minimal cheap rakes for food and trophy and year end extravaganza that I've dreamt up.

No rake! It's food and water. I provide it..
 
For me,

I am trying to start a new group to enjoy a social game of poker. I decided to put it together and so I alone plan to inject my own cash into providing refreshments and snacks. I've promised drinks, nuts, chips, ice and water..along with access to my fridge and toilet.

I expect no return. Just a happy group of people who want to enjoy fun poker.

I accepted from the start that to form a group would set me back a minor amount of a grocery bill. No big deal.

I figure if my dream comes true, and the game takes off and grows to solid MTTs then I can get creative with minimal cheap rakes for food and trophy and year end extravaganza that I've dreamt up.

No rake! It's food and water. I provide it..
“If you buy a hotdog roller, they will come.”
 
“If you buy a hotdog roller, they will come.”

I didn’t realize that @inca911 had posted this picture. Maybe it was my inspiration.

0595710D-AFB6-4A11-A270-7451A365B767.jpeg
 
For those that run a home cash game, do you have a house/food "fee"? If so, how much? Or do your players like to chip in?
I don't have a fee, but anytime we buy new copaq cards all the regulars will split the cost. Just little stuff like that. Everyone mostly chips in for food or anything else. (Trying to convince my regulars to chip in on a new table lol)
 
If I get asked I tell people my cost averages $10/person. No requirement to pay.

I usually provide drinks, snacks, Nathan's hot dogs, potato hot dog rolls, home brewed beer, open Whiskey bar. No one goes crazy so it's not a problem even if no one paid. But belive if someone downed a premium Whiskey over the night I'd have a talk. Some of my Whiskey is over $500 a bottle.

That's why it's usually well known characters that come.
 
When I hosted 3 to 4 times per month, I had a bar that was stocked better than most restaurant bars. We even were brewing our own beer.

I had prices on all the booze to cover my cost. For example, a shot of Patron was $3, a double was $5. This allowed me to keep stocking a large amount of high quality booze, including good Bourbons and Scotch. It gave my players a chance to try expensive shit without having to buy a bottle. They loved it. It worked well. I even kept a tab open for the regulars. For stuck players, I would give out free drinks from time to time. Never made a dime off of it all. I would even pay into the bar fund for my own drinks. It all went into the bar.

When things were winding down and I knew that I wasn't going to be hosting much longer, it become "open bar" until the booze was gone.

All of this was totally illegal, of course...but I figure that the statute of limitations has run out. It's been 11 years.

This just gave me an idea. Two shelves are in my game room. Bottom shelf will be jim beam, cuervo and smirnoff, anyone can drink whenever they want. Top shelf will be Buffalo Trace, Cazadores and ketel one, and will have a jar for "honor bar" pay what you want to. Or donate a bottle to the top shelf and drink anything you want.
 
This just gave me an idea. Two shelves are in my game room. Bottom shelf will be jim beam, cuervo and smirnoff, anyone can drink whenever they want. Top shelf will be Buffalo Trace, Cazadores and ketel one, and will have a jar for "honor bar" pay what you want to. Or donate a bottle to the top shelf and drink anything you want.

Awesome idea!!!
 
I think this might be the right thread to ask:

In a state where homegames are legal is taking a rake to be put in a promo fund the same as taking a rake to pay the house? It would all be paid back to players but since its a rake it would still make the game no longer "legal" right?
 
Once a year, everyone pays taxes for new decks. 5 bucks a player. There ya go. Past that, it's BYOeverythung
 
I think this might be the right thread to ask:

In a state where homegames are legal is taking a rake to be put in a promo fund the same as taking a rake to pay the house? It would all be paid back to players but since its a rake it would still make the game no longer "legal" right?

Tough call. Please don't substitute this for real legal advice. I think if you pay it out that night (high hand of the evening) it's tougher for a nitty DA to make the case the house is profiting. If it's a longer term Bad Beat Jackpot that could disappear at any time, then I think you run some risk. And I know you are in a casino town, so it probably depends on whether or not law enforcement is friendly with them in terms of stomping out competition.

Personally I am glad to accept gratuities. I usually get 1-2 from enough players and leave it at that. I don't provide anything too expensive. Ice water and punch to drink, everyone else is encouraged to bring a snack or chip in on a food order. That pretty much works.

Also the upside to hosting is saving on gas to go play elsewhere :).
 
As a host of a game every two weeks, I provide a growler of beer, sodas, a couple bowls of nuts/trail mix, popcorn, and some kind of snack (usually my killer guacamole and chips). I do not “charge” for this per se but by mutual agreement I don’t pay the fee for the $20 add-on at the break. This only partially offsets my small hosting cost per session, but it makes the annual hit from hosting a couple dozen games per year pretty modest.

Some players bring something else to drink if they want more than the above. Plus there’s the occasional donation of a bottle for everyone to partake of, or vegetables from someone’s garden, or other small contributions. For a time one player was dating a woman who worked in a wine shop, so for a while we always had a couple bottles on hand, but that dried up (literally)... I don’t offer a full meal, but if someone worked late and rushed to the game without getting something more to eat, I’ll of course offer them something more from the fridge.
 
P.S. My 2/5 cash game is likewise unraked. Some players will contribute by rounding down when the cash out, some don’t. I could insist on it, but it would amount to probably less than $20 which is less than one typical preflop raise, so what’s the point?
 
I host roughly monthly. I provide food (usually dogs but sometimes my wife cooks), snacks and make sure there is plenty of beer in the fridge. Most of my guys usually bring their own alcohol as well with the remnants always left behind. I rarely have to buy more beer or liquor as it seems to self sustain.

Personally, this is a social thing that I enjoy hosting and it's really the only way I get to play poker regularly. The cost has never been an issue to me.
 
I am very new to hosting.

I LOVE it. The mini fridge is a hit. Best $40 I spent on my poker space.

I also find players bring their own stuff and remnants get left behind.

For me, a few bucks spent on food and drink is pretty minor. The fun I have hosting cannot be tagged with a price.

Maybe this feeling will wear off but I doubt it. I wish I could host every week.

The only fee I'm thinking of, is rake for a huge end of the season extravaganza!! I'm even thinking of adding my own money for the first year and make a super huge prize pool.

I ran a cash game 2 weeks ago and without even asking...was left with the shakeout change from cash out. The players themselves left the money in my pouch.

More than enough to cover the minor expense.
 
I'm from South Louisiana, cooking is what we do. When I host a game, we have a ton of food, but players do bring their own drinks. It is not uncommon for our players to come over and receive a full dinner (we all grew up together for the most part), but a lot of the times, we have simple things like, meatballs and smoked sausage, chicken salad sandwiches, rotel dip, chips, homemade chicken wings, and deviled eggs. Then there's also the occasional homemade burger night.

In for the next one!
 
I am very new to hosting.

I LOVE it. The mini fridge is a hit. Best $40 I spent on my poker space.

I also find players bring their own stuff and remnants get left behind.

For me, a few bucks spent on food and drink is pretty minor. The fun I have hosting cannot be tagged with a price.

Maybe this feeling will wear off but I doubt it. I wish I could host every week.

The only fee I'm thinking of, is rake for a huge end of the season extravaganza!! I'm even thinking of adding my own money for the first year and make a super huge prize pool.

I ran a cash game 2 weeks ago and without even asking...was left with the shakeout change from cash out. The players themselves left the money in my pouch.

More than enough to cover the minor expense.
This is exactly what I do. Happy to supply beer and snacks. If anyone wants to order pizza we'll do it but everyone contributes.

On suggestion though: I understand wanting to have one big game with a large prize pool, but why front the money yourself? If you host mostly cash games, just have everyone buy in for an additional couple of dollars every game and have yourself a bad beat jackpot.
 
This is exactly what I do. Happy to supply beer and snacks. If anyone wants to order pizza we'll do it but everyone contributes.

On suggestion though: I understand wanting to have one big game with a large prize pool, but why front the money yourself? If you host mostly cash games, just have everyone buy in for an additional couple of dollars every game and have yourself a bad beat jackpot.
Yes...that is a good point. I think I was thinking about it only in the first year and because I haven't raked anything so far, I'm already a bit behind to plan a year ender.

But you are right man, most other hosts agree to not front my own money. Its something I think about but I will take your suggestion and strongly consider options. Still lots of time left. Many games to host. Can throw a few extra games to make up ground...
 

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