First Cash game this week. Converting Tourney players. Thoughts? (2 Viewers)

fishandchips

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I had a strong gang of poker pals, based around a weekly pub game (up to 9 players) and additional games at peoples houses. £10 buyin at the pub straight freezeout. £20 at home games, minimal re-buy(1/2 stack saver), £5 a head bounty sometimes. The pub game folded and then the home games too, people either didn't have the room for a game or didn't want a game in their house. My poker room filed up with project/work stuff.

My offer of a cash game this week has been well received by some, silence from others so far. Got enough (5) to run it, but I expect it to fill (10).

STRUCTURE: 10max, Blinds 10p/10p. Initial buy-in £10. Any time you are below or equal to £10, you may top up by £5. No matching to the big stack for now, I want to keep it small, make people earn their stacks, and don't want people turning up late and buying in big. Am thinking of allowing people to top up to 1/2 of what they had before the hand they just lost, eg a £50 stack who loses £40 on a hand can top up to £25 (with some rounding rules to keep it at £5 increments).

DEALING: We self dealt before. The core gang are competent, and we've always been strict on dealing procedures. But my table is 10 seater (2.1m/83inch) so dealing from the ends is far from ideal, and there might be newbies and even old hands who are wary of dealing a new format. I've decided I want either 1 or 2 player dealers, and there will be a dealer charge to cover that. I've spoken to one of the guys who used to run pub games and he's keen to help get this game going and will attend as often as he can, he will deal or share the deal with someone whenever he is there. I'm willing to deal if need be although prefer to just be bank/host/waiter.

FEES: As a principle I want players to cover costs rather than fund this game out of my pocket, I will already be putting in time and effort so don't want to put in cash as well. I will likely be a winning or break even player depending who keeps coming, my aims are not to profit from the game but I will be trying to win which sounds a bit like the same thing but it's not. The blinds are set just high enough for people to respect the game. Cards are consumables but I will cover those. I've written off the denominated chips I just bought for the game and I don't expect the players to cover my future customs. So I won't be charging for the poker. In another thread I said I would be charging for my whisky, getting some good feedback on that and am undecided. I want to be a good host, but not to the extent of running a weekly free bar.

INVITE METHOD: We are used to open invites, with first to reply "I'm in" gets a seat. I like open-ness generally but from reading al the comments I can see benefits to doing something more private, even just if the game is over subscribed I don't want those who live on their phone to be the only ones who get in. How do you handle private invites? If you got a message saying "Do you want to play next Tuesday, 7 in already" would you be offended? How about: "Next game Wednesday(5 days time), 12hrs to secure seat".

ACCEPTANCE: No-one has ever not turned up to a home tourney before, but the game theory is obvious: if there is no punishment just say yes even if only 10% chance you will attend. So I'm thinking that they send me the intial buy-in to secure the seat and it's non-refundable (money goes into some bonus pots). This deals with all the various ways people express their probability. The £10 wouldn't be buying you the right to cancel, it would be minimal compensation to the other players and you'd still be subject to further action.

Comments ?
 
STRUCTURE: 10max, Blinds 10p/10p. Initial buy-in £10. Any time you are below or equal to £10, you may top up by £5. No matching to the big stack for now, I want to keep it small, make people earn their stacks, and don't want people turning up late and buying in big. Am thinking of allowing people to top up to 1/2 of what they had before the hand they just lost, eg a £50 stack who loses £40 on a hand can top up to £25 (with some rounding rules to keep it at £5 increments).

I agree about not being able to add on up to the deep stack. In my game, I allow players to rebuy for up to half of the deep stack.

It sounds like you are making this more complicated that what it needs to be. If it works for you, great. I like to keep things simple. Here is how we do it.

My cash game buy in is $100.00's. I allow rebuys or add on's to be $100 bucks, or half of the deep stack. Most of my players rebuy at the $100 mark. There are only a few of us that take advantage of "half the deep stack rule".

DEALING: We self dealt before. The core gang are competent, and we've always been strict on dealing procedures. But my table is 10 seater (2.1m/83inch) so dealing from the ends is far from ideal, and there might be newbies and even old hands who are wary of dealing a new format. I've decided I want either 1 or 2 player dealers, and there will be a dealer charge to cover that. I've spoken to one of the guys who used to run pub games and he's keen to help get this game going and will attend as often as he can, he will deal or share the deal with someone whenever he is there. I'm willing to deal if need be although prefer to just be bank/host/waiter.

I am not a fan of paying dealers to deal a low stakes cash game. If the guys can't deal from the ends, have one of the players in the middle of the table deal for him. Just make sure you are using a dealer button.

FEES: As a principle I want players to cover costs rather than fund this game out of my pocket, I will already be putting in time and effort so don't want to put in cash as well. I will likely be a winning or break even player depending who keeps coming, my aims are not to profit from the game but I will be trying to win which sounds a bit like the same thing but it's not. The blinds are set just high enough for people to respect the game. Cards are consumables but I will cover those. I've written off the denominated chips I just bought for the game and I don't expect the players to cover my future customs. So I won't be charging for the poker. In another thread I said I would be charging for my whisky, getting some good feedback on that and am undecided. I want to be a good host, but not to the extent of running a weekly free bar.

I don't like charging players. Instead, I would ask players to donate snacks, drinks, ect....

INVITE METHOD: We are used to open invites, with first to reply "I'm in" gets a seat. I like open-ness generally but from reading al the comments I can see benefits to doing something more private, even just if the game is over subscribed I don't want those who live on their phone to be the only ones who get in. How do you handle private invites? If you got a message saying "Do you want to play next Tuesday, 7 in already" would you be offended? How about: "Next game Wednesday(5 days time), 12hrs to secure seat".

Sounds good. I wouldn't be offended. I send out invites to the guys that are reliable, play until at least midnight, and most importantly, guys that I have fun hanging out with.

ACCEPTANCE: No-one has ever not turned up to a home tourney before, but the game theory is obvious: if there is no punishment just say yes even if only 10% chance you will attend. So I'm thinking that they send me the intial buy-in to secure the seat and it's non-refundable (money goes into some bonus pots). This deals with all the various ways people express their probability. The £10 wouldn't be buying you the right to cancel, it would be minimal compensation to the other players and you'd still be subject to further action.

I wouldn't play if you asked for the money upfront to cover my buy in. I think this will lead to all kinds of problems. I have had players no show, or routinely cancel with late notice. I simply stop inviting them.

Clear and concise communication can help with this. Set your expectations with the group and politely let them know that if they cancel or no show it could lead to them not being invited back.

B
 
Maybe offer a turbo tournament and a cash game after to entice the tourney players to give it a shot? I personally don't like cash cause I'm motivated by the prospect of winning. but I might give a turbo + cash a try.
 
I want to give pure cash a go, because I feel it will be better overall. I'm not certain of this though.

We have done some cash play but only after a tourney and it was always mixed games that most of us didn't understand and it was mad all-ins and gambling. I can understand why 'serious players' would not be attracted to the thought of 4 hours of that.

Elsewhere I've said what I don't like about freezeout tourneys even though my gang don't want to play anything else. Basically going somewhere and then having nothing to do when knocked out (or worse, having to sit and watch a bunch of people having fun in my house when I'm knocked out). The format encourages nitty play followed by the shove fest.

Re-buy tourneys will be my next attempt if cash fails to get established.

I am going to offer the carrot of alternating tourney & cash, and let the market decide. But not until people have indulged my experiment :)
 
Initially my home table was tourney style, but because it is cut throat, with no rebuys, those out early were forced to wait until the next game, waiting sometime hours to play again. We decided as a group to try cash game, and we have never had any itch to go back to tourney style. Unlimited buy in, 4.5 hours of play time.
No one makes a fortune or goes home poor. Our buy in is $25, with rebuys allowed once a stack get to $6 or less. One can only buy a max of $25 at a time.
We have 8 players, dealer choice between texas hold'em, pineapple and Omaha. 90% deals are hold'em. We change decks 3 times during the session.
We play twice a month at my game, once a week at a friends home game. The friend's home game is 95% Omaha.
We have fun as a group. I offer free drinks and lite snack at my game, but it's mostly soda and water. only 2 of us drink alcolol, so a few beer or a shot of whiskey is about the max each session. I don't mind footing the bill for that. At cash outs, most always round down to the nearest $5, so the house gets a few$$ from that here and there. All ins are typically when a player is down to a few chips....bigger raises are usually $5.

Good Luck with your game.
 
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I had a strong gang of poker pals, based around a weekly pub game (up to 9 players) and additional games at peoples houses. £10 buyin at the pub straight freezeout. £20 at home games, minimal re-buy(1/2 stack saver), £5 a head bounty sometimes. The pub game folded and then the home games too, people either didn't have the room for a game or didn't want a game in their house. My poker room filed up with project/work stuff.

My offer of a cash game this week has been well received by some, silence from others so far. Got enough (5) to run it, but I expect it to fill (10).

STRUCTURE: 10max, Blinds 10p/10p. Initial buy-in £10. Any time you are below or equal to £10, you may top up by £5. No matching to the big stack for now, I want to keep it small, make people earn their stacks, and don't want people turning up late and buying in big. Am thinking of allowing people to top up to 1/2 of what they had before the hand they just lost, eg a £50 stack who loses £40 on a hand can top up to £25 (with some rounding rules to keep it at £5 increments).

DEALING: We self dealt before. The core gang are competent, and we've always been strict on dealing procedures. But my table is 10 seater (2.1m/83inch) so dealing from the ends is far from ideal, and there might be newbies and even old hands who are wary of dealing a new format. I've decided I want either 1 or 2 player dealers, and there will be a dealer charge to cover that. I've spoken to one of the guys who used to run pub games and he's keen to help get this game going and will attend as often as he can, he will deal or share the deal with someone whenever he is there. I'm willing to deal if need be although prefer to just be bank/host/waiter.

FEES: As a principle I want players to cover costs rather than fund this game out of my pocket, I will already be putting in time and effort so don't want to put in cash as well. I will likely be a winning or break even player depending who keeps coming, my aims are not to profit from the game but I will be trying to win which sounds a bit like the same thing but it's not. The blinds are set just high enough for people to respect the game. Cards are consumables but I will cover those. I've written off the denominated chips I just bought for the game and I don't expect the players to cover my future customs. So I won't be charging for the poker. In another thread I said I would be charging for my whisky, getting some good feedback on that and am undecided. I want to be a good host, but not to the extent of running a weekly free bar.

INVITE METHOD: We are used to open invites, with first to reply "I'm in" gets a seat. I like open-ness generally but from reading al the comments I can see benefits to doing something more private, even just if the game is over subscribed I don't want those who live on their phone to be the only ones who get in. How do you handle private invites? If you got a message saying "Do you want to play next Tuesday, 7 in already" would you be offended? How about: "Next game Wednesday(5 days time), 12hrs to secure seat".

ACCEPTANCE: No-one has ever not turned up to a home tourney before, but the game theory is obvious: if there is no punishment just say yes even if only 10% chance you will attend. So I'm thinking that they send me the intial buy-in to secure the seat and it's non-refundable (money goes into some bonus pots). This deals with all the various ways people express their probability. The £10 wouldn't be buying you the right to cancel, it would be minimal compensation to the other players and you'd still be subject to further action.

Comments ?
At least in my opinion the key to a good cash game is having the right stakes. To little and people do stupid things, to high and people play scared. Tough to get it right to keep people coming back.
 
At least in my opinion the key to a good cash game is having the right stakes. To little and people do stupid things, to high and people play scared. Tough to get it right to keep people coming back.
That is a great point. Your blinds will dictate the aggressiveness at the table, as will your player compete levels. I'm lucky that all my players are reasonable and we all just want to play poker and enjoy the session. No one is there to play poker as a living.
 
IMO the big draw for tournaments for many beginner players is that you know exactly how much money is at risk. With Cash Games, that amount can be 2-5 times larger, depending on the game and willingness to try to play to the end of the scheduled evening.

So if your group is willing to put in 20 (pounds - can't figure how to do the squiggly L) for a tournament buy in and maybe another 10-20 for a rebuy (you weren't clear on the rebuy cost), then you might want to find a way to make your cash game have similar risk. Your idea of a 10 initial buyin and top ups of 5 seems to hit that spot, so it sounds like most players should be okay with that.

If it were me, I would also consider adding some other games (Pineapple variants, Omaha variants, etc) to the mix, rather than sticking with plain vanilla NLHE. Maybe even Limit variations of Draw or Stud (7 card), etc., just to get people used to exploring these games at low risk.
 
The blinds are set just high enough for people to respect the game
When is 10/10c blind is a high enough stake for ppl to respect, people might even argue $1/$2 is not even high enough.

You going to get ton of callers / multi way each hand.

In another thread I said I would be charging for my whisky
You prob want to just try and focus getting a group going for the first few sessions, no point thinking about all the "cost/expenses" at the start.
 
STRUCTURE: 10max,

I hate 10-handed cash games. They play very slow, and it allows people to nit it up even more than 9-handed. And as you say, it can be a nightmare to deal, so you really do want someone competent to sit in the middle and handle that if possible. Anyway, I would suggest 9max. And for me 7-8 handed cash games are the sweet spot. More hands, less folding, less crowding at the table, more fun.

Blinds 10p/10p. Initial buy-in £10. Any time you are below or equal to £10, you may top up by £5. No matching to the big stack for now, I want to keep it small, make people earn their stacks, and don't want people turning up late and buying in big. Am thinking of allowing people to top up to 1/2 of what they had before the hand they just lost, eg a £50 stack who loses £40 on a hand can top up to £25 (with some rounding rules to keep it at £5 increments).

This seems way too complicated for even a seasoned cash host to track. I would recommend just running it like a normal cash game: You can top off anytime (up to the max), or rebuy up to the max if felted. I also allow rebuys for half the biggest stack, for when things get deep late in the game. Match the biggest stack can get hairy unless your players are really well-rolled.

FEES: [...] In another thread I said I would be charging for my whisky, getting some good feedback on that and am undecided. I want to be a good host, but not to the extent of running a weekly free bar.

Unlike some PCFers who disagree very strongly, I think if you are laying out food/drinks/booze on the regular, then it is fair to ask players to contribute... especially in a small stakes game where the cost of the spread is high relative to the buy-ins.

The question is how to do it.

I used to just ask players to chip in whatever they wanted. Most would toss in $10-$20 at the end of the night. But this created an awkward situation where a few cheapskates never contributed, or some people just forgot unless I nagged them... so really 3-4 players were carrying about half the cost, and I was donating the other half. I didn’t mind so much, because the cost of the spread was pretty trivial compared to the cash flying around in a 2/5 game. But over the course of a year, hosting every other week, it can add up. And the players who were pulling their weight can start to grumble about others who aren't.

So now—while I still don’t rake the game in the sense that a casino does—we do set $20 aside out of each “big” pot of $400 or more, only until the grub is paid for. It usually takes 5-6 big pots to get there, depending. Then it’s totally unraked. I’m still covering sodas and some wine/booze myself. Considering that we have some pots which top $2,000-$3,000 at times, $20 is nothing (1% or less).

The players seem to prefer this because (a) they don’t have to think about it, (b) it’s a trivial expense for the convenience of not having to bring your own food/drink/snacks, and (c) winners are effectively covering it. Over the course of the year, that evens out.

P.S. I would never try to recoup costs of tables/chairs/chips/etc. because those are my own property, which I can sell anytime and get back a large chunk of what they are worth (sometimes more).

INVITE METHOD: We are used to open invites, with first to reply "I'm in" gets a seat. I like open-ness generally but from reading al the comments I can see benefits to doing something more private, even just if the game is over subscribed I don't want those who live on their phone to be the only ones who get in. How do you handle private invites? If you got a message saying "Do you want to play next Tuesday, 7 in already" would you be offended? How about: "Next game Wednesday(5 days time), 12hrs to secure seat".

It can take a while to develop a ranking, but I generally start with inviting my most favorite and most regular players, four days in advance, to give them a chance to reserve a spot first. Then I move to Tier 2 after 6-12 hours, then Tier 3 the next day, etc. There are also some players who don’t get an invite until the night before/gameday because I really don’t want/need them unless I’m desperate to fill out the table.
ACCEPTANCE: No-one has ever not turned up to a home tourney before, but the game theory is obvious: if there is no punishment just say yes even if only 10% chance you will attend. So I'm thinking that they send me the intial buy-in to secure the seat and it's non-refundable (money goes into some bonus pots). This deals with all the various ways people express their probability. The £10 wouldn't be buying you the right to cancel, it would be minimal compensation to the other players and you'd still be subject to further action.

I dunno, people can be touchy about this stuff.

A better policy if you are going to “keep” pre-buys made by players who don't show is to hold it for the next time. If after a couple months they still don’t show, then sure, toss it in the general fund (high hand jackpot, etc.).
 
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We start play low stakes (.25/.25) and so easy stack-wise out of the gate ($25-40) that we just go all the way up to the big stack if someone desires. It still stays in the “lemme freshen up for another $60 range.
 
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Game #1 Report:

The maybe turned into can't, and 1 late withdrawal meant it started 7 handed. All had been to my house before, and played together a lot.

FAST is the overall sensation I'm left with. They came, we played NLHE for 3hrs, and they left. We had 2 dealers taking turns, so no pause between hands. I was a bit frazzled, just with doing the bank and acting as waiter. I'll let them get their own drinks next time, but I had the most convenient exit and was needing top up beers often.

There was a lot of action all night, compared to the first tournament level at 200BB. I was the big loser. The weakest of the poker players was the big winner. My non-playing mate lost 2.5 buyins before he was called away early.

Total of 20 buyins on the table by the end (after 3hrs).

All present agreed Saturday nights would be best, given that most of them work. That will allow earlier start and later finish.

I'm in no immediate rush to introduce new games or replace the table with a 7 seater. I'll aim for 8 or 9 players which has the advantage that a no show or early leaver doesn't downgrade the game.

Only one other drinker on this night, brought their own beers. I supplied sodas and tea/coffee to those who didn't bring anything. There was no call for whisky because everyone driving or working next day. A Saturday game will see more walkers/drinkers I'm sure.

I had said we'd tip the dealers at the end, but then failed to remind the winners. But both dealers were winners, and the big winner had picked the dealers up, and took them home. If I want to get tips for the dealers it will probably have to be in game, eg a £1 rake on the biggest pots
 
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Changes for next time:

The dealers were pretty good seeing as how rusty we all were. But because we were mostly experienced they tended not to direct the action as much as I do when dealing and I noticed in particular that this didn't help the newbie. What I mean is things like using your arm to indicate where the action is, calling out the number of players before putting out community cards.

No-one used card protectors (not even using chips), I will hand out pink dice chips and make them compulsory just to make it more obvious who has cards (especially to spot if the dealer is in the hand). We had a few acting out of turn due to this, and also a few due to left of actual dealer (not the button) thinking they were next to act, that's understandable as we are used to self-dealing.
 
Changes for next time:

The dealers were pretty good seeing as how rusty we all were. But because we were mostly experienced they tended not to direct the action as much as I do when dealing and I noticed in particular that this didn't help the newbie. What I mean is things like using your arm to indicate where the action is, calling out the number of players before putting out community cards.

No-one used card protectors (not even using chips), I will hand out pink dice chips and make them compulsory just to make it more obvious who has cards (especially to spot if the dealer is in the hand). We had a few acting out of turn due to this, and also a few due to left of actual dealer (not the button) thinking they were next to act, that's understandable as we are used to self-dealing.
I like some of the points and changes that you will be adding to your next game. I really like the use of the card protector to those that are in the hand, although, as mentioned, the dealer should ask, and announce how many in the pot before turning over the next card. I find the same with my self deal play, that some do not take control of the hand when they are dealing, so I typically have to interject as the host.
 
Funny seeing this thread...

I always run tournaments, for the last 15-20 years. I am switching to cash probably permanently...

the reason? Tournaments require time to plan, blinds to program based on turnout, the constant blinds clock... making sure table talk is a minimum or the blinds will be up before anyone plays barely any hands. I am done with the effort required... it has become a chore to plan and I don't have the time anymore.

Ran my first cash game few weeks back, .25/.25 NLHE, no pressure, just relaxed poker. All my tourney regulars loved it. They also have very busy lives with kids and kids activities next day etc, so they appreciated the idea they could play for a few hours and take off if needed (not the case with tournaments). I might do tournaments in the future but I see myself doing cash games for the foreseeable future.

Glad I bought China clays for my tournament set, and I'm getting Tina's for my cash set... get cheap chips until you know what you want... but it seems everyone needs moar chips, everyone should have a cash and tourney set.
 
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Game #2 report:

Failed to raise players at the weekend, but it ran tonight (Wed). Same gang as last time -1 (= 6 players ). We self dealt this time as we were all in a reasonable huddle at one end of the table.

Monster hands all the time again for me, but instead of 4 buyins down like last week, I was 10 buyins up this time. Twice flopped top set turned into full house vs nut flush.

Half the field left at 2300hrs (pre-planned, sensible end time) but 2 stayed on until 0130hrs.

People have become accustomed to free sodas already, that's fine, I keep the fridge full of sodas anyway for the kids next door. Couple of beers for the late crowd. Total 1 buyin in complimentary drinks, which is fine.

The game slowed up a bit in the middle when someone spotted my speedcubes and it turned out that everyone at the table had an interest in cubing. I had to ban cubing while in a hand because there were too many distracted players.

Nothing much learnt this game, but was probably lucky to run so need to build the player pool.

edit: my on-table cupholders/coasters worked well, see pic
 

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Game #2 report:

Failed to raise players at the weekend, but it ran tonight (Wed). Same gang as last time -1 (= 6 players ). We self dealt this time as we were all in a reasonable huddle at one end of the table.

Monster hands all the time again for me, but instead of 4 buyins down like last week, I was 10 buyins up this time. Twice flopped top set turned into full house vs nut flush.

Half the field left at 2300hrs (pre-planned, sensible end time) but 2 stayed on until 0130hrs.

People have become accustomed to free sodas already, that's fine, I keep the fridge full of sodas anyway for the kids next door. Couple of beers for the late crowd. Total 1 buyin in complimentary drinks, which is fine.

The game slowed up a bit in the middle when someone spotted my speedcubes and it turned out that everyone at the table had an interest in cubing. I had to ban cubing while in a hand because there were too many distracted players.

Nothing much learnt this game, but was probably lucky to run so need to build the player pool.

edit: my on table cupholders worked well, see pic
Sometimes it takes awhile to dial in a system that works. I initially had a 10 seat table when we played tourney, but I changed it to an 8 seater when we went to cash games. Yes, I had to redo the table, but it was well worth it. I find 8 is the most one would want playing cash games.
My invite list is simple. I have my regular 8 counting myself. I give about a 5 day advance notice to my regulars with a deadline of a few days later to commit. I have a wait list of about 4 that I then go to to fill my table. Even if I only have 7, that works as well. TYpically, Friday evening from 6:30-10:30, then once around the table, is our game session. At cash out, I give each player a chip tray to put their chips in once they have it counted. That way, each players stack is controlled away from other chips. If the cash in vs cash out total is different, it's much easier to see who miscounted their stack at cash out.
I believe if you had 20 rebuys, that your blinds may not be high enough for your group. We typically have 4-5 most evenings in out 4 hour session.
One thing I do before the game starts is to announce the "rules". I let them know when their stack gets to less than $6, they can rebuy a full stack of $25 at that time. I find this alone limits the "all in" bets from players when their stack is lower.
The other important mention is to let players know that if they need time to decide to act (bet, raise, fold etc) to announce to the table that they need time to decide, thus preventing others to play out of turn. I had time bank cards, but the guys never used them, so I dont use those now. I have one player that when it was his time to act, would just stare at the cards on the table, and not act in a timely fashion...the player behind him would think that they were not in the hand, so they would play out of turn. I like your idea of using a chip to put on the hole cards indicating that they are in the hand, at least the guys can see.

Good luck in the games going forward.time mirage.jpg
 
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There's going to be all kinds of opinions here... I just had another cash game 10 handed. I didn't mind it, lots of social interaction. In 2-3 hours some guys were out for good, which left the table with 8-9 players. I'll be trying to fill my table with 10 every time.
 
Yeah, I had a mk1 Rubiks cube as well. Technology has moved on and they are built for speed now, hence the generic name speedcubes.

Last year I started by remembering enough of my old moves to complete the cube. The muscle memory came back without the vocalisation of the moves ( R,U,R-,F, D,F- etc) Then I learnt "intuitive F2L" (first 2 layers) the F part of CFOP method, and have been working on that whilst sat in waiting rooms. For final layer (OP) I use my old slow algorithms because I haven't been able to learn a new algorithm set.
 
Sometimes it takes awhile to dial in a system that works. I initially had a 10 seat table when we played tourney, but I changed it to an 8 seater when we went to cash games. Yes, I had to redo the table, but it was well worth it. I find 8 is the most one would want playing cash games.

What I want (and will have eventually) is a round table that will seat 7 to 8. With moveable cup holders in the rail so 6, 7, or 8 can all spread themselves evenly.

At present I'm playing in the dining room/my office, on my 84"x42" dining/poker table which fits the room well. Family meals used to be 8 people when I bought/built that table, but since then we've lost my Dad and one kid has gone to University, so don't really need that capacity any more. I think I've just talked myself into selling it :)

I will build something like a 54" round.
 
Game #2 report:

Failed to raise players at the weekend, but it ran tonight (Wed). Same gang as last time -1 (= 6 players ). We self dealt this time as we were all in a reasonable huddle at one end of the table.

Monster hands all the time again for me, but instead of 4 buyins down like last week, I was 10 buyins up this time. Twice flopped top set turned into full house vs nut flush.

Half the field left at 2300hrs (pre-planned, sensible end time) but 2 stayed on until 0130hrs.

People have become accustomed to free sodas already, that's fine, I keep the fridge full of sodas anyway for the kids next door. Couple of beers for the late crowd. Total 1 buyin in complimentary drinks, which is fine.

The game slowed up a bit in the middle when someone spotted my speedcubes and it turned out that everyone at the table had an interest in cubing. I had to ban cubing while in a hand because there were too many distracted players.

Nothing much learnt this game, but was probably lucky to run so need to build the player pool.

edit: my on-table cupholders/coasters worked well, see pic
Hey mate just curious - what kind of cup holders are these?

Cheers!
 

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