Taking home game to the next level (1 Viewer)

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dallen1123

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Hi all,

I'm looking to restart a poker home game that I use to run regularly with some hometown friends. It has been a while since we played and I was just wondering what are some ways that you have improved your poker games over time (other than chips!). Would be great to get your suggestions!

Cheers
 
dallen1123 said:
Hahaha - I'm new to PCF and one of the first threads I ran into was on the hit dog roller. An essential by the sounds of it
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Last year I was searching online for a hot dog roller forum, and the internet brought me here. I don't even like poker, but the folks here are the closest I can get.
 
I restarted player poker a year ago and have hosted once a month since then. Here are a few things that have worked for us:

-Players need to be comfortable (but not pleased) with losing 3 buyins. We currently play 10p/10p NLHE Cash, £10 buyin, basically 'pint' stakes.
-Denominated chips. This is essential, "how much are the blues worth?" for the tenth time can lead to major health conditions.
-Plastic cards and someone to deal them. I, as host, shuffle and deal every hand and basically call all bets. This is better than passing the cards around and getting misdeals and mistakes all evening amongst social players.
-Some kind of playing surface. You don't need a custom mega fireworks table but a simple topper will massively elevate the game
-Music, snacks, drinks and lighting. Just basic hosting people stuff
 
FearlessFred said:
... and someone to deal them. I, as host, shuffle and deal every hand and basically call all bets. This is better than passing the cards around and getting misdeals and mistakes all evening amongst social players.
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If you don't have a dedicated dealer, or someone has a physical handicap that prevents them from doing so, everyone should learn to shuffle and deal properly, it's not hard. I do enough in hosting in the first place I'm buggered if I'm dealing all night as well.

When I first started playing live, at a pub league, I couldn't shuffle for toffee and a reg called me up on it - in a friendly-ish way. I took a pack home and practiced. 5/10 minutes without the pressure of messing up is all it takes to get a riffle shuffle down, relax and it's a doddle. Same goes for those who overhand shuffle and expose cards left, right and center ... riffle ffs!

At my home game we also use 2 packs and shuffle behind which also takes the pressure off and gives nervous shufflers time to get it done.

/mini-rant :)


(edit: to add that we mostly play cash but if playing tournies then someone, me included, will probably deal when down to 3 or 4 players)
 
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That is awesome, OP!
What I have found in starting to host this past year is there is always something to improve and part of the fun is trying things out each game.

You will find some great suggestions in this thread along with all the others on PCF. Just a few areas I have thought about thanks to PCF…
•Food - full meal, snacks, drinks?
•Music - good volume, good music, Bruce Hornsby is my current fave on pandora.
•Start/end time - what works for you and your players to keep it sustainable?
•Invites (try Partiful for a top notch invite app),
•Cash tracker to keep track of buy-ins (I use
https://www.tarnib.live/poker)
• clean your space - people want to feel comfortable. Vacuum, dust, wipe your table down, and clear up clutter in your playing space or home. My game is in a mostly finished basement so I invite players to bring slippers so their feet don’t get cold.

•planning ahead - don’t just wing it day of game. Give yourself time to prepare and make adjustments no matter how insignificant feeling. Your players will notice and appreciate the work you put in.

Due to my busy work schedule, I only have about 30-45 minutes between getting home from work and players start showing up on game day so most of my prep is done at least 2 days ahead or in some case a full week ahead. Starting stacks are counted, table set up, snacks laid out, drinks stocked, food ordered, space cleaned, etc.
Doing this ahead of time saves so much stress game day so I can basically be on autopilot to enjoy socializing and help the game run smoother.

•I saw @merkong post once about sending thank you texts to players the next day so started implementing that a couple games ago.

All in all, if you keep striving to make it a better experience for your players while smoother hosting for yourself, you will have a great game!
 
BleedingChips said:
That is awesome, OP!
What I have found in starting to host this past year is there is always something to improve and part of the fun is trying things out each game.

You will find some great suggestions in this thread along with all the others on PCF. Just a few areas I have thought about thanks to PCF…
•Food - full meal, snacks, drinks?
•Music - good volume, good music, Bruce Hornsby is my current fave on pandora.
•Start/end time - what works for you and your players to keep it sustainable?
•Invites (try Partiful for a top notch invite app),
•Cash tracker to keep track of buy-ins (I use
https://www.tarnib.live/poker)
• clean your space - people want to feel comfortable. Vacuum, dust, wipe your table down, and clear up clutter in your playing space or home. My game is in a mostly finished basement so I invite players to bring slippers so their feet don’t get cold.

•planning ahead - don’t just wing it day of game. Give yourself time to prepare and make adjustments no matter how insignificant feeling. Your players will notice and appreciate the work you put in.

Due to my busy work schedule, I only have about 30-45 minutes between getting home from work and players start showing up on game day so most of my prep is done at least 2 days ahead or in some case a full week ahead. Starting stacks are counted, table set up, snacks laid out, drinks stocked, food ordered, space cleaned, etc.
Doing this ahead of time saves so much stress game day so I can basically be on autopilot to enjoy socializing and help the game run smoother.

•I saw @merkong post once about sending thank you texts to players the next day so started implementing that a couple games ago.

All in all, if you keep striving to make it a better experience for your players while smoother hosting for yourself, you will have a great game!
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Spoken like a host with the most. Well done, solid advice, and good job for being to willing to share.
 
The best addition I ever made to my home game was a couple years ago I invited a rich old dude to the game. I only had light snacks so he decided he was going to start bringing food every week. He brings some pretty great food every single week to my game including occasionally lobster and bacon wrapped scallops. So I recommend inviting rich old guys who bring food to the game.
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Haven’t come across this but, I have a pool and am considering opening up games near the pool during the summer. Nice ambiance and relaxing (of course food, drinks, music). It’s in an isolated area and not a lot of traffic so neighbors can’t be nosey.
 
PepperPaul said:
The best addition I ever made to my home game was a couple years ago I invited a rich old dude to the game. I only had light snacks so he decided he was going to start bringing food every week. He brings some pretty great food every single week to my game including occasionally lobster and bacon wrapped scallops. So I recommend inviting rich old guys who bring food to the game.
View attachment 1495113View attachment 1495114View attachment 1495116
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Is the rich old dude available for home games in Los Angeles?
 
PepperPaul said:
The best addition I ever made to my home game was a couple years ago I invited a rich old dude to the game. I only had light snacks so he decided he was going to start bringing food every week. He brings some pretty great food every single week to my game including occasionally lobster and bacon wrapped scallops. So I recommend inviting rich old guys who bring food to the game.
View attachment 1495113View attachment 1495114View attachment 1495116
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This has taken home games to a whole new level! Awesome
 
BleedingChips said:
That is awesome, OP!
What I have found in starting to host this past year is there is always something to improve and part of the fun is trying things out each game.

You will find some great suggestions in this thread along with all the others on PCF. Just a few areas I have thought about thanks to PCF…
•Food - full meal, snacks, drinks?
•Music - good volume, good music, Bruce Hornsby is my current fave on pandora.
•Start/end time - what works for you and your players to keep it sustainable?
•Invites (try Partiful for a top notch invite app),
•Cash tracker to keep track of buy-ins (I use
https://www.tarnib.live/poker)
• clean your space - people want to feel comfortable. Vacuum, dust, wipe your table down, and clear up clutter in your playing space or home. My game is in a mostly finished basement so I invite players to bring slippers so their feet don’t get cold.

•planning ahead - don’t just wing it day of game. Give yourself time to prepare and make adjustments no matter how insignificant feeling. Your players will notice and appreciate the work you put in.

Due to my busy work schedule, I only have about 30-45 minutes between getting home from work and players start showing up on game day so most of my prep is done at least 2 days ahead or in some case a full week ahead. Starting stacks are counted, table set up, snacks laid out, drinks stocked, food ordered, space cleaned, etc.
Doing this ahead of time saves so much stress game day so I can basically be on autopilot to enjoy socializing and help the game run smoother.

•I saw @merkong post once about sending thank you texts to players the next day so started implementing that a couple games ago.

All in all, if you keep striving to make it a better experience for your players while smoother hosting for yourself, you will have a great game!
Click to expand...

Met Bruce Hornsby in the bowels of Oakland Arena on 10/27/91 when he was with the Dead (kinda, sometimes). He was super freaking cool and actually bullshitted with our stoned asses for a few minutes. When I got back to my group I told them and they didn’t believe me. “He’s wearing a green and black flannel”. They all high fived me when they came on stage. He was exceptionally good that night.
 
DeadheadDave said:
Met Bruce Hornsby in the bowels of Oakland Arena on 10/27/91 when he was with the Dead (kinda, sometimes). He was super freaking cool and actually bullshitted with our stoned asses for a few minutes. When I got back to my group I told them and they didn’t believe me. “He’s wearing a green and black flannel”. They all high fived me when they came on stage. He was exceptionally good that night.
Click to expand...
That is so cool! I am sure you cherish that memory. I felt fortunate enough to see him at free community concert a couple years ago and got front row. What a talent and still has it!
 
I’ll provide tiers so you can decide how crazy you want to get:

Rookie tier (aka the bare minimum needed to have someone like me consider showing up at your game):
*decent table or table topper
*comfortable chairs
*denominated chips
*plastic cards

Probably still a normal person tier:
*chips must be clay (Paulson, TRK or CPC, preferably)
*different sets for cash and tournaments
*custom dealer button
*custom cut card
*decent background noise (music or TV)
*snacks and drinks readily available
*a fineni horse race game to bust out once or twice a night
*take lots of pics of home game and post them on pcf’s home game thread
*have change readily available to make cashing out easier

Maybe a little obsessive tier:
*multiple tables with custom cloths and/or table toppers
*chairs are gassers
*multiple cash sets rotated for variety
*multiple tourney sets rotated for variety
*a limit set you maybe can bust out once a year
*custom champion chips awarded to tourney winners
*host a league

Full blown crazy tier:
*purchase a 3d printer specifically for the purpose of printing 3d donkey racers for the fineni horse race game:
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*design a set of playing cards for the horse race game turning your player pool into anthropomorphic donkeys with racehorse names:
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*3d print little statues of all your players’ heads to use as bounties/card cappers:
IMG_1616.jpeg
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IMG_1617.jpeg
 
BleedingChips said:
That is so cool! I am sure you cherish that memory. I felt fortunate enough to see him at free community concert a couple years ago and got front row. What a talent and still has it!
Click to expand...

I was all of 18 years old and as alluded to, not of sane mind... but since I was at a Dead show that passes as "fully acceptable" He seemed to really enjoy meeting anyone who walked up. He would not shake any of our hands (a smart choice at a Dead show for a guy like him, who had no desire to travel the space/time continuum) was very tall and smiled a whole bunch.

At the time (from late 1990-early 1992) he was playing Grand Piano in the Good Old Grateful Dead. He would occasionally grab an accordian on some tunes... while we liked his piano, the "squeezebox" was weird, in the wrong ways. This was the end of the road for the Dead... the last five years. Garcia was a mess, but clearly Hornsby being on stage with him made his life better for a little while... and then he flew off.

The link below is from a show in June of 1991, where Hornsby is there. He takes some incredible leads... he really was impressive.

 

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