There's an easy fix for that... Play limit.
I know that this is not as popular, but it is an excellent answer!
I went back and read every post that the OP made in this entire thread and to me it seems obvious that he is relatively new to poker and certainly new to hosting poker. He is looking for a little advice on how to host and what sort of games and other things to help....
ekricket is very opinionated and many of the posts he made seem to be intended to ruffle some feathers, idk... It is fine that everyone has an opinion and it is actually good that everyone doesn't like the exact same thing. ekricket, you have an opinion and I think we can all respect that. Lots of other good posts here that give solid reasons for liking one or the other, but I have not seen anything from you that backs up your opinion other than it sounds like you don't like it when someone bullies the table in cash. I guess you must have the opinion that cash is easy or there is no skill in cash so tournaments are better.
Some of the comments made by Eloe2000 and myself and some others here in this thread are intended to try and help a new host/newer player by helping him to host a game that will be fun for everyone and promote a good social environment which makes it more likely that the players will continue to return. The #1 thing that will turn a player into an ex player is losing too much money too fast. This same reason will kill your game or require you to be constantly recruiting new players. There are a lot of ways that can happen and the truth of it is that it doesn't really matter how it happens. If players lose too fast, they will quit.
If you are playing with friends and you want to make it a social thing and have everyone keep coming then make the game small, make it limit or make it really small nl or make it a really small tournament. Do what you have to to keep everyone happy and coming back time after time. All of these things can work. Just don't do the things that make your players lose money too fast.
If your goal is to fleece the other players as fast as possible then make the game bigger, play nl, play PLO. Just know that if you do these things then your game will not be as social and you are going to have to work much harder at recruiting new players.
Me, personally I would love to play in a massive nl or PLO game with a bunch of super deep pockets that play exactly like what ekricket says ruins a cash game. Unfortunately massive nl and PLO games do not last for the exact same reason I stated above. The fish lose too fast and they stop playing. I am 100% with Eloe2000 in that I host because I want a social game with my friends. My main group is mostly the same players and everyone knows who the donators are and who the winners are. The donators have been donating for 35 yrs, but yet they keep coming back for more. It isn't like they don't know they are the fish, they even talk about it sometimes. The reason they keep coming back for more is because we play small and enjoy each others company and no one wins or loses too much. Depending on your group "too much" can vary a lot. In some circles, some people can lose quite a lot of money for quite a long time before they quit. In others the wins and losses probably should be no more than $20 or $50. I play in card rooms at limits 10x or even 20x the size game what I would consider having in my home game. I don't host a home game to make money, I do it for the social aspect. When I go to a Card Room, I am trying to make money.
