How do you deal with "fair weather" players? (1 Viewer)

Divedivedive, regarding moving near another game ~ I have some suggestions, but you’ve got some good ideas already. Legonick suggested becoming a regular and offering to host sometimes is good. TheDuke suggested talking to the host – I’ll say more about that great idea. He also said avoid hosting on the same night – another great idea I’ll say more about, and a different type of game – also a great idea I’ll say more about. DeeVee8 is right about cross-pollination too. As usual, Zombie has some great suggestions!

My suggestions:
  • Talk to the host! You might be surprised that he would be willing to help get your game going. It will help if he doesn’t see your game as direct competition.
  • Don’t do the same nights. Ask for his schedule and plan so that it doesn’t compete. Let him know that’s why you are asking.
  • I’d try to schedule at least 2 days away from his game. A lot of people won’t play 2 nights in a row, so they will pick the one they like the best.
  • When you go to a game, help the host! Even if it’s just putting stuff up afterwards, make yourself an attractive person to have come. Let them know you host. Other places I’ve played have invited me to invite their players. They don’t do that with everyone.
  • It isn’t helping the host that will help you attract players from there. It’s developing the relationship with them that will help you attract players.
  • Be the kind of guest you want coming to your game!
  • Invite the host to your game. It doesn’t hurt to invite them and ask for his advice. Most people are happy to help someone who is asking for help.
  • Other hosts can be a great source of players if you aren’t competing with them. Some may see it as competition anyway, but most don’t. I’d talk to hosts about how your game is different and why the games should be different.
  • Don’t have the same exact game. There are so many ways to make them different – cash vs. tournament; freezeout vs. rebuy; bounty vs. no bounty; different games; different structures; etc. If your game is too much like his game, y’all will be competing against each other for the same players.
  • Find a regular day and pick one where there isn’t already a game. If possible, pick at least 2 days away from other games. I picked the third Friday because it didn’t compete with any other game in the area.
  • ABR – Always Be Recruiting. Your game is growing or dying. If your pool of players isn’t constantly expanding, it’s dying. Life happens to players and they drop out for many reasons. Replacements are critical to longevity. If you don’t have new players coming, your game is dying. Now, if you have a wait list every time, you might have a large enough pool for your game to survive without new faces for a while, but if you don’t have new faces coming, it’s dying. It just might not be on life support yet.
  • When I moved from an ad hoc game to a regularly scheduled game, attendance jumped significantly immediately! It’s easier for them to put a good event on their calendar. Then they won’t want to miss it.
  • With a monthly game, a Friday or Saturday works well in my experience. You could mix the two, but you have to plan it. You could even do a tournament on Friday and a cash game on Saturday, but you are likely to get different crowds.
  • Most people would meet the expectations you have if they want to be invited back. I hate there being expectations and having no idea what they are. Expectations MUST be communicated, or there cannot be any real logical explanation for being disappointed. They didn’t know the expectations and failed to meet them. That’s really a communication problem. Most people are terrible mind-readers. How well have you communicated the expectations?
 
not sure if this has been asked already but do you only play NLH? maybe introducing a game like PLO or short deck into your rotation might spice things up a bit
 
I

it’s not for me either, but some people like mixed games
It's a whole long story; poker has been introduced to Greece by petty criminal Greek immigrants to the US (mostly of Pelopennesian descent; avoid those people at all costs:)) coming back to Greece in the 1920s.
Being criminals, they preferred the short deck, to manipulate it more easily.
Obsolete forms of poker using a short deck are nowadays known here as pokah, whereas NLHE is known as poker.:rolleyes:
 
Just a bump for the OP...

Tonight, I had 23 players that claimed a seat, and 5 players have taken an excuse instead of a seat. That is not only "acceptable", but the chipset I've committed to, is optimized* at 18 players, and I can seat 18 players in one room.

Even when your game is successful, in this time of COVID concerns, you simply have to expect dropouts.

*Optimized set: Everybody starts with identical chipstacks. This particular set can handle up to 31 players, but in between 18 and 31, some players get 8 T500s and 6 T1000s, while another player gets 6 T500s and 7 T1000s. Less than optimal, but you do what you can when you plan for everyone to show but expect some to drop out.
 
Just a bump for the OP...

Tonight, I had 23 players that claimed a seat, and 5 players have taken an excuse instead of a seat. That is not only "acceptable", but the chipset I've committed to, is optimized* at 18 players, and I can seat 18 players in one room.

Even when your game is successful, in this time of COVID concerns, you simply have to expect dropouts.

*Optimized set: Everybody starts with identical chipstacks. This particular set can handle up to 31 players, but in between 18 and 31, some players get 8 T500s and 6 T1000s, while another player gets 6 T500s and 7 T1000s. Less than optimal, but you do what you can when you plan for everyone to show but expect some to drop out.
5 drop-outs is a lot, but with 23 players, you are covered.

I feel like big numbers like that might be hurting your attendance - it's like if a dude is throwing a raging party every other weekend with 100 people, you'll go the first time but not feel bad missing it the second time. But if you buddy is putting together a special fishing trip for just 5 people that happens once a month, you know you're needed and will try to make it there. That said, in your case, who cares!? You still had 18 which is just about perfect! 2 tables of 9.
 
One of the things we do is "keep them wanting more". Since we tend to play every 6 weeks, if you miss one game, you aren't playing for 3 months.
 

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