"Competition" from casinos vs your home game? (1 Viewer)

[OKYJJ]

Hi, new here (long time lurker though).

I wanted to see if anyone has any interesting stories or good advice regarding maintaining your home-game player base while living in an area where there are plenty of casinos for people to play at.

I rarely play at a casino; I prefer home games where all the money goes home with friends and family. I have some good regular players, and some of them are pretty active at the casinos. Sometimes we hit slumps where attendance gets lower and I need to take a break for several months until people "miss" it. Here are some issues I sometimes run into:

- Impatience with people shuffling or with having to shuffle. For people who have the disposable income and like to play poker, it's hard to compete with a place they can go that has professional dealers.

- Impatience with people not paying attention to the game. OK, this one is mostly ME being impatient. Drives me crazy. I want to play poker, and I like to host, but I wish people would focus more so we can get more play in. Don't get me wrong, I like the socializing and chatting, but it seems like only a minority are situationally-aware enough to only talk when it's not slowing down the action.

- Balancing the buy-in for people who are just learning to play poker vs people who routinely play for much higher stakes.

That's all for now. I'm just curious to hear others' experience, and things you do to keep people coming back to your home game month after month.

 

[Highli99]

It’s hard striking the right balance between people looking to “have fun” and people who want to play poker. I try to find people who like the game, study the game, but don’t get to play often for whatever reason. They seem to fit in well and are more patient with the occasional player who is slowing the action. With those kind of players I try to keep things moving without being too much of a Sherriff.

Part of the fun of a home game is the mix of characters you can curate and the dynamics that develop over time. Even “casino regulars” will come to home games over a casino if the game is run well and the dynamics are good. Something fun about telling the same stories every game and the various inside jokes that develop when you play with the same core of people for years.

 

[glom]

IME you need to offer something the casino doesn’t offer. In the case of noobs, a more relaxed atmosphere and lower stakes with a few experienced friends who are willing to talk about hands when they have questions is a great way to help new players develop.

Offering games that the casino doesn’t is also awesome. My semi-regular home game is a cutthroat bunch of experienced casino winners playing games from abby’s Mixed games cards in a dealer choice format. Way more fun than casino holdem.

If you’re just trying to have a holdem home game with stakes they can get at the casino, the no-rake is your only incentive, and this may not be enough as casinos are always running and more flexible with time, schedule, food, drinks, etc.

 

[upNdown]

You might try finding a friend who's willing to deal instead of play - you don't exactly need a "professional" - just somebody who's competent. A guy on these boards runs a $1/$1 game and he has a buddy deal. They rake a buck out of every pot that goes to a flop, for the dealer. With that and tips, I think the dealer is getting out of there with well over $20 per hour.

 

[MegaTon44]

Great question. I live near multiple casinos in PA and understand your concern. I have a poker group of 260 people (granted only maybe 30% have ever played in the 3 years my monthly game ran). Here are some things I learned:

• You need a steady dealer(s). Let them deal for tips. My dealers make about $30-$40/hr, which is great for folks who need to earn extra money and it helps the game tremendously.
• Provide some incentive for people - food, soda, water, beer, whatever. In return, ask them to be extra generous to the dealers.
• Don't take a rake. It kills the game for a lot of people.
• If you have more than one table, make one table a smaller buy-in and one a higher buy-in (same stakes at both though to allow for switching). It helps to balance out the less serious vs more serious players.
• Realize that some people are just about the gamble and your game may never give them the rush they need.

Most importantly, don't get down when attendance is light. I've gotten some great feedback over the years on my game, and I still cancel once in a while because of minimal interest. It happens.

Good luck!

 

[Gobbs]

Just to pile on, the designated dealer is the way to go and should solve your first two issues. I suggest finding somebody willing to deal and have them read this:

https://www.amazon.com/Professional...4625092&sr=8-1&keywords=poker+dealer+handbook

They will more than make up the cost of the book with extra tips. A good dealer who can control the game and deal efficiently makes the game more enjoyable for everybody.

Now, the buy-in issue, that's a bit stickier. I think you'll just have to work that one out on your own. Consider mixing it up and talking to your players a lot to see what they want.