Poker nights should be more fun: A rant (2 Viewers)

You know, I'm inclined to speculate on that guy's logic. He wouldn't pay out 3rd place because he "lost". Does that mean he thinks because he lost the hand and busted in 3rd that he's not entitled to his payout? Because that logic doesn't fly. Anybody who isn't the first place finisher technically "lost" and ended up in whatever place they busted in.

Maybe this is why they can't get their heads around anything but winner-take-all. I used to play in games like that back in the poker boom where it was like $20, winner take all, and each chip is "worth 1". So we're sitting there with effectively 15BB in 7 different colors of dice chips to luck out for our $100 jackpot.

I'd rather put it on red and take a spin at the roulette wheel. Better drinks in any case.
 
Furthermore, this is how you scare people off the game and end up with those timid railbirds who don't really want to put their money into a trustworthy and well-run game because some jackwagon burned them in a wild-west game of whack-a-mole and that's their perception of poker and the people who play it.
 
Maybe this is why they can't get their heads around anything but winner-take-all. I used to play in games like that back in the poker boom where it was like $20, winner take all, and each chip is "worth 1". So we're sitting there with effectively 15BB in 7 different colors of dice chips to luck out for our $100 jackpot.
I had played a game there previously, but they put it together. They had a box of mixed dice chips, and every chip is a nickel. Oops, they don’t have enough nickels! I guess every chip is a dime, now. I suggested we separate the chips by color, and have nickels, quarters, and dollars, and he looked at me like I was speaking Klingon. :D
 
You know, I'm inclined to speculate on that guy's logic. He wouldn't pay out 3rd place because he "lost". Does that mean he thinks because he lost the hand and busted in 3rd that he's not entitled to his payout? Because that logic doesn't fly. Anybody who isn't the first place finisher technically "lost" and ended up in whatever place they busted in.

I think you're bending over backward to find honest intentions for a dishonest act. What it would take for this to be a genuine misunderstanding is not realistic. The guy would have to be a fully slack-jawed, drooling moron unable to tie his own shoes to believe 3rd only pays under the impossible condition that someone gets there without busting out.

IMO, he did it as a freeroll on the payout structure that he begrudgingly accepted at the beginning of the game. If HO or his wife goes out in 3rd, he happily makes the payout. If it's anyone else, he pretends that he has a right to unilaterally switch to WTA at the last minute.

Dude's a thief, period. He may as well have snatched money straight out of the players' wallets.
 
I failed to mention in the OP that I paid my son, but I shouldn’t have had to force the issue.

All in all, I wasn’t prepared for the situation, and I didn’t lead well. There was so much pushback about things from so many directions, and I was overwhelmed. It won’t happen again.
 
I failed to mention in the OP that I paid my son, but I shouldn’t have had to force the issue.

All in all, I wasn’t prepared for the situation, and I didn’t lead well. There was so much pushback about things from so many directions, and I was overwhelmed. It won’t happen again.

You should have left an upper decker in the toilet before leaving. :whistle: :whistling:
 
I failed to mention in the OP that I paid my son, but I shouldn’t have had to force the issue.

All in all, I wasn’t prepared for the situation, and I didn’t lead well. There was so much pushback about things from so many directions, and I was overwhelmed. It won’t happen again.

Wait, you paid your son out of your own pocket, or from the funds, or what? It's not clear.
 
Someone dropped a couple likes on my comments, which rekindled my interest in this thread. After reading again, my negative opinion of HO's (and his family's) antics has only solidified further.

OP threw HO and his brother a "they're decent guys" bone at the end, and characterized their behavior as just being something "type-A personalities" might do. But I believe it was much worse than that.

What these guys did at this game was adult bullying. If that's not bad enough on its own, they tried to use it to gain an unfair advantage at a game and benefit themselves monetarily. That's not just a couple go-get-it type-A guys going and getting it. It's more like schoolyard bullies menacing kids out of their lunch money. After this experience, I would probably distance myself from these guys. You never know when people like that might, say, try to gracelessly back out of a mutual arrangement and leave you to eat the expenses. In fact, that's almost exactly what they tried in this story.

@Beakertwang, have you had any further interactions with the cast of characters? I'm curious if anyone eventually apologized or even acknowledged that their behavior was out of line. Having known a fair number of bullies, I'd guess not, but sometimes people surprise you.
 
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Someone dropped a couple likes on my comments, which rekindled my interest in this thread. After reading again, my negative opinion of HO's (and his family's) antics has only solidified further.

OP threw HO and his brother a "they're decent guys" bone at the end, and characterized their behavior as just being something "type-A personalities" might do. But I believe it was much worse than that.

What these guys did at this game was adult bullying. If that's not bad enough on its own, they tried to use it to gain an unfair advantage at a game and benefit themselves monetarily. That's not just a couple go-get-it type-A guys going and getting it. It's more like schoolyard bullies menacing kids out of their lunch money. After this experience, I would probably distance myself from these guys. You never know when people like that might, say, try to gracelessly back out of a mutual arrangement and leave you to eat the expenses. In fact, that's almost exactly what they tried in this story.

@Beakertwang, have you had any further interactions with the cast of characters? I'm curious if anyone eventually apologized or even acknowledged that their behavior was out of line. Having known a fair number of bullies, I'd guess not, but sometimes people surprise you.
Sort of. No poker with any of the 3 problem people. The new guy who kept hounding me, and wanted to cash early and still keep playing was off all my lists anyway. I want nothing to do with him. I've run into him a couple time, and he's just an a-hole. I haven't seen the brother. My wife and I have interacted socially with the HO and his family, and I really do enjoy their company, particular his wife. They're on my invite list, but haven't joined in any poker. If they did, I'm prepared to deal with any breach of protocol.

The other 6 have been regulars in my game, and all have responded well to my upgrades, as have any new players. I'm much more relaxed now that I've upped my game, so to say.
 
Interesting post. I just found this. The OP walked into this hell realm. Very quickly (pregnant wife) the runes indicated this wouldn't be OPs normal experience, and everything was just more nails in the coffin. I'm with @Jimulacrum, the only type A those two were is A$$hats. I know lots and lots of "Type A" personalities. The vast majority know that "no means no", and they demonstrate their "A" between the whistles as it were. The few that don't are just the Type A$$hole. Glad your friend is the former and not the later but, clearly, when he's with his brother he can't help but morph via wonder twins power into the Type A$$hole. I would never play with this group again but my tolerance for this type of stuff is nonexistent.
 
It was a bad night tonight. We've been having some nice low-stakes games lately, but tonight kind of stunk.

I schedule the games, I have the chips, I have the folding poker table. I agreed to have it at a buddy's house, because his pregnant wife wanted play. 7:00 start time. Their take-out food arrives at 10 after 7, so they're eating. 4 players no-show, and 3 show up at 7:30, which is fine, since the homeowner (HO) and his brother are still eating. One guy shows up (late) with his girlfriend (unannounced--I told him we could have a learning night sometime for those who, like her, who have never played). She spent the night looking over the hand order list, taking a minute to call any bet. HO's wife shows up to the table at 8:15, and he buys her in.

HO and his brother say they don't want to play a tourney where top two cash out (three after all ten are there). They always play winner take all, and every (dice) chip is a dime. Do you want to play cash, or tournament? We finally agree to tourney, and top three pay. Since we only have 6 at the time, we do deep stacks so we can play for a while. Do a card draw for seating assignments, and HO refuses to move from his chair for some reason (I missed this part, as I was busy handing out chips). I hand out the stacks and fire up the timer app. Then, 4 more players show up. There were 8 re-buys in the first 3 levels--everyone but me and HO. And now, I'm pretty much out of chips for color ups. Lesson learned.

Brother has all his 100's and 500's hiding behind his 5's. He bets 500 into my Aces up, I ask him how much he has, and he won't answer, so I suggest that the big chips should be out front. He and a new guy complain that it's a dumb rule, then he grabs a stack and puts 800 more in, and throws a fit when I tell him he can't do that. "You hadn't done anything yet, so I can change my bet." It didn't matter, since I was going to shove over him anyway. He calls and busts out. He and a new guy gripe at me about relaxing; those things don't matter anyway. It's supposed to be fun, right?

The aforementioned new guy gripes that he wants to go home at about 10:30. I told him he can leave, and we'll blind him out. He keeps complaining, so I ask him if he really wants to go home. He says yes, so I offer him his buy-in back, just to get him out of there. Then he wants to keep the 500 chips that he was up over his original stack and keep playing. Was mad when I wouldn't let him.

HO wants the blinds to stop at 50/100, pregnant mom also wants to stop playing, so we give her buy-in back. Then when my son busts out in 3rd (AJ vs AA), and HO doesn't want to give him any money, because "he lost".

Then, to top it off...I'm the big stack at the table, 4-handed. several limpers to me in the BB, I check with 72o. Flop comes 7K2 rainbow. I check, get a raiser, and a big re-raise from the homeowner on the button, and I shove. I barely have him covered, and he calls with K 10. Turn 5, River 5, and he wins with 2 pair, and acts like he outplayed me. (OK, this is just poker. I got my money in way ahead. It sucks, but I'm never tilted when I make the right play and someone sucks out on me.)

Honestly, if they wanted to run the game their way, it would be fine. I could play and have fun. They can get their own chips, invite people, etc. They could play Indian poker for pistachios all night, and I could enjoy myself. I jsut feel like I let the game get hijacked from me, and it's not the kind of game I would want to host. I should have known it would be like this. HO and his brother are both type-A personalities, and tend to run over people in a lot of different situations. Don't get me wrong, they're decent guys, and I like them a lot. Well...I like HO at least. Just on their turf, I should've known it would be an issue.

We have a FB page. I'm thinking about posting the kind of game I want to host, with a link to the PDF rules. If they want me to host the game at their house, I'll make announcements, I'll bring the chips, table, timer, rules, etc., but I run the game. If they want to run their own game, that's fine.

Rant over.

I just died a lot after reading that.

I KNOW exactly what you are talking about. WOW.
 
Sort of. No poker with any of the 3 problem people. The new guy who kept hounding me, and wanted to cash early and still keep playing was off all my lists anyway. I want nothing to do with him. I've run into him a couple time, and he's just an a-hole. I haven't seen the brother. My wife and I have interacted socially with the HO and his family, and I really do enjoy their company, particular his wife. They're on my invite list, but haven't joined in any poker. If they did, I'm prepared to deal with any breach of protocol.

The other 6 have been regulars in my game, and all have responded well to my upgrades, as have any new players. I'm much more relaxed now that I've upped my game, so to say.

Check out my post in the home game pet peeves. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 

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