Back in November, I hosted a game, and it went really badly. We moved it to another guy's house, so he and his wife could play (they have a load of kids), and it went so badly with "house rules", hit-and-runs, string bets, and comments like "relax, this isn't a casino." Since then, I've held some cash games, without the offending parties in attendance, but I've been gunshy about trying a tourney again.
It went much better this time. I had 8 players, 10K stacks, 20 minute levels, and 3 rebuys. I still need to work on my hosting, but I learn something new every time.
Here's what I learned, with the less important items first:
It went much better this time. I had 8 players, 10K stacks, 20 minute levels, and 3 rebuys. I still need to work on my hosting, but I learn something new every time.
Here's what I learned, with the less important items first:
- I'm going to get a hot dog roller
- Nachos are a bad pairing with my chips and cards
- Scrap carpet pad and outdoor fabric can make a pretty nice playing surface on the cheap
- My Majestics look great, but they are way too slippery (slippery has become a big issue to me).
- Early bird bonus chips work
- It's fun when an inexperienced (read: bad) player runs really hot and cashes for the first time
- STOP MAKING CHANGE OUT OF THE POT UNTIL THE BETTING IS COMPLETE!
- It's hard to make a tourney structure that makes everyone happy, especially when you have a time limit
- It takes a lot of work to keep a good game, including managing loud trigger-topic discussions among busted players
- Just because someone used to deal at a casino, he may still not know how to do things right
- I've spent a lot of time and money trying to make a good game for my friends and guests. If someone doesn't like it, they don't need to come back, and I need to stick to my guns. I also need to be more pro-active and assertive against alpha-male types.
- I'll get better at all this with every game, and I won't feel so anxious about handling issues. (Right?)
- An inexperienced young lady who is just a bad calling station ran really good, calling big bluffs with A high, catching every straight full house, etc. all night long, much to the chagrin of her victims. She ended up cashing 2nd. She's sweet, and not very attentive, but she always turned her cards over, so even though she missed that she had a couple straights and a flush, she got the pot.
She was really pumped, and I had a lot of fun giving her the cash. - A new guy, friend-of-a-friend came. Pretty decent player, and was a pretty nice guy, but he acted like he knew everything. When I was doing color-ups, he snapped at me for touching his chips, and told me I was doing it wrong. Next time, I'll just handle it myself and everyone else can have a break. I also asked him to put his big chips out front, and he replied "I'll show anyone who asks." He also made change out of the pot after I told him and another player not to. He also said "I'll see your 6000, and raise..." He wasn't angling, but I let it go, because I'm not great at handling confrontation with Type-A's. I told my friend who invited him that I didn't appreciate some of his behaviors.
- My former dealer buddy tried to tell me all the race chips go to the guy with the highest card.
- We went a little over the 4 hour schedule, and 1st and 2nd agreed to a weighted chop, but that's because 3 of the last four players were pretty passive and cautious. If myself and my son were there, chips woulda been flying.
Last edited:
