Home game players refuse to chip up? (4 Viewers)

Yeah, it's not optional.

If I had a player say no... God help them. I am a bastard man.

yep. I've not invited players back for less lol. My goal is to have a great fucking time. If a guest causes me not to have a great time then they aren't invited back. Its that simple. This has nothing to do with monetary losses. @WedgeRock routinely takes my money. He is a blast to play cards with. He will always be invited back.


Might be the worst game I have ever heard of

@Marc Hedrick The frat house that we played at was pretty bad lol.
 
5 to 10 players depending and stacks are
$5 starting -
5c x 10
10c x 5
25c x 6
50c x 3
$1 x1
I didn't bother to read all 4 pages and I'm sure some/many has commented this already, but that's a terrible denomination distribution and a beginner mistake. You only need 5c, 25c and $1. This probably crashes a bit with current chipset, but I'd suggest getting more colors of these chips and then a chip up shouldn't be a problem (assuming you do a normal chip up).
If you wanna go budget/lazy, you don't have to label the new blank ones as long as they have the same design as your current chips.
 
I host occaisional home games. Typically tournament style holdem paying 2 places decided by last two players on payout.
Usually $5 buy in for first game up to $20 for later games.
One of my problems is one regular absolutely refuses to chip up. We waste so much time playing with smaller chips because he likes to have more chips.
I get out a stack of $5s and $20's most players gladly count out stacks of smaller chips to exchange but he won't and sometimes that even rubs off on the rest of the remaining players to not chip up as well. Either way playing remaining hands is a pain when that guy bets crap like $4.95 in 5 and 10c chips and most if not everyone else only having 25c and above chips and then wins. He's a pretty good player and typically takes home money. It's difficult to find players as it is and he's great to have around in every other way but what advice can you guys give me to deal with this?
Anyone else have similar experience?
He's friends with most of the other guys as well so not inviting him would even be hard to do. Someone else would if I didn't.

Refuse to chip up when the host says so? OK, fine. Those chips are now worth 1 cent.

This kind of behavior is something I just would not tolerate as a host, even if it meant losing a player.
 
If playing a cash game there is no reason to ask a player to chip up.

95% true, though if your set isn’t very big, or the game runs unusually long with a lot of buy-ins, once in a while a host or another may want to ask a player to swap out some stacks so you can spread more small denoms around and not have to make change as often in pots.
 
Yep. For tournaments, just make it a part of your house rules. Announce it before play starts the next time that chip ups are not optional.

If playing a cash game there is no reason to ask a player to chip up.
We always have mandatory chip up during the breaks. We never give anyone the option not to chip up.
 
***I did not read past the first page. Sorry if this is redundant***

Think of your group as a culture. Some people will be a good fit and others won't. Never be afraid to remove someone from the list because they're a bad fit. If others leave too, oh well. As host, you need to ABR (Always Be Recruiting).

You have a variety of problems... mostly centric to the obvious point that your group is a bunch of casual, micro-stakes players who think etiquette is optional*. But your biggest problem is your players don't respect you. Here's how you solve it:

1) Send out an email before the next game that states you're going to follow the TDA 2019 rules from that point forward (or whatever set of rules you want to use). Download them here and send them all the appropriate file. Use language in your email that strongly encourages them to read them closely. By being explicit in your intentions, you set an expectation for all to follow.

In that same email, outline a few bullet points that you want to address specifically, the 'color-ups' being one of them. Be explicit and intentional and don't be cute about it.

2) Recruit more players. There are many threads here about recruiting... look around and you'll find some gems.

3) Raise the stakes (if you're comfortable with doing so). Most $5 private games are a shit-show. You will likely draw better clientele at higher stakes, which is the goal. Don't cut out the core group deliberately - they're still welcome. But if you weed out the individuals who are bad for the group, that's actually a good thing even if you temporarily have a roster spot to fill.

*Unfortunately, at micro stakes, it's common for people to bring a cavalier attitude in home games since it's usually a group of people who are already friends away from the table.
 
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I mean you have to put your foot down like everyone is stating… does he roll around in a beach cruiser?? If so, then I might allow him to not chip up :(.. jk

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This?! This isn't out of hand yet.

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Yes, we haven't even had a serious discussion in this thread about COVID vaccines, Gematria (secret numbers that apparently pre-ordain every sporting event, election, pandemic or other world or local event, no matter how major or minor), hot dog rollers , or even whether hot dogs are sandwiches.

And you thought that this forum was all about poker chips...
 
After reading 4 pages, I can only think of two things to add that haven't been said.


1) It seems like you don't think anyone relates or understands your situation, but I have to ask if you've considered its YOUR perception that is out of whack?
I am not trying to be rude or aggressive, seriously take a breath, think of how you might be able to address situations differently, ask politely and sincerely, explain why it will make an improved experience for all. Please consider your approach could be wrong, flawed or your expectations of how you think things will go could be wrong, or maybe your right, but how could you approach it differently for a different outcome?

The outrage is for what you have to endure, not focused at you! I get you want to play, but I would not engage with people that don't respect me at some level.

2) Consider this audience, sometimes we can't overcome our perceptions. Here is how you can fix your denom break down. I hope I don't get cut for this:

Mix all of your chips in the center of the table, use a spoon. Stack them in groups of 20, call them 'barrels', then evenly divide them amongst the amount of players you have, or give everyone a rack of mixed chips. Start a timer, set the blinds to 1 chip / 2 chip, after an X amount of time announce, the blinds are going to go up, double the blinds every X amount of time. I would also call it 'Freeze outs' see how they like sitting there drinking with no cards, that might make them want to use a cut card more often.

This will solve your color up issue, if anyone baulks at the change, you explain why you can't have nice things and who the asshole is to blame, then give 0 fucks and carry on.

If you need to implement penalties, anyone fucking off the game, take 1/5 of their stack out of play, or it becomes an ante. If they object, then you simply deduct $2 from the prize pool.

Be creative.
 
When he puts the low denom chips in the pot, you could always change them out. Either that, or he's got to go to the bathroom sometime.
 
When he puts the low denom chips in the pot, you could always change them out. Either that, or he's got to go to the bathroom sometime.
In my opinion that's just going to be a hassle until they all get in. Better to basically tell him the chips are worthless and chip him up anyway. Is he going to start a fight to hold a stack that no longer has any value?
 
I haven't had any games yet. I'm really looking forward to going to some structured and established local games before I host another poker night.
I restructured/labeled my chip denominations differently and bought some plaques for higher denom. Just a guess, but I bet all my players will want to try and chip up to those if they are able to. Smaller stacks of low denom will also help eliminate the need to chip up as heavily as well instead of hundreds of 5c and 10c chips on the table like we did in the past.
20x 5c chips, 16x 25c chips and rest $1s and 5's depending on buy in.
 
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