Casino night turnout. (2 Viewers)

Sparkynutz

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I hosted a casino night last night. planned 2 months in advance with reminders every few weeks until this week I updated every other day with pictures.
I re-arranged the living room to make room for 3 tables plus the kitchen bar for craps/roulette. I made a horse racing game and organized all the chips.
Day of party out of 30+ invites only 4 people showed up. Two of them showed up 20 minutes early since I posted first Holdem tournament starts at 3pm sharp. I've played with these two brothers close to 20 times over the last 20 years. Unfortunately the majority of the guys we used to play with is down to 5 other guys that could not make it or hate holdem to the point they won't come if its played.
The reason I hosted the party is because my camping buddy wanted me to. He showed up an hour late but luckily his friend with an hour drive picked him up and brought him which is why they were late. He wasn't planning on coming but did since we told him we needed more guys. The 3 of us played a bunch of games of horse racing while waiting till the other 2 got here. Turned out to be a pretty good filler game too between holdem games. The 5 of us played 4 holdem games. $5 twice, $10, then last game was $20. No limit, no rebuy, paying 1st and 2nd place on all games. We played blackjack once for 15 minutes with dealer rotating and using unlimited house chip tray to pay out. Turned out ok but one guy didn't like being dealer so it wasn't played again. We never played craps or roulette which I was recalling looking forward to. My neighbor I borrowed the wheel and felts from got forced to work late or he woulda been here to show us how it all works.
Typically when I played with the two brothers we played nothing but dealers choice rotating dealers playing random weird games. I'm not the best player and rarely come out ahead but it's definitely more fun playing with and losing to friends than the casino.
This time we didn't do that since 3 of us were a little tight on cash but had fun playing holdem anyways.
A bunch of the people I was hoping would show had stuff come up which is understandable, a few felt really bad I knew would have definitely came if they could. A few swore to me they'd be there for sure then didn't show up. One guy almost always complains nobody comes to his parties yet he never gives more than an hour notice that hes having one. He promised he'd come and talked up the party for 2 months then said he had too much crap to get done around the house.
I call bs, he rarely does anything around the house. We called him 3 times before he finally answered and he never responded to any of the messages I sent all week. I told my camping buddy (also friends with him) that he always pulls that crap yet first to complain about everyone else.
Overall the party went ok considering but damn its frustrating with the amount of work I put in for such a poor turnout.
I think next time I will plan only a few weeks in advance, give less reminders and only have 2 tables in the basement or garage. With only 5 guys I figured the house would stay cleanish but my camping buddy got drunk off his rocker made a mess and I was a little worried he'd break something. Its not an issue out camping but kinda frustrating in my dining room with borrowed casino supplies.
Hopefully Next time is better and I can find some more responsible regular guys to play with.
My neighbor about 10 houses down has a sweet setup in his garage with a bar, table and TV that I see him regularly playing with friends when I drive or ride bike with my kids past. Every time I've said hi nobody is friendly or even says hi back or it would be cool to combine games and guys. Enough groveling I guess.
I need to get my post count up so I can post a wanted listing for some Red, Pink, Yellow, Orange dice chips to add to what I do have. Someday maybe get some good chips but until I get a group of regulars weeded out some dice chips will do just fine. Hopefully there's someone on here looking to give them a new home for cheap. Otherwise I'll end up spending 15-20 cents a chip on shit chips to get the colors I want.
 
This might sound crazy but sometimes the best and fullest games I host are the day of spur of the moment. Start with the 3o and at noon ask each one for a “head count tonight at 5pm”. “In or out?” Keep in simple. If you get 7 or 8 YES or IN just reply back to all 30 “Game on at 5pm”. Oh ya and keep trying, they will come.
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Honestly the people that pull that last minute “I can’t make it crap” are off my list, permanently. If they do it more than twice it’s over. Best thing you can do it keep meeting new people and inviting people. It takes a while, sometimes years, but eventually you’ll end up with a core group of people that are respectful and care about doing stuff together. I find the vast majority of these people are ones that host and plan themselves. They get it. Just keep filtering your invite list.
 
the closer to the time is usually the better. check when your friends are free before setting a date in stone! i wanted to play tonight and so did a couple of others, but we would only be playing 5-handed, which we would unanimously agree is usually is quite boring. should be playing 9-handed on Sunday if all goes to plan, which would be the biggest cash game we've played as a group.
 
I think consistency is the key. If they know it’s “every Thursday at 7” for example, the dedicated ones will start to make it a priority and it becomes something they schedule other things around, instead of just trying to fit poker in every once in a while.
 
I think consistency is the key. If they know it’s “every Thursday at 7” for example, the dedicated ones will start to make it a priority and it becomes something they schedule other things around, instead of just trying to fit poker in every once in a while.
this probably works great for your group, impossible for mine as it's mostly uni students so we're split across the country during term times.
 
this probably works great for your group, impossible for mine as it's mostly uni students so we're split across the country during term times.
K good luck. Do you have games during term then? I’d guess it would be hard for students to travel across country just for a game, but if your trying to run games during term, well I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.
 
K good luck. Do you have games during term then? I’d guess it would be hard for students to travel across country just for a game, but if your trying to run games during term, well I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.
No we try to just cram as much poker in during December, April and June-September. We lost one of our regs due to him moving closer to uni. we're gonna play only 1 or 2 more games before December, but i'm gonna use the time we're not playing to finish my cash set and work on arrangements for a rhc solid tourney set
 
we try to just cram as much poker in during December, April and June-September.
So during those times can you fix a constant start time and day so you friends know it’s happening on that day always and they can plan for it?
 
So during those times can you fix a constant start time and day so you friends know it’s happening on that day always and they can plan for it?
my friends are pretty good. only ever had 1 dropout and that was due to family reasons. we usually start between 3pm and 5pm and play for around 4 hours. I organise things, just try to see what days people are free and go from there. If we were all done with uni I would probably switch to a fixed date and time every fortnight
 
I hosted a casino night last night. planned 2 months in advance with reminders every few weeks until this week I updated every other day with pictures.
I re-arranged the living room to make room for 3 tables plus the kitchen bar for craps/roulette. I made a horse racing game and organized all the chips.
Day of party out of 30+ invites only 4 people showed up. Two of them showed up 20 minutes early since I posted first Holdem tournament starts at 3pm sharp. I've played with these two brothers close to 20 times over the last 20 years. Unfortunately the majority of the guys we used to play with is down to 5 other guys that could not make it or hate holdem to the point they won't come if its played.
The reason I hosted the party is because my camping buddy wanted me to. He showed up an hour late but luckily his friend with an hour drive picked him up and brought him which is why they were late. He wasn't planning on coming but did since we told him we needed more guys. The 3 of us played a bunch of games of horse racing while waiting till the other 2 got here. Turned out to be a pretty good filler game too between holdem games. The 5 of us played 4 holdem games. $5 twice, $10, then last game was $20. No limit, no rebuy, paying 1st and 2nd place on all games. We played blackjack once for 15 minutes with dealer rotating and using unlimited house chip tray to pay out. Turned out ok but one guy didn't like being dealer so it wasn't played again. We never played craps or roulette which I was recalling looking forward to. My neighbor I borrowed the wheel and felts from got forced to work late or he woulda been here to show us how it all works.
Typically when I played with the two brothers we played nothing but dealers choice rotating dealers playing random weird games. I'm not the best player and rarely come out ahead but it's definitely more fun playing with and losing to friends than the casino.
This time we didn't do that since 3 of us were a little tight on cash but had fun playing holdem anyways.
A bunch of the people I was hoping would show had stuff come up which is understandable, a few felt really bad I knew would have definitely came if they could. A few swore to me they'd be there for sure then didn't show up. One guy almost always complains nobody comes to his parties yet he never gives more than an hour notice that hes having one. He promised he'd come and talked up the party for 2 months then said he had too much crap to get done around the house.
I call bs, he rarely does anything around the house. We called him 3 times before he finally answered and he never responded to any of the messages I sent all week. I told my camping buddy (also friends with him) that he always pulls that crap yet first to complain about everyone else.
Overall the party went ok considering but damn its frustrating with the amount of work I put in for such a poor turnout.
I think next time I will plan only a few weeks in advance, give less reminders and only have 2 tables in the basement or garage. With only 5 guys I figured the house would stay cleanish but my camping buddy got drunk off his rocker made a mess and I was a little worried he'd break something. Its not an issue out camping but kinda frustrating in my dining room with borrowed casino supplies.
Hopefully Next time is better and I can find some more responsible regular guys to play with.
My neighbor about 10 houses down has a sweet setup in his garage with a bar, table and TV that I see him regularly playing with friends when I drive or ride bike with my kids past. Every time I've said hi nobody is friendly or even says hi back or it would be cool to combine games and guys. Enough groveling I guess.
I need to get my post count up so I can post a wanted listing for some Red, Pink, Yellow, Orange dice chips to add to what I do have. Someday maybe get some good chips but until I get a group of regulars weeded out some dice chips will do just fine. Hopefully there's someone on here looking to give them a new home for cheap. Otherwise I'll end up spending 15-20 cents a chip on shit chips to get the colors I want.
Let me guess, you are in your late/mid 30s, mid 40s?
 
my friends are pretty good. only ever had 1 dropout and that was due to family reasons. we usually start between 3pm and 5pm and play for around 4 hours. I organise things, just try to see what days people are free and go from there. If we were all done with uni I would probably switch to a fixed date and time every fortnight
Sorry I thought I was talking to the OP. My comments were directed to the OP that was having troubles filling his casino night.
 
Stuff like this has been a problem for a while. So many people are so flaky nowadays. It's either people commit and then drop out last minute, or people just refuse to even respond to invites entirely. I guess I'm just crazy, but if I get an invite to a poker game that I can't make it to, I actually email/PM/text the guy back and say so. I'm probably just a weirdo though.
 
Doesn't really matter what I'm invited to. I always respond. They took the time to invite me the least I could do is be honest and respond right? How long does that typically take. 30 seconds for a text tops.
 
I've had to 'train' my crew over the years on this. Still one old guy I have doesn't always understand that 'full' means 'you can't just show up and get a seat' so I text him before the games that 'you didn't tell me you are in, and I do not have an open seat in the game tomorrow, but let me know if you want me to tell you if someone late cancels.'
Stuff like this has been a problem for a while. So many people are so flaky nowadays. It's either people commit and then drop out last minute, or people just refuse to even respond to invites entirely. I guess I'm just crazy, but if I get an invite to a poker game that I can't make it to, I actually email/PM/text the guy back and say so. I'm probably just a weirdo though.
 
Hi OP, the first game is always the hardest don’t give up eventually you will be the neighbour that hosting regular game weekly

Word of advise keep it simple and small at the start 6-8 people are consider good turn out at the start

I still remember my first game we planned for 6 and only 4 show up but that day i made 3 good Hold’em Friends

It take some time to build up the list and Now we having regular 6 handed poker weekly
 
Poker is not necessarily a great game for the casual and non gamblers. Blackjack can be a little more friendly because it's easy to learn and most have a passing knowledge of the rules/objectives.
 
We actually did play Blackjack and it didn't go that well. If I played the house I'd be losing my ass every time somebody won so we rotated dealer and they would use the chip box sitting out from betting themselves. There was a couple guys didn't care for it the way we're playing it and then we just saw who won the most chips at the end of 15 minutes and they won the pot of $5 per person to play it.
I really miss playing sheep head like I did in high school but nobody knows how to play it that I'm friends with and they don't seem to care to learn.
I was almost tempted to visit some old folks homes or senior centers to see if they'd allow me to play. I'm only 40 though and I don't know anybody in the old folks home
 

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