Hosting home game and straddle abuse (1 Viewer)

[craytron]

I'm hosting a pretty solid home game and lately there have been a lot of straddle bets. It's a straight forward .25/.50 cash game and there is one player in particular who basically straddles every time he's in position to. This clearly bugs the person who's big blind. Some shake their heads and laugh, others will get downright angry about it. But he persists. I finally had to threaten not inviting the player back to get him to back down from his straddle strategy because it was urking other players and I want to protect my game.

What do you guys think? Is it a group of babies? Or is this guy out of line? So far I've said straddle bets are acceptable in my rules, but maybe I should update them with some more language to reduce the abuse of it from this player??

 

[Thomacetti]

group of babies... one straddle per orbit with .25/.50 and they are complaining.
I guess a small suckout or runner runner must be tilting them to no end ?

I have a great group and when we play 5 or 6 handed..sometimes thety keep doubling straddle back to dealer or BB
Love that

 

[colter ripton]

Alot if talk about straddles lately. People are actually complaining about other players voluntarily putting money into the pot blind. I dont get it. What's not to like?

If you dont want to straddle that is fine, but why would you want to prevent someone else from doing it?

If the straddling is really effecting your game negatively then I would say make a rule that says no straddles.

If straddles are allowed I dont see how you could punish a guy for doing it too much.

So pretty much ...... allow it or dont. There really isnt an In between.

 

[Mojo1312]

I say: "Suck it up Francis."

 

[Trihonda]

What others said. Straddles are normally -EV unless everyone is doing it... so let the guy put money in blind. Or make straddles against the rules. Easy

 

[TheBigTater]

If straddles are allowed I dont see how you could punish a guy for doing it too much.

So pretty much ...... allow it or dont. There really isnt an In between.

What others said. Straddles are normally -EV unless everyone is doing it... so let the guy put money in blind. Or make straddles against the rules. Easy

This ^^^^^^^

 

[kk405]

Just completely eliminate straddles. Don’t give-in to the needs/wants of one player if the significant majority of the players in your game don’t like straddling. If you have a good game and people enjoy playing it regularly, even the ‘annoying’ straddling player will come around and change his style. He may decide to open the pot with a significantly higher raise than normal, to make the players ‘uncomfortable’, make the game bigger, or just juice up the pots, but that’s up to him. We eliminated the straddle in our game 3 years ago and the game plays 3-4x bigger now than it did when we allowed UTG and Buttons Straddles.

 

[SWEATER]

Sounds like you’ve got a crybaby on your hands. This is the type of player you WANT in the game

 

[upNdown]

You need to do what’s best for your game, but that’s not necessarily. If you eliminate straddles, what’s next, eliminate check raising?
Your crybabies don’t know it, but if they don’t have the cards to call or raise the straddle, then they don’t have the cards to limp into the pot, as they were planning. Yeah, even the bb should be thanking that straddler for getting him to fold, because playing those crapass cards out of position probably would have been more expensive than the price of one big blind.

 

[Justin Olson]

It's a straight forward .25/.50 cash game and there is one player in particular who basically straddles every time he's in position to.

Quick Question @craytron Do you let them just do the 2x's straddle? or were you allowing him to put any dollar amount out there for straddle?

 

[CraigT78]

Babies. How has no one realized to over raise his straddle every time? That's how you get someone to stop straddling - not taking him off the list.

 

[bsdunbar1]

We compromise in our cash games.
We usually play .50/1 until midnight, while .50/1 only first to act can straddle for $2
After midnight we switch to $1/$2 and only first to act can straddle for $4

 

[detroitdad]

There isn't any abuse if your rules don't forbid it.

 

[craytron]

Quick Question @craytron Do you let them just do the 2x's straddle? or were you allowing him to put any dollar amount out there for straddle?

Just 2x the BB

 

[derekdd23]

1 person straddling once per orbit and this is an uproar? I don’t get people.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

I used to limit my home game to a single UTG straddle, now I let them go as many as they want.

This might be one of those rare times where you educate the fish. Take the complainer aside and explain to him why more blind money in the pot is good and how he can take advantage of it (see previous posts).

He may or may not get it, but if he does, I think he'll learn to love the straddle.

 

[Justin Olson]

That is on the extreme side that you have folks upset over $.25, $.50, $1.00 for one hand in an orbit. I can see both sides of the argument that you could take out the straddles from your game and make the vast majority of your players happy. But man, for them not to Nut Up and just deal with the one straddle an orbit is hard to fathom.

Most of the games we play here are more of an Open Straddle concept. We play a lot of $1, $2 no limit, the player under the gun can straddle for any amount (ussually ends up being $7 to $12) and UTG+1 can re-straddle for at least 2X first straddle etc.........
We also allow the button straddle for open amount.

We also have some traditional straddle games that are $.50 $1.00 no limit and UTG straddles at $2 and UTG +1 can re straddle $4 etc.... (allowed till button)

Most of your players would not enjoy the games in Minot.

 

[trigs]

Yeah that's really messed up. Who complains about someone blindly putting money into the pot? Sounds like you have a sweet game at your place

 

[Jimulacrum]

What do you guys think? Is it a group of babies?

Yes.

Or is this guy out of line?

No. Just because someone gets upset about someone making a particular legal move doesn't mean it's out of line, no matter how many times he does it. I've seen players get upset about a laundry list of actions that are well within the rules:

• betting "too much"
• raising "too often"
• 3-betting the same player each time he raises
• shoving preflop repeatedly
• check-raising
• winning with low-quality openers
• catching draws "all the time"
• never folding

These are all part of the game and within the rules, just like straddling. See above, about "group of babies."

What I've found is that people whine like this when someone makes moves that they don't know how to respond to. This seems to be the case most of the time that someone gets angry about straddling. They're just uncomfortable and aren't prepared to deal with it and adjust. They don't know how to win a poker game with straddles. Boo-hoo.

So far I've said straddle bets are acceptable in my rules, but maybe I should update them with some more language to reduce the abuse of it from this player??

What kind of language? "Straddles are allowed until Joey McNit cries about it too much"? "Players get a limited bank of straddles to use per session, and then no more"? "You're allowed to straddle, unless I change my mind"?

As someone else said above, your straddler isn't abusing anything. He's playing precisely within the rules. Either straddles are allowed, or they're not. In your game they're allowed, and he exercises his option each time.

If you don't want him straddling because it looks like it will drive players out and possibly break up the game, take it out of the rules. But that's only a Band-aid over the problem of having players who get angry over things that make them uncomfortable. Better solution is to recruit some new players who can handle poker.

 

[Gobbs]

I agree with the general consensus - if the rules allow it, he isn't abusing a thing. The players know the rules before they invest their money. If they don't want to play with straddles, they shouldn't play.

Having said that, it is perfectly acceptable for players to discuss the rules with you and request/ask for some changes, but it is unreasonable to complain about a person who is simply following the rules. Don't hate the player; hate the game.

 

[minglu812]

Very often people usual straddle very often or not at all. Just set up the rule whether straddle is allowed or not. Your friend is just having fun, nothing wrong here.