Home Game Logistics (13 Viewers)

[ianpoker]

Hey everyone

Calling all home game enthusiasts...

I'm looking for some advice on how to operate as a host/dealer in the smoothest way possible for my home cash game. I've seen threads regarding this topic but am searching for more concentrated info on how to manage things like obtaining buy-in money from players smoothly, making sure only live chips are in play, managing staggered cashouts, dealing with distracted players (always on their phone and needs reminder when its their action) and overall just keeping everything organized whille also dealing the whole time. I've got all of the essentials now (table, cards, chips, chairs) so just need to focus on logistics.

My conflict here is that I want to manage the game to a high enough standard to keep pace of play up and seem organized but on the other hand I don't want to come off as a hardhead and make things too controlling. My goal is also to make this game consistent with players that know poker and share the same motivation that I have to keep the game running fast. (I can't tell you how many times I've been to games where we play 1 hand every 5 minutes and it ends up being a nightmare). However this is difficult as I'm hosting at my college house with 5 other housemates who are not serious about poker but always want to play so i would feel bad excluding them.

My game will be .25/.25 NL with $25 starting stacks & unlimited rebuys. As of now I plan on just giving each player a barrel of fracs and a barrell of $1s and just use $5s for rebuys. However, I have like 300 fracs and kinda prefer having as many fracs on the table as possible so I am open to other chip breakdowns.

I am also considering creating some sort of promo/high hand jackpot but would like to think outside the box and offer rewards that do not hurt too much financially.

I wan't my game to be seen as poker coming first, and socializing/drinking to come second (compliments greatly).

^^^Overall just looking to get in conversation with anyone who has experience hosting low stakes home games that I can bounce questions off of and take bits and pieces from everyone to run a fun but properly structured home game that will keep people coming back!

 

[buzzmonkey]

Don't overdo the fracs, especially if you're dealing. Stick to $3-5 worth and don't add anymore for rebuys. If you want a lot of chips on the table, get all the $1s on and then start going with $5s.

Keep all the buy-ins together and keep a change stack that's always the same ever night. For example, I always have a stack of 20 x $1s, 8x $5s and 4x $10s. So right off that's $100 in the bank. Don't even bother with quarters. You can round people down/up.

If someone's on the phone when it gets to them and they're slowing down the game, point to them with eye contact when it's their turn. If they do it again, tap the table in front of them with eye contact. If they do it again, put your fingers on their cards with eye contact. If they're dumb enough to make it to a fourth time, start to pull their cards towards the muck. If it gets past that, let them know if they can't pay attention they may not get invited back.

 

[TheRealTeddyKGB]

+1 on a barrel of fracs & $1's for starting stack if buy-in is $25. When buy-in gets larger then reduce fracs

 

[mdt11]

A few takeaways I have as a relatively new host after three home games where I encountered the same issues you described.

- Dealing, banking, playing. Pick two. I understand the want and need to run the game smoothly, but I found all three to just be too much. If you have a trusted player or two, see if they wouldn't mind dealing at least for the first two or three hours until things settle down. You can still enforce the rules and ensure a smooth game, but there will be interruptions whenever there are rebuys, topoffs, new players jumping in, etc...
- Starting stacks: Get as many fracs and 1s on the table as you can to start and only use 5s for rebuys. The first night I hosted my bank was off and I think the culprit was trying to complicate the rebuys with lots of different denoms. Getting all of your small chips out to start and sticking with bigger ones for rebuys will limit change-making, lower the opportunity for error on banking and keep things moving fast when a player needs more chips.
- I would skip the high hand/jackpot/promo stuff at least to start. Just play poker.
- While you want the poker to absolutely come first over drinking and socializing, your players may feel differently and it can hamper the game to have that imbalance. I've seen games fall flat when the host is being super serious or grumpy while players are trying to relax and have a good time (to the detriment of the "serious" players' win rates!). You can keep the game moving along smoothly without sacrificing the social aspect.

 

[roughrabbit]

In the game I co host, we keep the deal between myself and the other host, each of us has a set of cards and shuffle while the other deals. If I or the other host is in a hand usually someone will over to shuffle on our behalf. This keeps the game from slowing down when having to pass the deal and alternate shufflers. Definitely second @buzzmonkey about the point, I actually point each time the action moves in a playful way. The players seem to like it and it keeps the action moving. If I can tell they know it's to them but are thinking, I drop the point, no reason for unnecessary pressure. Both of these things really increase the hands per hour compared to some of the other games I attend.

 

[Bacon Dad]

I host the same stakes.
Write down their name and how much they buy in for and number of rebuys/add-on amounts. Make a Total In and Total Out column. Make sure they match at the end of the game.
My game was right after work and we all pretty much agreed to end at a uniform time. Most people are patient and understand you want to be correct when cashing people out.
Have them count their chips first and then you count their chips.

I work with engineers so they liked to swap chips with each other to make whole $ amounts or get as close as possible. I could care less. I just wanted to know how much they were handing in to get cashed out and that is what I recorded. It was fun keeping track and the players wanted to know where they stood periodically.

 

[Bacon Dad]

Also, find the stakes/buy in people are willing to lose in an evening. Ask them!
If you raise stakes, it could kill your game in the long run. So make sure, as the host, you have the correct expectations for the dollar amount your table will see on any given night.
My guys were willing to spend $25 for the entire night to play some poker and they made that last 2-3 hours. I wasn’t expecting a Vegas style game. My $5 chips rarely saw the felt.
Send me DMs if you have direct questions.

 

[4SUMERZ]

Congrats on hosting. I use the same stakes, the same buy in as you do.
We self deal, dealer choice between Hold'em and Pineapple. We use cash only for buy in and rebuys.
I understand that using venmo, etransfers etc are more common today. Simply keep a buy in/rebuy ledger and settle at the end of the night. The downside of using lots of fracs is at cash out when many try to get rid of those in the last few hands so they don't have to count as many on cash out.
We set a time limit of the game as well, then go once around the table to finish the game.
I'm not sure how you do rebuys, but we only do the same as the buy in, but can rebuy a full $25 stack once the stack is $7 or less. For that reason, I have 5-6 rebuy stacks ready so no need to count chips on rebuys. I have chip tubes for the initial buy in and also rebuys.

We also pay out the high hand of the evening. Everyone puts in $2 , so it's worth $16 since the table sits 8.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

 

[Machine]

I've hosted raked games, I've dealt full-time for tips in underground games, and currently I host once a month .5/.5 that started off as .25/.5.

I like that you want to do .25/.25 it simplifies things.
Unless you have a cape and can fly or have 4 arms / hands, you can't bank and deal every hand, nor should you.

You will burn out on hosting if you try to self-deal, bank, and play, or self-deal all night and play. If you want a game that will last with self-deal, you need to focus on teaching people to deal properly. You also need to understand the concept of dealing behind, the importance of a cut card, and having different people shuffle and cut the deck.

As you likely won't have too many OMCs, learning to deal shouldn't be a big deal.

I have like 300 fracs and kinda prefer having as many fracs on the table as possible so I am open to other chip breakdowns.

Read this post
Spoiler: too many fracs will slow down the game, I ran my .25/.50 with 60 fracs, though I wouldn't advocate for that either. One rack is best.

I wan't my game to be seen as poker coming first, and socializing/drinking to come second

My game will be .25/.25 NL with $25 starting stacks & unlimited rebuys.

Not at these stakes, and that buy-in limit. I think what you want is for people to take the poker seriously; some will, some won't. Focus on enjoying the game. Which dealing, playing, and banking won't be able to happen.

One of the best things you can do is to keep the game going, Jimmy! its your action, Tom the bet is on you, James did you fold?
This will keep the focus on the game. Pass the deal, shuffle behind.

 

[drdr]

I've always strived for that perfectly run game. But I've learnt I can't do everything. The game runs better with a few key people helping out. But that means I've had to get used to those people making decisions. Even if they weren't quite what I believe should happen. And it turns out that's okay. Though, for the rare tricky/conflict situations the group does need to understand the director (me) has final say but also can be asked for help at any time. Balance.

 

[buzzmonkey]

Also, during cash in:

• Spread the money out on the table so everyone can see. Count the money out loud.
• Cut out the chips and count them out loud so the table can hear you.
• Push the chips toward the player.
• Have the player count the chips. If their count matches, put the cash into the till.

 

[TheYeti]

You've gotten great advice already and I'll just add one thing; consider rounding down to the nearest dollar at cash out. This greatly simplifies the process and gets rid of the need for loose change in the bank.

Take the money from the round-downs as a tip for the host, play a coin-flip for it, or what I do, put it into a progressive bad beat jackpot.

 

[Machine]

put the cash into the till.

Interesting turn of a phrase, I wonder how 'till' came to mean register?

till

1. A drawer, small chest, or compartment for money, as in a store.
2. A supply of money; a purse.

 

[buzzmonkey]

Interesting turn of a phrase, I wonder how 'till' came to mean register?

till

1. A drawer, small chest, or compartment for money, as in a store.
2. A supply of money; a purse.

I've used the term since I was in retail in my teens. I suppose I picked it up there.

 

[drdr]

Interesting turn of a phrase, I wonder how 'till' came to mean register?

till

1. A drawer, small chest, or compartment for money, as in a store.
2. A supply of money; a purse.

French origin for small container.

 

[AlbinoDragon]

French origin for small container.

T.I.L.

 

[Taghkanic]

While writing down the buyins and cashouts can have its uses, ultimately your bank is your ledger.

By the time everyone is cashed out, it should be back to zero.

If it isn’t, that’s on you unfortunately. And having a written list won’t usually help sort out what went wrong.

 

[Kam]

Nothing to really add, but second/reinforce:

1. 2nd deck in the rotation. Everyone learns to deal: 1 to the right of the button shuffles, 1 to their right cuts the deck. We then put the cut card on top to show it’s both shuffled and cut. When the button moves, that deck slides over to the new button, they move the cut card to the base and start dealing straight away. Takes a few orbits for everyone to get used to it, but the game moves much much faster this way (also means more folk have to be paying attention since they’re either dealing/shuffling/cutting/in the blinds etc).
2. Get some justin racks (or just put out your buy in amounts and rebuy amounts ready nearby to grab). That way when folk arrive/buy in, you hand them the rack:

3. I went cashless, makes buy ins and cash outs super easy and fast. No payment, no chips (I let this slide and regretted it a bit since I then had to keep track and my game moves pretty fast).
4. Agree with the above, even if you’re not dealing, a simple friendly point and ‘action on you @RocAFella1 ‘ to remind the slowpokes.

GL!

 

[TheYeti]

Nothing to really add, but second/reinforce:

1. 2nd deck in the rotation. Everyone learns to deal: 1 to the right of the button shuffles, 1 to their right cuts the deck. We then put the cut card on top to show it’s both shuffled and cut. When the button moves, that deck slides over to the new button, they move the cut card to the base and start dealing straight away. Takes a few orbits for everyone to get used to it, but the game moves much much faster this way (also means more folk have to be paying attention since they’re either dealing/shuffling/cutting/in the blinds etc).
2. Get some justin racks (or just put out your buy in amounts and rebuy amounts ready nearby to grab). That way when folk arrive/buy in, you hand them the rack:
View attachment 1522543
3. I went cashless, makes buy ins and cash outs super easy and fast. No payment, no chips (I let this slide and regretted it a bit since I then had to keep track and my game moves pretty fast).
4. Agree with the above, even if you’re not dealing, a simple friendly point and ‘action on you @RocAFella1 ‘ to remind the slowpokes.

GL!

I rack up my buy-ins as well. Tip; if you put full barrels on each end you can then stack the racks.