Vetting New Players (1 Viewer)

MrCatPants

Full House
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Heya - just curious how open you are with new players for your home games. Are you/the host the only recruiter? Do you let your regulars vet new players and being them? Anyone on the invite list can bring a friend? You communicate your game publicly/semi publicly?
 
Anyone can invite someone to my game as long as they ask the week before. Then I'll invite again if they are welcome back... Kinda a one game trial run before they get the weekly invites...
 
Long established players actively help recruit new players. A new player I want to get to know before they can invite new players.

Since we play cash games and the amount can get decent I like to know everyone in my house pretty well. One unknown player at a time is plenty.

And before they are given the address to the game I want some info on them. A full name, their phone number. I want to talk to them a little beforehand to get a feel for them.

If it was a low buy-in tournament I would be a little more relaxed, but not much since it is still my home with my wife and kids in it.
 
I've been open to new players simply because my numbers are usually low. I haven't had any issues yet, luckily. I'll give new players a chance but any major issues and they aren't invited back.
 
New players must have a referral from an existing player.

I use Minneapolis Rounders on meetup to publicize, I've played in enough Rounders games where I am comfortable with the "culture."

Unfortunately, all home games in KS are illegal so we cannot advertise publicly for players.
 
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Existing trusted player referral for a +1 with real name. My table only sees $1,700-$1,800 at most and the bank is done through Venmo which I feel much more comfortable about. I've actually played a number of "public" games through meetup.com in Boston and never run into a problem with players (could be the low stakes). I personally wouldn't post my game publicly even if I was having trouble getting players though. Not worth the potential headache.

DISCLAIMER: DO NOT POST A MID/HIGH LIMIT GAME ON MEETUP UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET RAIDED. Cops don't seem to care about $1/$1 games and below.
 
I have a partner who helps me run our game - all players are welcome to suggest new invites but only my partner and I are allowed to introduce players into the game. Everyone who plays has been made aware that discretion is very important for reasons I don't need to get into - so I don't anticipate any problem children coming into the game.

As such, our game is never publicly advertised or discussed.
 
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I am not taking new members, but all my players have been vetted by either myself, a trusted member of my game, or another local host. I keep my monthly league games open to only 30 or so, but my pick up cash games the list is much larger. All-in-all, most are neighborhood guys and our kids all go to one of the 3 neighborhood schools. I have just a few outsiders, but they fit in great and are good dudes.
 
My regs are strongly encouraged to bring new players. My rule of thumb is, "If they're welcome in your house, they're welcome in mine, but their behavior reflects on you." Stakes are low, and I've been playing with most of these guys for many years, so their endorsement is good enough for me.

I've also invited unknowns from 2+2, CT and PCF, and I've never had a single problem with any of them. In those cases, I usually ask for a full name, cell number and email address.

I've only had problems with two players. One was a guy who thought that being an asshole at the table was "just part of the game," and the other was a guy who got caught cheating the first time he played with us. I was the one who invited the cheat, and I banned myself for several weeks for that idiocy.
 
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I recruit through my place of employment and I'm the one who controls the list. Does it make it awkward when there's people who ask about the game but I don't wanna invite? :whistle: :whistling: Nah, I don't have that anxiety haha.
 

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