Lending money at home games (1 Viewer)

I don't lend the money myself, but as a Seeking Alpha Social Club Member, you can go on "the plate."

Basically all the Seeking Alpha members have agreed to let any other member "borrow" money, and we document it on a paper plate. At the end of the night, borrowers either pay the plate back, or they owe one of the big winners whatever they couldn't pay back. There are a few things that have made this work (since 2009).

1. We are VERY selective about who becomes a member, so trust is very high.

2. Non SASC members are not allowed to go on the plate unless a member vouches for them (making them reaponsible for the debt).

3. We are all good friends and neighbors.

4. People can opt out being owed if they absolutely have to (or want to) get paid, but will also never be allowed to go on the plate.

5. The house (me) NEVER lends money. I live in VA where the gambling laws are VERY stict. I cash out last, so if I'm up for the night, I will be owed. But I do not and will not guarantee payment.

We have never had an issue since 2009.

Man, you've got such a cool group. One day I aspire to have my own club akin to SASC!
 
3. We are all good friends and neighbors.

This is true of pretty much my whole group as well.. and it is precisely why I’m reluctant to get involved with any kind of staking or lending. I am less concerned about getting stiffed for a relatively minor amount by a visitor or tryout who I can always just not invite back, and never see again, and more worried about friction arising unexpectedly among good friends and neighbors due to an unexpected delay in repayment.

(As noted above, some years ago we had a player who was a really good buddy of all of us, one of the original founders of this game, and seemingly a very happy and established guy, who it turned out was in deep financial doo-doo, unbeknownst to the group. He hid it from “the boys” because he was embarrassed, and started borrowing money at the game he did not really have. Not maliciously, just foolishly, as people in trouble often do, hoping against hope to win big one night and make good with the winnings. I’ve learned in life that you may think you really know people, and usually you do, but once in a while someone surprises you.)

Anyway... Mainly, I just don’t want to encourage players to think, “Oh, I don’t really need to make an effort to get my cash together for the game—the guys will spot me.”

It’s analogous to why our game offers a substantial chip bonus for arriving on time for the tournament, with a zero-tolerance policy for late arrivals. Get in the door even one second after 7:30 (by the clock on my phone), and you don’t get the bonus. There was some grumbling early on, when a few people got here at 7:32 or 7:35 and thought I was being too strict, but the late arrivals stopped after that, and no one questions it anymore.

Before that was instituted, when the game was hosted elsewhere, people were arriving later and later, until we would not have a quorum to get started until 8:15. No one was deliberately trying to delay the start of the game, but without any disincentive to show up whenever, some people showed up... whenever. Now I can rely on everyone to be here and ready to pick seats by 7:29. Tough love worked.

Similarly, if I became the bank for the game, within a couple of months I might be fronting a big chunk of money for both the tournament and the cash game. Not being prepared to charge either a rake or a vig, because I want to keep my game legal, it makes more sense to take a hard line than to indulge people.

Indeed, I’d actually be more sympathetic to a request from someone who made a genuine mistake (changed clothes just before leaving for the game, left his wallet in the other pair of pants, and didn’t realize it until he reached in his pocket to buy in) than someone who is a good friend who just assumed we’d front him...
 
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This is true of pretty much my whole group as well.. and it is precisely why I’m reluctant to get involved with any kind of staking or lending. I am less concerned about getting stiffed for a relatively minor amount by a visitor or tryout who I can always just not invite back, and never see again, and more worried about friction arising unexpectedly among good friends and neighbors due to an unexpected delay in repayment.

(As noted above, some years ago we had a player who was a really good buddy of all of us, one of the original founders of this game, and seemingly a very happy and established guy, who it turned out was in deep financial doo-doo, unbeknownst to the group. He hid it from “the boys” because he was embarrassed, and started borrowing money at the game he did not really have. Not maliciously, just foolishly, as people in trouble often do, hoping against hope to win big one night and make good with the winnings. I’ve learned in life that you may think you really know people, and usually you do, but once in a while someone surprises you.)

Anyway... Mainly, I just don’t want to encourage players to think, “Oh, I don’t really need to make an effort to get my cash together for the game—the guys will spot me.”

It’s analogous to why our game offers a substantial chip bonus for arriving on time for the tournament, with a zero-tolerance policy for late arrivals. Get in the door even one second after 7:30 (by the clock on my phone), and you don’t get the bonus. There was some grumbling early on, when a few people got here at 7:32 or 7:35 and thought I was being too strict, but the late arrivals stopped after that, and no one questions it anymore.

Before that was instituted, when the game was hosted elsewhere, people were arriving later and later, until we would not have a quorum to get started until 8:15. No one was deliberately trying to delay the start of the game, but without any disincentive to show up whenever, some people showed up... whenever. Now I can rely on everyone to be here and ready to pick seats by 7:29. Tough love worked.

Similarly, if I became the bank for the game, within a couple of months I might be fronting a big chunk of money for both the tournament and the cash game. Not being prepared to charge either a rake or a vig, because I want to keep my game legal, it makes more sense to take a hard line than to indulge people.

Indeed, I’d actually be more sympathetic to a request from someone who made a genuine mistake (changed clothes just before leaving for the game, left his wallet in the other pair of pants, and didn’t realize it until he reached in his pocket to buy in) than someone who is a good friend who just assumed we’d front him...

I completely understand. Lending money is probably not for everybody. I would lend any of them money, car, pretty much anything I have (within reason) any time day or night. AND, they would do the same for me. We are, first and foremost, a social club. We hang out a ton away from the poker table, so we're all VERY close. The kind of close I haven't had since the military. We go to Veyas together every year, and send somebody to the WSOP Main Event every year.

Simply being neighbors, friends, or even family isn't enough. I have a crap load of them that I wouldn't lend a nickel to with any expectation of getting it back. Again...probably not for everybody but it works for us.
 
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