Just had my First home game on table I built (1 Viewer)

[yoke386]

Hello fellow PCFers!

After much anticipation I finally hosted my first cash game at home. My group consisted of 8 guys, of varying experience all between 30 and 40. We played NLHE .25/.50. Game started at 6 and went until about 1130.

A few of us play recreationally at our local casino, but the game was a little slow, which is okay as my goal is to have fun and grow my poker group.

First issue I had was with the blinds, I wanted to keep them at .25/.25 but the group decided to raise them to .25/.50 which I was good with, as everyone was buying in for $40.

I tried to introduce using two decks and shuffling behind, but everyone seemed confused, so we used one deck. Over time I’d like to get into two deck use, and get our shuffling more uniform. However I was pleased to have a group play together for over 5 hours and I was not going to become a stickler for shuffling on night one.

Hands played through without any out of the ordinary issues, pizza was ordered and beers were deleted !

We had a few top off during the game and rebuy, we had about $500 in play at the end of the night. Our biggest loser was out $100 and biggest winner cashing out with $175.

All in all it was a great first night using chips I bought from discountpoker… wish I took some more pictures but the Coors lights and Dr. McGillicuddys caught up with me. Everyone is looking for the next get together. Guess free beer and pumping the pot when holding Seven deuce is the secret sauce!

 

[NittyByNature]

Table looks great!

 

[FordPickup92]

Table looks nicely done and sounds like a successful fun evening, congratulations!

 

[Rooster410]

Nice looking table! 2 decks is a must. IMO, 25¢/25¢ and 25¢/50¢ doesn’t play any differently enough to notice. I prefer 25¢/25¢ to help with ease and speed of game play.

 

[Boother36]

Nice damage on those silver bullets!!!

 

[yoke386]

Nice looking table! 2 decks is a must. IMO, 25¢/25¢ and 25¢/50¢ doesn’t play any differently enough to notice. I prefer 25¢/25¢ to help with ease and speed of game play.

I agree, I’m used to playing 1/2 at the casino and buying in for around $250 with one reload. But the amount of automatic shuffler jokes I got after how much I hyped up building a table was hilarious… until I told them the price when they wanted to chip in, everyone all the sudden was happy to hand shuffle

 

[yoke386]

Nice damage on those silver bullets!!!

They didn’t stand a chance, and several brought their own, to say we’re all experienced drinkers is putting it mildly

 

[ThrowBack]

It’s a special feeling

 

[Machine]

Thanks for sharing, bet it was a blast!

 

[azbrad]

Love that table, nice work.

 

[yoke386]

Love that table, nice work.

Thanks ! Definitely learned a lot for when I make another

 

[4got2flush]

Nice work on the table and the "deleting"!

 

[yoke386]

Nice work on the table and the "deleting"!

Thanks! Only think certain about poker night is that all the beer will be drank.

 

[Hot Nuts]

The table is too nice for that beer to sit on. ;-) That went about exactly like my last game went with winners, losers and $ in play.

 

[onemorehobby]

Great looking table! Are you planning to cut holes for the cupholders?

 

[yoke386]

The table is too nice for that beer to sit on. ;-) That went about exactly like my last game went with winners, losers and $ in play.

Thanks, was a lot of work I’ll definitely say built > bought just so you can tell your players, yea I really built it. I’m pretty sure if I banned drinks on the table my game would die lol, I’ve only had one small spill, and the suited speed cloth cleaned up nicely. Usually will use a lint roller the next day and it looks brand new again.

 

[yoke386]

Great looking table! Are you planning to cut holes for the cupholders?

I got the slide under jumbo style from discount poker. I like them because you can sit wherever and quickly adjust depending if we get more players arriving/leaving. I give people a koozie and they fit the bottles and cans perfectly. Also the red solo cups fit nicely as well. I don’t mind the in rail cup holders, just did my best to mode my table off the mgm Springfield poker rooms tables lol

 

[4SUMERZ]

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Enjoyed your post. Love your table. Looks like you had a blast. No one lost their shirt, and no one went home rich. Sounds a lot like my home games. Drinks and light snacks on the house. We play $0.25/$0.25 as well. Top up to the initial buy in at anytime in between deals. My guys like using 1 deck, but I change decks on the hour, starting at 8pm. We play from 6:30-11:00 then once around the table, then cash out.
I have the ss mini fridge set in the wall protruding into the maintenance room so it takes up less space in my poker room. You can see it in the background. For the snacks, to keep them off the table, I built slide out snack trays that hold a bowl and can be slid shut with snack bowls in them.

 

[RetroGamerNick]

Congrats on hosting your first game. I just recently finished my table build and ordered some new chips so should be starting up my own home games very soon as well.

 

[yoke386]

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Enjoyed your post. Love your table. Looks like you had a blast. No one lost their shirt, and no one went home rich. Sounds a lot like my home games. Drinks and light snacks on the house. We play $0.25/$0.25 as well. Top up to the initial buy in at anytime in between deals. My guys like using 1 deck, but I change decks on the hour, starting at 8pm. We play from 6:30-11:00 then once around the table, then cash out.
I have the ss mini fridge set in the wall protruding into the maintenance room so it takes up less space in my poker room. You can see it in the background. For the snacks, to keep them off the table, I built slide out snack trays that hold a bowl and can be slid shut with snack bowls in them.

Thanks for reading !
Your set up looks awesome as well. I've taken a break for hosting for the summer as everyones schedules just couldn't line up to get a good game going. I dig the mini fridge idea, I might be able to recess it into the stair case as it's open on the other side and never thought of doing that. Also love that pic of the hockey layout felt. I'm looking forwards to building another table and getting a custom felt made, although I'm very happy with the suited speed cloth I have now.

 

[yoke386]

Congrats on hosting your first game. I just recently finished my table build and ordered some new chips so should be starting up my own home games very soon as well.

Thank you !
It's an awesome feeling when you host your first game, especially if your players don't host themselves, the minor imperfections will not be noticed by anyone else but you if that's the case lol. I never thought before joining this forum that the chips could exceed the cost of the table so much, boy was I wrong. I ordered from discount poker and put together a 600 chip set. I have my eye set on the Tigers that Ive seen posted on the forum but I am a long way from attaining chips of that caliber. Anyways good luck on your first game !

 

[4SUMERZ]

Thanks for reading !
Your set up looks awesome as well. I've taken a break for hosting for the summer as everyones schedules just couldn't line up to get a good game going. I dig the mini fridge idea, I might be able to recess it into the stair case as it's open on the other side and never thought of doing that. Also love that pic of the hockey layout felt. I'm looking forwards to building another table and getting a custom felt made, although I'm very happy with the suited speed cloth I have now.

Thanks. We take a break in the summer as well. Most golf, vacation, summer places etc. We go from Oct -May. I've had a speed cloth, 3 custom cloths including the ice hockey rink, and now the Mirage themed one
Once my Habs get into playoff contention, j may put that one back in play, just to bother my Leaf friends

 

[Old State]

Glad it went well and the table looks great. I’d push back on raising the stakes any more. People often say that but as soon as they take a big loss they will stop showing up.

As for the two decks, I never do it. My older poker crew have been playing poker for 25 years but hate two decks. Just get them to learn a proper casino shuffle and it will go fast enough.

 

[maloviz]

Who are your players and how often are you playing? I'd love to play 25c/25c or 25c/50c but am worried my players wouldn't want to spend that much, especially on a regular basis.

Table looks nice, love the big cupholders (Do they get in the way a lot?). Only thing I'd say you need is a betting line! I've seen people draw one of with a certain kind of marker, might be worth doing.

 

[Old State]

Who are your players and how often are you playing? I'd love to play 25c/25c or 25c/50c but am worried my players wouldn't want to spend that much, especially on a regular basis.

Table looks nice, love the big cupholders (Do they get in the way a lot?). Only thing I'd say you need is a betting line! I've seen people draw one of with a certain kind of marker, might be worth doing.

Betting lines are not needed and I would never draw one on a nice table felt

 

[yoke386]

Who are your players and how often are you playing? I'd love to play 25c/25c or 25c/50c but am worried my players wouldn't want to spend that much, especially on a regular basis.

Table looks nice, love the big cupholders (Do they get in the way a lot?). Only thing I'd say you need is a betting line! I've seen people draw one of with a certain kind of marker, might be worth doing.

Players mostly co workers and friends 30s plus. People buy in for $40 typically, game plays small, few buy back in during the night.

We were playing monthly but took summer off bc it was tough to get everyone together with vacations.

Haven’t had any issues with cup holder size, putting a koozie on your beer makes it a perfect fit.

Haven’t had any issues with betting line yet, game has played fine without it, but did consider drawing one before the first game.

Think most we had at table was 8 or 9 handed, self dealt. It’s been a ton of fun. Hopefully I’ll get some pictures from the next game.

 

[wickedwonka121]

Players mostly co workers and friends 30s plus. People buy in for $40 typically, game plays small, few buy back in during the night.

We were playing monthly but took summer off bc it was tough to get everyone together with vacations.

Haven’t had any issues with cup holder size, putting a koozie on your beer makes it a perfect fit.

Haven’t had any issues with betting line yet, game has played fine without it, but did consider drawing one before the first game.

Think most we had at table was 8 or 9 handed, self dealt. It’s been a ton of fun. Hopefully I’ll get some pictures from the next game.

 

[MrBoosh]

Looks like it has been awhile but congrats on your first game! Looks like you are off to a great start! We had a bit of confusion when we first started using two decks to speed things up a bit but after the first night or two that was behind us and everyone agrees it is better for the game with the extra hands we get in. Now since everyone that plays regularly at our game is used to it, it is easy to get anyone new to follow right along with the shuffle behind method. I look forward to seeing more updates in the future as your game grows!

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

Hello fellow PCFers!

After much anticipation I finally hosted my first cash game at home. My group consisted of 8 guys, of varying experience all between 30 and 40. We played NLHE .25/.50. Game started at 6 and went until about 1130.

A few of us play recreationally at our local casino, but the game was a little slow, which is okay as my goal is to have fun and grow my poker group.

First issue I had was with the blinds, I wanted to keep them at .25/.25 but the group decided to raise them to .25/.50 which I was good with, as everyone was buying in for $40.

I tried to introduce using two decks and shuffling behind, but everyone seemed confused, so we used one deck. Over time I’d like to get into two deck use, and get our shuffling more uniform. However I was pleased to have a group play together for over 5 hours and I was not going to become a stickler for shuffling on night one.

Hands played through without any out of the ordinary issues, pizza was ordered and beers were deleted !

We had a few top off during the game and rebuy, we had about $500 in play at the end of the night. Our biggest loser was out $100 and biggest winner cashing out with $175.

All in all it was a great first night using chips I bought from discountpoker… wish I took some more pictures but the Coors lights and Dr. McGillicuddys caught up with me. Everyone is looking for the next get together. Guess free beer and pumping the pot when holding Seven deuce is the secret sauce!

CONGRATS on a successful first game!! My only recommendation to make next time even more successfull...

...

Spoiler

get rid of the bad beer and put some Fireball in that freezer.

 

[wickedwonka121]

CONGRATS on a successful first game!! My only recommendation to make next time even more successfull...

...

Spoiler

get rid of the bad beer and put some Fireball in that freezer.

View attachment 1191153

"This candy tastes like fireball"
"That's cinnamon you alcoholic!"