Playing short handed vs canceling yet again? (3 Viewers)

[Sparkynutz]

I do and for the most part all they seem to be is advertising for online crap.

I’ve found that these types of leagues are getting much stronger, at least in SE Wisconsin, over the last 18-24 months. Facebook has helped make them much more visible and easier to find.

Let the algorithm work for you. If you don’t follow any poker things on Facebook, start adding them. Locals will likely be following some of the same pages and the league games will start to be hand delivered to you.

Good luck! Hang onto your 4 and grow as you can. If you put together a good atmosphere, that will make people more likely to recruit for you too. And in the meantime, who can’t use a little practice their in short handed play?

 

[ngmcs8203]

Unfortunately, in my experience when people say things like “Geez, I’d love to play, but Thursdays are bad for me. Let me know though if you ever do a game on a Friday…

… Well, 9 times out of 10 these folks are just making excuses. If you host a game on a Friday, they won’t show up.

(I’m almost wondering paradoxically if your stakes are too low, not too high. If they were a bit higher people might feel more of a sense of possibility and urgency. If the best that you’re going to do on a really good night is walk away with 25 bucks, maybe that leads to people not taking it seriously, and being less committed to showing up.)

I’m that 1/10. Thursdays are truly the hardest days for me!

 

[tabletalker7]

Looks like we may be playing 4 handed or not at all.

Look for the thread here on a horse racing game. Perfect for 4 people

 

[Sparkynutz]

Look for the thread here on a horse racing game. Perfect for 4 people

We played Horse racing, Rooster Racing and Duck racing. More fun with a few extra players tho.

 

[surfik]

Short handed....Heads up is the essence of poker

 

[Rakrul]

I would suggest a regular schedule, like first friday of the month or something. That way people can plan ahead, but this requires that they WANT to play poker. If they don't, then it doesn't matter what you do.

 

[Taghkanic]

When I show up at a poker game and there’s a scented candle burning:

 

[SteveEH]

Thanks for input. Can't get much lower stakes than we already do. Some of the guys cry with $5 tournaments and would rather play $2 or 3.
The rest of us just wanna play 25c limit games of dealers choice. Heck I've offered to give my friends $20 just to get them to play but don't take me up on it.

Embrace short handed.

Before the poker boom and hold'em, we always played short handed and never complained. During the hold'em boom, short handed bothered me a lot. Now I have a 6 max game, but actually refer 5 handed.

Last night we played 4 handed because of a late cancellation (the Monday before the Saturday night game), and I couldn't fill the seat(s). Partially my fault because I got lazy and didn't follow up 2 weeks out. Istill had a great time, and I think not playing much hold'em helps make things more interesting. Also, because the majority of my group are not gamblers/poker players, they really don't know the difference.

Your stakes are pretty low for gamblers. Are they more of the gamer types or friends too? If that's the case I'd continue to focus on the same player type. In my experience the key to getting these players is to make it more than just poker (food, drinks, theme...). Also, if you start providing food and drinks, it's a good excuse to increase the stakes as people will see the value you're providing and be OK with a $20 loss (or whatever) for the night.

If you do recruit 'poker players' too, be careful of increasing the stakes and making sure they'll fit in with your existing group. Don't risk losing core players.

Here's how I've had success:

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/sustainable-game-with-friends-that-arent-poker-players.94681/

 

[merkong]

I’ve been hosting weekly (twice a week for over 6 months and then weekly thru summer which we’ve stuck with) for a year and a half. In that time we’ve filled at a rate of about 90%. Game 100 in less than 18 months is in 2 weeks.

Host more regularly. My Rolodex is at around 40 players and all but a handful have visited my game more than a dozen times.

You want exclusivity. My players know that if they play they can grab a seat for next weeks session and if they snooze I just go to the wait list.

Takes time but you’ll get there. I say play more regularly. I also brought food in with the understanding that if they don’t cover it in gratuities it’ll stop. Hot dog roller, pulled pork, shredded chicken and sloppy joes each week. I put about $30 into it. I don’t count the water, pop, chips and candy. They cover the food bill each week.

Also, if need be, illness etc, we’ll play five handed in a heartbeat. We actually prefer 6-8.

Now that my super ellipse is almost done we’ll do a two table cash game once a month and it’s our recruitment tool.

Good luck.

Ken (merkong)
Owner/Operator/Founder
*The Godfather Club MN
*The Executive Game, Eagan MN
*Frogtown Card Club, St. Paul (retired)
*The Poker Family (our philosophy)

 

[KingHigh]

After not being able to find a game, I started my own. I went on my towns Reddit and asked around about games. No one had a game for me but I received lots of messages from others looking for a game. Then I created a FB group called Poker in Sonoma and referred ppl there who were looking for a game. I would chat with interested people and vet them this way. Now a couple months later and I have a bi-weekly game, 8 handed, .25/.25 NL. If you build it they will come.

 

[merkong]

After not being able to find a game, I started my own. I went on my towns Reddit and asked around about games. No one had a game for me but I received lots of messages from others looking for a game. Then I created a FB group called Poker in Sonoma and referred ppl there who were looking for a game. I would chat with interested people and vet them this way. Now a couple months later and I have a bi-weekly game, 8 handed, .25/.25 NL. If you build it they will come.

Well done. Stakes. We play .25/.25 and brought in “the rock straddle”, a .50 chip that’s as good as cash and can be played as a straddle from any position but must be played if the owner is UTG. Keeps us small and we see the rock about twice an orbit. We do have a very liberal add on policy. We all buy in for $25 but after the first hand “smoke it if you got it.” One player buys and extra $25-50 pre session and puts them in his drink holder until the second hand. We also brought in plaques for our $5’s and $25’s. What a hit. We race horses about twice a month pre session for the on time crowd. I tweak on my terms. My game is wild successful so I must be doing something right.

Ken (merkong)
Owner/Operator/Founder
*The Godfather Club MN
*The Executive Game, Eagan MN
*Frogtown Card Club, St. Paul (retired)
*The Poker Family (our philosophy)

 

[KingHigh]

H

Well done. Stakes. We play .25/.25 and brought in “the rock straddle”, a .50 chip that’s as good as cash and can be played as a straddle from any position but must be played if the owner is UTG. Keeps us small and we see the rock about twice an orbit. We do have a very liberal add on policy. We all buy in for $25 but after the first hand “smoke it if you got it.” One player buys and extra $25-50 pre session and puts them in his drink holder until the second hand. We also brought in plaques for our $5’s and $25’s. What a hit. We race horses about twice a month pre session for the on time crowd. I tweak on my terms. My game is wild successful so I must be doing something right.

Ken (merkong)
Owner/Operator/Founder
*The Godfather Club MN
*The Executive Game, Eagan MN
*Frogtown Card Club, St. Paul (retired)
*The Poker Family (our philosophy)

Sounds like a good time! I have a friend who used to call Horse Races for us w the enthusiasm of being at the Kentucky Derby. We’d all start yelling and cheering for our horses, it was a blast!